Ricardo Gathers is getting a lot of love these days.
The 6-foot-8 junior post player from Reserve (La.) Riverside says the top of his college lists features St. John’s, UConn, Syracuse, Kansas, Texas and Florida.
The Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year, Gathers averaged 20.7 points, 16.2 rebounds, 3.9 blocks, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals during the 2010-11 season.
He led Riverside to a 33-6 record this season and its second consecutive Class 2A state championship. He was selected the Louisiana Class 2A All-State Player of the Year in 2010. He is ranked the No. 10 power forward in the Class of 2012.
“I’ll definitely be a rebounder, I’ll be able to get to the glass and finish on anybody,” Gathers said of the skill-set he will take to college.
As far as the schools currently on his list, he broke them down one-by-one.
At St. John’s, he’s being recruited by head coach Steve Lavin and assistant Tony Chiles.
“They basically told me I’ll come in and bring a lot of energy to them and create a lot of matchup problems,” he said. “Just coming into New York, the atmosphere of the city and the background and history of the city, as far as basketball goes it’s one of the biggest basketball meccas in the nation.”
On UConn, where Kevin Ollie is recruiting him: “I’m liking what they’re doing. I’m a big fan of Kemba Walker.”
On Syracuse, where Bernie Fine is recruiting him: “I’ve been speaking to him for quite a minute now. I’m just a big fan of Syracuse basketball. Last year I really looked up to Wesley Johnson and kind of tried to model my game after him a littel bit. But that’s Wesley. I definitely know I can go into Syracuse and make a big impact.”
On Kansas, where Danny Manning is recruiting him: “I like what they do with their forwards, Markieff Morris and them. They’re really developing their forwards and making them into pro players right now.”
On Texas, where Russell Springer is his contact: “They’re basically in the same category as Kansas. They play that 15 feet in style of basketball. Jordan Hamilton, Tristan Thompson, all of them.”
For the summer, Gathers plans on attending the NBA Top 100 camp, the Pangos Camp and the LeBron James Skills Academy before cutting down his college list.
