Tharpe in no rush
September 2, 2010 New England Hoop News Staff
When Naadir Tharpe woke up Wednesday morning, he was all set to leave for an official visit to Rutgers University and head coach, Mike Rice. While we were on the phone, Tharpe received another call that would completely change those plans. Rutgers had just received a verbal commitment from Myles Mack out of New Jersey, and Tharpe would no longer be a target for the Scarlet Knights. Cross that one off the list and Tharpe is still left with a plethora of good options for the next four years.
Tharpe will be a senior point guard at Brewster Academy in about 10 days. Brewster is a program that he has led for the past couple of years, and led extremely well. Brewster claimed the 2010 Class A NEPSAC championships and also the National Prep Championship title in 2010. Tallying averages of close to 12 points per game and 8 assists per game , Tharpe was instrumental in the success Brewster had last year.
That success hasn't been limited solely to Brewster though. On the summer circuit, Tharpe felt he did a good job of "helping other guys play well, being a leader, and also taking over when needed." He led his New England Playaz squad to numerous final four and championship appearances. A title at West Virginia tournament with over 125 teams in the 17u division, final four at the Adidas Invitational in Indianapolis, Finals at the Arizona Desert Duel, Finals at BasketBull's First 8 in Springfield, are just a few of the high profile tournaments that Tharpe helped the Playaz make a run at.
Tharpe credits much of his success to his brother, Tyshaun Jenkins, who was a standout player at Salem State College. "My older brother has been very helpful in developing my basketball career. He has also helped me a great deal with the whole recruiting process."
The recruiting process that Tharpe speaks of has not been smooth sailing. In addition to the Rutgers situation, Tharpe had previously committed to Providence College back in March. That all changed though when assistant coach, Pat Skerry, took a job at Pittsburgh. Since he reopened his recruiting process, Tharpe has heard from UNLV, North Carolina State, UCLA, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Marquette, St. John's and Minnesota.
"I have no favorites right now. Everything is wide open and everyone has a fair shake," Tharpe stated. He plans on visiting Minnesota officially on September 17th weekend. All the schools have offered except UCLA. He plans on scheduling the other visits at a later date, but said he will definitely visit more than Minnesota.
"I want to wait until after the season to make my decision. I don't want to rush into anything," added Tharpe.
So, with the recruiting stuff put on the back burner for now, Tharpe plans on continuing to get stronger in the weight room, working on defense and becoming a more consistent shooter. He also adds that Jason Smith, the head coach at Brewster, has done a great job developing him on and off the court. His improvement has been impressive over the course of his high school career and we look forward to seeing the success Brewster has this year with Tharpe at the helm.
You can follow Tharpe on twitter @ntharpe10. He also gave a shout out to his loyal teammates at Brewster and NE Playaz.
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