Question: How have you helped Darnell to be the next in line to play college basketball?
Prophet: When I came home from college, I was set to go play overseas in Israel, but my father had a stroke, which is Darnell’s grandfather. When that happened I decided to stay home and help take care of my father. That is when I got a chance to see Darnell play high school basketball for the first time. He was only a sophomore and everyone was telling me how good he was and when I got to see him play I thought he wasn’t that good. When I said he wasn’t that good people looked at me like I was crazy. I know what a good big looks like and I knew he wasn’t good yet, but could get to that point.
I talked to his father about transferring him out of Newark East Side to Putnam Science Academy where he would be playing against high level competition day in and day out, which ended up being a much better fit for him.
This past summer, I spent numerous hours with Darnell, waking up early to run in the park, going to train in the gym, weightlifting, skill development, two to three times a day. We worked on it all - post moves, shooting form, athleticism. Even the Putnam coaches told me, Darnell is a 90% better player than he was last year, whoever worked with him over the summer really did a good job. He is nowhere close to reaching the top of his potential, but now he at least has a solid base to build off of. He understand that and he appreciates it.
Question: What prompted your family to have Darnell consider and eventually transfer to Putnam?
Prophet: Hamidou Diallo [6’5 guard recently committed to Kentucky] played for the New York Jayhawks for four years before he decided to play for the New York Rens last year on the EYBL circuit and he went to Putnam. New York Jayhawks Executive Director Jay David is a close friend of mine and he told me about the school after he watched Darnell at the Hoop Group between his sophomore and junior year. He was telling me he could be a monster and perform well at the next level if he plays against more kids his size. When Darnell plays against people his size, he actually looks good. When he plays against smaller bigs, it can be an issue. Going to Putnam and playing against guys like Mamadou Diarra [6’9 freshman at UConn sitting out the season because of a knee injury), who also played for the Jayhawks, was aimed to help him learn how to play against people his size and who had more athleticism (than his previous opponents). Learning different things and little things from guys like that was something that he wasn’t going to be getting playing at Newark East Side because they didn’t have anyone his size. He was getting too use to being a glass cleaner because no one was of his stature and could compete. Seeing him go up to Connecticut and be a glass cleaner was impressive because we didn’t know how he was going to respond playing against players that size or with those abilities. It was a little rough at the beginning for him getting use to that level and the speed of the game, but he put it together and has been playing well. Now he is real into it, getting out and running, playing defense, being the loudest kid in the gym. It is going to be exciting to see him play next year because he can be something special.
Question: Waking up early and working hard to help Darnell, what is it like to see him commitment to a high major program?
Prophet: I’m just happy that the kid is somewhere where he wants to be. He wasn’t forced into it. It actually came out of the blue to me. He didn’t tell me about it. He texted me and was like ‘Hey unc, where are you? Can you come to the house?’ Next thing you know I get a picture to my phone that said Darnell committed to Seton Hall. I live with him, I actually live with him in the same house so I rushed home and jumped on his back and congratulated him. I am so happy for him. It’s a blessing to help kids, but to help my nephew was special.
Question: Can you profile Darnell’s game for me – what are his strengths and what does he need to work on to play at the next level?
Prophet: I want to say he can be a NBA-level rebounder. The kid grabs everything off the glass and that is not just because of his size, he has a good knack for the ball. Even when he wasn’t that talented on the offensive side of the ball when he was younger he had a knack to rebound. That is what brought people’s attention to him initially. It’s an important skill and a lost part of the game. The way I look at it rebounds are extra possessions and the more possessions you have the better chance you have to win the game so if a guy like Darnell can go and get you nine offensive rebounds that's nine more offensive possessions to put yourself on top. On the defensive side, anything that comes off the rim he is going to get. He is huge so you’re not going to go around him or go over him to grab the rebound, he uses his body then goes to get the ball.
He is sneaky athletic too. He’s heavy, but he can jump and go get it. I am excited to see when he gets into a college program and drops some of that weight, how much more athletic he is going to be when he is in tip top shape. Another good thing about his game, he started playing basketball late so he didn’t really know a lot of things coming up so he is an open book. Whatever you teach him he utilizes, it’s easier to teach a kid that doesn’t know anything than it is to teach a kid that knows most everything.
When I first came back and started working with him, he wasn’t squaring up his feet when he shot the ball. He would have his left foot pointed to the sideline and the right foot to the basket and his shot would miss left. He had nice form, but teaching him that little thing helped a lot. We work on form shooting a lot now. Before we do anything in the gym he has to make 50 form shots in a row. His offensive is improving, he can hit shots from the free throw line and extended jump shots.
After form shooting we usually go into low post touches, different moves like drop steps and reverse layups. We have a dunk series thing we do where we put the ball on the floor, roll it and he picks it up, does a drop step and dunks it. Working on that type of stuff has gotten his post moves better. He has learned how to use his body more and seal correctly by using his shoulders and arms and not making himself smaller so guys can't reach over or around and disrupt the post entry. He has nice touch around the basket when he gets looks down low.
Right now people have him as a three star. Obviously if he did another year of prep school, his ranking would have gone up, but I tell him that doesn’t really matter. At the end of the day you want to go to a school that actually is going to invest in you, put that time in the gym with you, work on things that you’re not good at, get you better every day and make you a complete player.
He is not a shot blocker by any means. He can block shots, but that is not his game. I think he can also work on his lateral quickness and movement. He is learning how to guard out on the perimeter. He is deceptively fast sprinting up the court full speed. When he sprints he can beat guards down the court. Once he loses some weight, he is going to be able to run up and down the court like a deer because he has it in him. Playing down at East Side with a bunch of guards helped him there. He can actually hedge out on guards well and defer guards to go back the opposite way. He is learning how to guard out on the perimeter.
He also needs to work on the little stuff like attention to detail in setting screens and minor stuff that when he gets to the next level will make a difference. Practice and coaching him up will help him clean that stuff up. He needs that repetition, which is key. Once you learn the correct way to do things and do it over and over and over it become a habit. When you form good habits you form a good player. Once he gets in that system I think he will blossom as a player.
I am not saying this because he’s my nephew and related to me, but working with him, he wants to get better and learn from a guy like Angel if he comes back next year. It is going to be fun to watch him because some kids peak out early. They reach a point and they plateau and their game flattens out and doesn’t improve. Darnell is still going uphill. He has a lot to learn. That is why I say I am excited to see him at Seton Hall and see how his game develops and transitions at the next level after Putnam. For a kid that hasn’t reached his potential, he is going to be fun to watch as he learns to step in after Angel.
Prophet: When I came home from college, I was set to go play overseas in Israel, but my father had a stroke, which is Darnell’s grandfather. When that happened I decided to stay home and help take care of my father. That is when I got a chance to see Darnell play high school basketball for the first time. He was only a sophomore and everyone was telling me how good he was and when I got to see him play I thought he wasn’t that good. When I said he wasn’t that good people looked at me like I was crazy. I know what a good big looks like and I knew he wasn’t good yet, but could get to that point.
I talked to his father about transferring him out of Newark East Side to Putnam Science Academy where he would be playing against high level competition day in and day out, which ended up being a much better fit for him.
This past summer, I spent numerous hours with Darnell, waking up early to run in the park, going to train in the gym, weightlifting, skill development, two to three times a day. We worked on it all - post moves, shooting form, athleticism. Even the Putnam coaches told me, Darnell is a 90% better player than he was last year, whoever worked with him over the summer really did a good job. He is nowhere close to reaching the top of his potential, but now he at least has a solid base to build off of. He understand that and he appreciates it.
Question: What prompted your family to have Darnell consider and eventually transfer to Putnam?
Prophet: Hamidou Diallo [6’5 guard recently committed to Kentucky] played for the New York Jayhawks for four years before he decided to play for the New York Rens last year on the EYBL circuit and he went to Putnam. New York Jayhawks Executive Director Jay David is a close friend of mine and he told me about the school after he watched Darnell at the Hoop Group between his sophomore and junior year. He was telling me he could be a monster and perform well at the next level if he plays against more kids his size. When Darnell plays against people his size, he actually looks good. When he plays against smaller bigs, it can be an issue. Going to Putnam and playing against guys like Mamadou Diarra [6’9 freshman at UConn sitting out the season because of a knee injury), who also played for the Jayhawks, was aimed to help him learn how to play against people his size and who had more athleticism (than his previous opponents). Learning different things and little things from guys like that was something that he wasn’t going to be getting playing at Newark East Side because they didn’t have anyone his size. He was getting too use to being a glass cleaner because no one was of his stature and could compete. Seeing him go up to Connecticut and be a glass cleaner was impressive because we didn’t know how he was going to respond playing against players that size or with those abilities. It was a little rough at the beginning for him getting use to that level and the speed of the game, but he put it together and has been playing well. Now he is real into it, getting out and running, playing defense, being the loudest kid in the gym. It is going to be exciting to see him play next year because he can be something special.
Question: Waking up early and working hard to help Darnell, what is it like to see him commitment to a high major program?
Prophet: I’m just happy that the kid is somewhere where he wants to be. He wasn’t forced into it. It actually came out of the blue to me. He didn’t tell me about it. He texted me and was like ‘Hey unc, where are you? Can you come to the house?’ Next thing you know I get a picture to my phone that said Darnell committed to Seton Hall. I live with him, I actually live with him in the same house so I rushed home and jumped on his back and congratulated him. I am so happy for him. It’s a blessing to help kids, but to help my nephew was special.
Question: Can you profile Darnell’s game for me – what are his strengths and what does he need to work on to play at the next level?
Prophet: I want to say he can be a NBA-level rebounder. The kid grabs everything off the glass and that is not just because of his size, he has a good knack for the ball. Even when he wasn’t that talented on the offensive side of the ball when he was younger he had a knack to rebound. That is what brought people’s attention to him initially. It’s an important skill and a lost part of the game. The way I look at it rebounds are extra possessions and the more possessions you have the better chance you have to win the game so if a guy like Darnell can go and get you nine offensive rebounds that's nine more offensive possessions to put yourself on top. On the defensive side, anything that comes off the rim he is going to get. He is huge so you’re not going to go around him or go over him to grab the rebound, he uses his body then goes to get the ball.
He is sneaky athletic too. He’s heavy, but he can jump and go get it. I am excited to see when he gets into a college program and drops some of that weight, how much more athletic he is going to be when he is in tip top shape. Another good thing about his game, he started playing basketball late so he didn’t really know a lot of things coming up so he is an open book. Whatever you teach him he utilizes, it’s easier to teach a kid that doesn’t know anything than it is to teach a kid that knows most everything.
When I first came back and started working with him, he wasn’t squaring up his feet when he shot the ball. He would have his left foot pointed to the sideline and the right foot to the basket and his shot would miss left. He had nice form, but teaching him that little thing helped a lot. We work on form shooting a lot now. Before we do anything in the gym he has to make 50 form shots in a row. His offensive is improving, he can hit shots from the free throw line and extended jump shots.
After form shooting we usually go into low post touches, different moves like drop steps and reverse layups. We have a dunk series thing we do where we put the ball on the floor, roll it and he picks it up, does a drop step and dunks it. Working on that type of stuff has gotten his post moves better. He has learned how to use his body more and seal correctly by using his shoulders and arms and not making himself smaller so guys can't reach over or around and disrupt the post entry. He has nice touch around the basket when he gets looks down low.
Right now people have him as a three star. Obviously if he did another year of prep school, his ranking would have gone up, but I tell him that doesn’t really matter. At the end of the day you want to go to a school that actually is going to invest in you, put that time in the gym with you, work on things that you’re not good at, get you better every day and make you a complete player.
He is not a shot blocker by any means. He can block shots, but that is not his game. I think he can also work on his lateral quickness and movement. He is learning how to guard out on the perimeter. He is deceptively fast sprinting up the court full speed. When he sprints he can beat guards down the court. Once he loses some weight, he is going to be able to run up and down the court like a deer because he has it in him. Playing down at East Side with a bunch of guards helped him there. He can actually hedge out on guards well and defer guards to go back the opposite way. He is learning how to guard out on the perimeter.
He also needs to work on the little stuff like attention to detail in setting screens and minor stuff that when he gets to the next level will make a difference. Practice and coaching him up will help him clean that stuff up. He needs that repetition, which is key. Once you learn the correct way to do things and do it over and over and over it become a habit. When you form good habits you form a good player. Once he gets in that system I think he will blossom as a player.
I am not saying this because he’s my nephew and related to me, but working with him, he wants to get better and learn from a guy like Angel if he comes back next year. It is going to be fun to watch him because some kids peak out early. They reach a point and they plateau and their game flattens out and doesn’t improve. Darnell is still going uphill. He has a lot to learn. That is why I say I am excited to see him at Seton Hall and see how his game develops and transitions at the next level after Putnam. For a kid that hasn’t reached his potential, he is going to be fun to watch as he learns to step in after Angel.
