March 28, 2011
Cole McConnell is the No. 19 ranked prospect in the NCP 2012 basketball Top 40 as this Sacred Heart Prep junior helped lead his Gators to a 25-3 record. The small forward averaged 8.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists en route to the Gators winning the Cenral Coast Section Division IV title. He also used his basketball quickness and smarts to lead the West Bay Athletic League with 2.7 steals per game.
At 6-foot-5 and 180 pounds, McConnell is being sought after by several Ivy League schools including Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Penn, Princeton, San Francisco, and Yale.
McConnell has the following perspectives on each conference.
Ivy League: "The Ivy League is a very prestigious league to play in. The schools have the best academics in the world and are highly regarded both academically and athletically. The teams in the Ivy League are always solid and do well against out of league competition. Although this league doesn't receive the same press as other major leagues, Ivy League teams can always pull off a major upset against other big time programs."
West Coast Conference (USF): McConnell says, "The West Coast Conference is one of the best leagues on the West Coast. All the WCC schools have amazing campuses and great academics as well. Their basketball programs are on the rise and are starting to receive more national attention."
Sacred Heart Prep Coach Tony Martinelli says about Cole's abilities, "Cole has a tremendous upside because he understands the game so well and has an unmatched passion to succeed. Due to the fact that Cole shoots the ball so well, a lot of the little things he does get overlooked. He has a knack for rebounding on the offense and defensive end, he gets steals and he sees the floor like a point guard. At 6'5, this makes him extremely dangerous. Cole also understands angles well which helps him defend quicker perimeter players. His long arms always seem to be in the passing lanes or blocking shots."
During this summer, McConnell will be playing for his Oakland Soldiers club team. He says, "During the summer, I want to become more of a scorer rather than just a shooter. Right now people view me as just a shooter but as I become stronger and more athletic, I hope to change that opinion. One of the best parts of AAU is to see where I stand against some of the top players in the nation. Playing for the Soldiers allows me to experience top-notch competition in the biggest tournaments. Playing these players shows me my strengths and my weaknesses that I need to work on in the offseason."
Coach Martinelli says about Cole's senior year and college prospects, "Cole's challenge as he prepares to play at the collegiate level will be his ability to get to the basket. There is no question that he has DI shooting range and accuracy but that can be taken away by players that are his size or bigger. There is no doubt that Cole will put the time into getting stronger and quicker and by the end of his senior year, he will be able to meet this challenge. Cole's love for the game and willingness to add to his strengths and address his weaknesses make him attractive to any college program."
McConnell's older twin brothers, Reed and Will, will be graduating this year. As a result, his leadership will be needed more than ever in his senior year. McConnell says, "Playing without my brothers will definitely be weird. For the first time, I'll be expected to take the big shot rather than deferring to Reed or Will to score at the end of the game. It will be fun though because I'll have much more of a scoring role on the team. With Reed and Will leaving to play at UC Irvine and Dartmouth respectively, it will be hard to return to a 25-3 record and a CCS championship. We have a fair amount of returning players from last year, so I believe we can win CCS again and make a deep run into Nor Cals."
Watch for McConnell to have a breakout summer with his club team to propel his recruiting exposure. Then, watch for him to lead his Gators to another deep playoff run in Atherton. And like his twin brothers, watch McConnell on the college level in 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment