Samardo
Samuels, who led St. Benedict's to a No. 2
national ranking by USA Today, has been named the
2007-'08 Gatorade New Jersey Boys Basketball Player
of the Year.
The 6-8, 240-pound senior center, who has signed a
national letter of intent to play for Louisville
next season, averaged 22.5 points and 9 rebounds in
pacing St. Benedict's to a 24-1 record.
A McDonald's All-American for the Newark school, the
native of Montego Bay, Jamaica, was named the Most
Valuable Player of the NBA Players' Association Top
100 Camp last June. ''Samuels is one of the five
best prospects in the country,'' said Dave Telep,
the National Recruiting Director for Scout.com.
''He's the best interior player in the Class of
2008.''
Just the facts: Selected
New Jersey's Gatorade Player of the Year. He was
MVP of three big-time tournaments this season, the
City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Fla., the
Bojangles' Shootout in Charlotte and the Nike Super
Six in New York. He averaged 24.2 points and 10.7
rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots a game for the
season.
A
mistake I've learned from: "Coach
Dan Hurley was a lot harder on me this year
than he was last year. He wanted to make sure that I
was ready to go to Louisville. … There were times
when I talked back to my coach, and you never win by
doing that."
What I need
to work on: "I need to
make quicker decisions on my moves. Sometimes I wait
a little too much instead of going ahead and making
the move."
Favorite
teacher: "This year my
favorite class was the Civil War with Mr. Mike
McCree. We have some conversations. He's very
personable. Also, my math teacher, Mr. Tony Frey,
makes sure you understand the subject."
My biggest
influence: "Has been my
mom and my dad. They worked hard to make sure me, my
sister and my brother got everything we needed. My
dad owns a taxi company."
My first
dunk: "I was 13 and
back home in Jamaica and it happened on a fast
break. It was pretty hard, with two hands, but my
eyes were closed."
Best book
I've read this year: "Malcolm
X: By Any Means Necessary by Walter Dean Myers."
Favorite
musician: Jay-Z.
My
playground legend: "A
guy named O'Neal. He was my height, he was like 6-8.
He was a man on the court. I learned from him."
Favorite
NBA player: "When I
first started playing basketball, they told me to
watch a lot of Tim Duncan. He's a big reason
for my improvement."
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