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RECRUITING ON HOLD FOR ANDRE DRUMMOND

Top 2012 prospect not thinking about recruitment, schools respecting that stance as season winds to a close

by MATT WHITFIELD

Being labeled Sports Illustrated’s next can’t miss high school basketball player and being the number one overall rated recruit in the high school Class of 2012 can certainly draw a lot of attention your way. The recruiting process can be relentless for such a high-profile prospect, but for St. Thomas More Prep’s Andre Drummond and his coach Jere Quinn, the two have worked to put the process on hold and will focus solely on their season and Drummond’s development until March.

“A lot of people have been looking at him, but what we’re really trying to do is keep the recruiting nonexistent this year,” said Quinn Saturday at the Primetime Shootout. “Andre is coming back next and we want him to have his school year…And in all sincerity Andre and I have not discussed schools in months. We spoke in September and October when the coaches were coming out and since then he doesn’t want to discuss it.”

Quinn mentioned several schools as having been in contact, but said he was impressed with the fact that the schools had kept their word and agreed to give Drummond the space requested until the season ends.

Quinn specifically mentioned contact and interest from Connecticut, Louisville, West Virginia and North Carolina while Pittsburgh, Georgetown and Kentucky have also made their interest known. Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon and UK coach John Calipari were among the head coaches on hand during the Primetime Shootout this weekend.

“Other people have called us but I really respect the coaches because they have followed through with what we’ve asked them to do which is let us have our year and then we’ll get together in the spring,” Quinn said.

Drummond is often spotted on the UConn campus in Storrs (CT) for games and unofficial visits, but according to Quinn that’s really more a smoke screen than anything else as the youngster is just going there to see his friends play at a campus about 35 miles from the St. Thomas More campus in Oakdale (CT).

“He’ll go to a game there [UConn] because he has some friends there on either team, but outside of that unofficially he really hasn’t done much.”

At 6-foot-10 with an NBA physique, the potential of Drummond is limitless as he has astounding athletic ability for a player his size. He constantly shows flashes of his enormous potential with the ability to finis with authority around the rim and dominate the glass on both ends while blokcing shots on the defensive end. At the same time he can disappear for long stretches and float to the perimeter on offense. Quinn is working with Drummond to compete on a more consistent basis when on the floor and the veteran prep coach also can not say enough about the student-athlete Drummond is in the St. Thomas More community.

“I think he’s a young kid with a tremendous amount of potential,” said Quinn. “I’d like to see him become a harder worker on parts of his offensive game. I’d like to make sure that he competes on every play. But having him around campus and having him in our school is just been a tremendous blessing to our community because he’s such a wonderful kid.”

Whichever program is able to land Andre Drummond, even if it is for a short stay in the college game, will get a great talent that will be a great asset to the school’s community off the court as well.

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