Hoyas target the nation's best
Country's #1 recruit resides in Georgetown's backyard
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A year ago, J.R. Givens was the toast of the basketball prep scene in and around Washington. The five-star point guard dominated AAU and ABL competition and made everyone around him gush with pride when he committed and signed with the resurgent Georgetown program, and he is expected to make a significant contribution this upcoming season as a freshman for John Thompson III.
However, he may not have been the best player in the nation's capital.
That title may belong to then-junior/current senior small forward Darius Jefferson, who is the consensus #1 player in the country. At 6'8, 224 pounds, Jefferson's freakish athleticism reminds people of Kevin Durant, even though he is a little bigger than the former Texas star. It is said that Jefferson shoots like a shooting guard and rebounds like a center. If pushed to find a flaw in his game, one could say he needs to work on his focus, as he can tend to coast at times. But when he's on, he is every bit deserving of the #1 ranking.
Of course, growing up and playing ball in the D.C. area and seeing his friend Givens sign on the dotted line for local power Georgetown, the question everyone wants to know is: will Jefferson follow and join the Hoyas?
"You never know," the small forward said with a grin. "I didn't really grow up a fan of any one school, but it's always nice when the team closest to home is really good and they want you. They're after me pretty hard, Coach Thompson is recruiting me himself, and the thing he's preaching is he wants to improve the overall athleticism of his team, and he thinks I'm the perfect fit."
While he was noncommital about his feelings toward Georgetown, Jefferson was more concrete when asked about if he plans on signing during the early period from November 29 through December 6th.
"Definitely. I've got a few schools in mind that are recruiting me that I want to visit, so I'll do that in November, and I definitely plan on committing and signing when the early signing period starts."
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