As is this young man being recruited by Sha and Tiny....
Zach Braziller @NYPost_Brazille 6h6 hours ago Queens, NY
Jefferson coach Bud Pollard said
#sjubb,
Seton Hall, Minnesota, Creighton, South Carolina most active with Shamorie Ponds.
This St. John’s target is already drawing big crowds, rave reviews
By
Zach Braziller
Shamorie Ponds already has received interest from schools such as St. John's,
SETON HALL, Creighton, South Carolina and Minnesota. Photo: Anthony J. Causi
Shamorie Ponds didn’t enter high school with any hype. You couldn’t find his name on recruiting web sites.
“I didn’t see this coming as a freshman,” Thomas Jefferson coach Lawrence “Bud” Pollard said in a phone interview. “He was a little, short chubby kid.”
By “this,” Pollard is referring to the 6-foot southpaw guard’s rapid ascension, as one of the country’s top guards, a four-star Brooklyn prospect being recruited by a number of high-major Division I schools, such as St. John’s, Seton Hall, Creighton, South Carolina and Minnesota. With former Christ the King star Rawle Alkins leaving the city for prep school, Ponds will take the mantle this upcoming winter as the five boroughs’ top prospect. But he’s already the most popular, Pollard believes.
“Rawle might be bigger, stronger and better, but everyone loves to watch Shamorie play,” Pollard said. “We may have to raise the price to games to $20 because it gets so packed. He has that natural flair and swagger people love.
“He’s got a little Nick Van Exel, Kenny Anderson in him. He shoots that long ball like Nick, but he’s smooth like Kenny Anderson.”
Ponds, taking part in the Adidas Uprising All-American Camp on Long Island this week as part of July’s live recruiting period, won a city title on the junior varsity as a freshman, but Pollard remembers him as just one of many quality players.
He didn’t stand out. The summer after his freshman year, however, he did, basically living in the Jefferson gym. His body changed — fat turned to muscle and he grew several inches — and so did his game.
“He’s a gym rat,” Pollard said of Ponds. “He’ll stay in the gym all day and just play ball.”
He led Jefferson to within a few points of the city title that March and had a big summer on the AAU circuit. He’s taken off even further since then, playing at his best against the country’s best, developing into the best player Pollard said he’s coached in 11 years at Jefferson.
Ponds’ scoring is what stands out, his ability to shoot from the perimeter and get to the basket. He averaged 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists per game this past season for Jefferson and led the New York Lightning to the Peach Jam, the premier AAU event of the summer.
He’s the first player under Pollard to be ranked in the top 50 of his class so late in his career, the result, the coach said, of his ability to be at his best against the top players. He had 36 points this winter in a win over nationally-ranked powerhouse Prime Prep.
Ponds showcased that ability Thursday night at Rucker Park, in a showcase of the top rising seniors in the Adidas camp, scoring 22 points with an array of step-back jumpers, drives to the basket and even a few dunks, illustrating his impressive athleticism.
Yet two Division I coaches praised his ability to play under control and his strength as a defender.
“He makes up for his size with his length,” one coach said. “He does a great job getting deflections and disrupting passing lanes.”
Another coach, who watched Ponds Wednesday and Thursday, said: “He can score, defend and run a team. He’s efficient and rarely makes mistakes.”
Ponds is focusing on basketball at the moment, not fixated on his recruitment, though he said St. John’s has made an impression since Chris Mullin took over, developing a relationship with him quickly.
“They’re telling me I’m their No. 1 recruit for 2016,” he said. “I want to go somewhere I feel wanted.”
He plans to formulate a list sometime before taking official visits and making his decision. But he also said he would like to get offers from bigger schools — he mentioned Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina — and increase his ranking.
“I believe I should be ranked higher than what I am,” Ponds said. “It’s motivation.”
The little chubby kid from Brooklyn isn’t satisfied.
Harrison Malkin @HarrisonMalkin 6h6 hours ago
Jon Rothstein @JonRothstein 
