Player profile
Where did it start?
Penny Hardaway continued his sizzling recruiting streak November 6, 2022 when he landed the verbal commitment of Dream City Christian (Ariz.) forward David Tubek.
His pledge comes just hours after the Tigers scored tandem commitments from 5-star guard Mikey Williams and 4-star forward JJ Taylor. The 6-foot-8, 215-pounder is a 3-star recruit, according to 247 Sports Composite, and picked Memphis basketball over offers from Kansas, Texas, Arizona State and Creighton, among others. He also took official visits to Pitt, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.
Tubek, who said he only began playing basketball in 2017, joins a Tigers recruiting class that includes Williams, Taylor, 4-star guard Carl Cherenfant and 3-star guard Ryan Forrest.
And then he did not. Probably because of the strength of the Memphis recruiting class. An issue for Hardaway, but a boom for Seton Hall's Shaheen Holloway who badly needed to fortify his frontcourt.
But before his decommitment Tubek had this to say: “My favorite part of the official visit was seeing Penny and getting to go to dinner with him and just talk to him. “How he loves me, how he loves my game. He’s a great coach. He’s a great person, too. To play for someone like that, that will be great.
“It’s a great team for me.”
Tubek is a native of South Sudan who arrived in the United States in 2018, first living in North Carolina and West Virginia for a few months each. From there, he moved on and played his freshman year at Aspire Academy (Louisville, Ky.) and his sophomore season at Premier Academy (Houston, Texas). Tubek transferred to Dream City Christian prior to last season.
Well traveled his last prep coach had this to say about his big man: (for us he) " averaged 12.5 points and seven rebounds a game playing along the wing, where he "shot about 42% from three." In a game against Denver Prep at the Chick Fil A Classic in South Carolina last season, Tubek connected on seven 3-pointers and finished with 28 points. The seven triples are tied for fifth-most in the game's history, behind only Aaron Nesmith (nine), Jalen Green, Preston Blackmon and Taylor Majewski (eight each).
Solid numbers with the thought that Tubek had small forward skills and maybe he might be described best as a stretch 4.
