Georgetown Recruiting, Pittsburgh Recruiting

CATCHING UP WITH ERIC ATKINS

2010 guard has plenty of high-level college interest in his electric game

When you think of the natural tools that makes a great point guard, traits such as great court awareness, vision and a high basketball IQ definitely come to mind. That is exactly what the NBE Basketball Report saw out of Eric Atkins when he was running the show for the DC Assault 16-U squad last spring at Day One of the DC Assault AAU Tournament, ‘Take Your Best Shot.’

Despite being just 6-foot-2 and 170 pounds, Atkins is a tough and athletic guard that plays with force when driving to the rim. His quickness with the ball allows him to create his own offense when need be, but his basketball acumen keeps him from forcing his own issue too much as his decision making is a strength of his game that observers note and he lists as well.

As just a sophomore, Atkins earned 2nd team all-Met last year playing for coach Pat Clatchey at Mount Saint Joseph in Baltimore (MD). On the AAU circuit he teamed with recent Duke commitments Tyler Thornton and Josh Hairston to lead the 16-U DC Assault Squad to one of the most impressive summers on the circuit, citing that “my AAU team winning the Vegas 16-U championship” as the highlight of his summer.

Now, back home and at school in Baltimore, the coaches that saw him over the summer are making their interest in him clear as Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt and Kentucky have all come by Mount St. Jospeh this month already. Atkins has also recently visited UMass and Virginia Tech. He plans to visit more.

“I’m planning on visiting Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt and Maryland and that’s it,” Atkins said of future visit plans. “Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Maryland and UMass” were rattled off by Atkins when asked of his favorite schools that he had been hearing most from.

Even with the recent run of 2010 guards from his area pulling the trigger in the recruiting game, like Josh Selby to Tennessee and Tyler Thornton to Duke, “later this year” was the time frame Atkins gave for a possible college decision.

In the meantime, Atkins plans to continue to work on building strength and adding some weight to his frame. The other area he will continually work on is his defense to round off his game. There is no doubt Eric Atkins can ball and he is putting in the time and effort to become an even better baller, so, those in the B-More area, your on notice for this season as Atkins is ready to go!

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