Andrew Platek is one of the top shooting guards in the Class of 2017. The 6-foot-4 Platek will be contributing periodically to ZAGSBLOG going forward. Here is his second Player Blog.
This is my second entry to ZAGSBLOG, and today I will be detailing my June visits to North Carolina, Davidson, and Stanford.
On June 12th, after Rumble in the Bronx, my family and I drove down to North Carolina for two visits to two great schools, the University of North Carolina and Davidson College.
UNC was up first on the 13th. We arrived around 10:30 and were met by Coach C.B. McGrath outside the Dean Dome. The first thing that struck me was how big the campus was. After we met with Coach Roy Williams the first time, Coach McGrath took us around in a golf cart and I saw what the whole campus had to offer. I’ve been there before when I was younger but never to this extent. After the tour I met with Jonas Sahratian, their strength coach and got an in-depth look into their basketball facilities. Everything about their basketball facilities was top notch, you could tell it was the biggest sport on campus. After meeting all of the coaches and talking to Coach Williams again, I got to play with their guys later that night. It was incredible, I was playing against Raymond Felton, Reggie Bullock, Tyler Zeller, and Kendall Marshall while playing with Kennedy Meeks, Nate Britt, Justin Jackson, and Joel Berry. It was a great way to cap off an amazing visit. I was very impressed with the coaching staff as well as the facilities campus they have there. North Carolina made a lasting impression on my family and me.
The next day was Davidson College on the 14th. This visit was one that was intriguing to me because Davidson was one of the first colleges to reach out to me and where my teammate Kellan Grady is going to school. Coach Bob McKillop could not be there due to USA Basketball but I was lead around by Assistant Coach Matt McKillop, Coach Will Riegel, and Will Thoni. It was a shorter visit than North Carolina, but I got to see their team work out after I toured the campus. The way they conducted their drills was appealing to me, all of their players were working hard and it had a great team atmosphere. Coach McKillop sat me down afterwards in the film room to break down some clips of what he thought I would be doing if I decided to come. It was very informative and you could tell that they had really invested a lot of time into my visit and I was appreciative of that the whole day. Davidson’s offense is a thing of beauty, and seeing it broken down and how effective it is was fun to watch. Although shorter, it was great to connect with the coaching staff and visit the beautiful Davidson campus. The basketball was not bad either.
About 10 days later on the 22nd I flew out to Palo Alto to visit Stanford and visit with their coaches and see the campus. As soon as I arrived I was struck by how large their sports complexes were. They could hold the Olympic Games there, that’s how high level it was. They have the largest campus in the country, so on the tour I couldn’t see it all, but the things I did see were incredible. The campus is simply gorgeous, and I think all the people out there really have a good time doing what they’re doing. The coaching staff has really bought into Coach [Jerod] Haase’s vision for what they want to do for the future of Stanford basketball, and that is appealing to me. Being on the West Coast, especially in Palo Alto, the weather is always nice, and coming from upstate New York, that means a lot to me. I had the opportunity to play with their guys and that was awesome. Josh Sharma, an NMH alumni, housed me in his dorm and was able to play with me the next day. The NMH connection out West is a powerful one, and it was great to play with a former player. I loved my trip out west, I hit it off with the coaching staff from the start, and enjoyed all of my time in California before heading home. I think big things are ahead for stanford basketball.
Again, thank you to Adam Zagoria for this opportunity, this is blog number two. Peach Jam is up next.
Thank you,
Andrew Platek
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This is my second entry to Zagsblog, and today I will be detailing my June visits to North Carolina, Davidson, and Stanford.ZagsBlog
