The past twelve months have been a whirlwind experience for Modesto Christian's Jeff Wu. The 2015 prospect began his junior year with the Crusaders before being eligible midseason after sitting out due to transfer rules. After a run by the Crusaders to the California Interscholastic Federation Open Division, Wu joined the Oakland Soldiers Blue 17U club for his first taste of club basketball in the United States.
High school basketball players use the club season to help increase their exposure for the college recruiting process. The practice and travel schedule are rigorous as the action begins in the spring and goes through summer. For an international transfer student such as Modesto Christian's Jeff Wu who came to America for his sophomore year of high school, the transition can be even more difficult.
Soldiers Coach Ray Thomas says, "Jeff plays the game with passion and determination. He is a really skilled guard. His ability to attack the rim is relentless. Adding his very good shooting touch from all over the court, makes him a very dangerous offensive player. On the court, Jeff plays very fast. He sometimes plays too fast where he can get into bad spots. Energy level is at a high level right from the opening tip."
The 6-foot-2 and 170 pound point guard left Taiwan two years ago to attend Union High in Vancouver, Washington. Last summer, Wu made the move south to Modesto Christian but went home to Taiwan as he did not play in the club season. Wu was a relative unknown before the club season started but the experience with the Oakland Soldiers has netted him offers from Eastern Washington and Sacramento State while Colgate and Whitman have expressed interest.
Coach Thomas continues about Wu's college potential, "No question Jeff can play at the NCAA Division I level. This is his first time on the club circuit. He definitely will garner interest. With Modesto Christian being a high profile school, Jeff will get thoroughly evaluated."
Wu has adapted well to America as he is originally from the East Asian island country and had competed at Chin-Hwa junior high school in the Xinyi district in Taipei City (Taipei City is one of five special municipalities in the country). His academics are solid as his high school GPA is close to an A minus average. For a student who started midway in high school in America, Wu has good command of the English language in addition to the two standard languages taught in the Taiwan education system, Chinese Mandarin and Taiwanese.
Wu is not the first high profile international prospect from the Soldiers program. Coach Thomas says, "Jeff is our third foreign player. We had a guard from Finland named Rudy Memba and a 7-foot-6 kid from Iran named Jabba. Jeff is our first player from East Asia."
Modesto Christian will be one of the favorites in Northern California to return to the Open Division. A full season with the Crusaders should provide Wu with more recruiting exposure as he leads Modesto Christian to another deep postseason run in Modesto, Calif.
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