A few notes on Parker, Tsafack
I caught up with Miller School assistant coach Tommy Landseadel on Thursday to get his take on Mychal Parker’s commitment to Maryland. Here are a few notes from our conversation that didn’t make the story that appeared in Friday’s edition of The Baltimore Sun.
Landseadel first saw Parker during the summer before his junior year at the Five-Star Basketball camp at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia.
“He was there at camp and there were a couple other big-time players, including [Kentucky point guard recruit] John Wall,” Landseadel said. “And Mychal had a terrific week. He displayed his athleticism and his ability to score from the outside. He actually, in my opinion, outplayed John Wall that week and ended up taking away co-MVP of the camp -- they split the award between Mychal and John Wall. Obviously, when you’ve got a kid who’s No. 1 in the class ahead of him and he’s able to split the award, that’s doing something.”
At the time, Parker was looking to transfer from Terra Ceia Christian -- a private school near his hometown of Washington, N.C. -- to a more high-profile institution where he could hone his basketball skills. That’s where the Miller School came into play.
Landseadel had this to say when asked who Parker most resembled.
“If I had to look at the NBA level, I would say I see a little bit of Tracy McGrady in him, just in terms of his athletic ability,” Landseadel said. “He’s obviously a couple inches shorter than McGrady, but it almost looks effortless when he’s on the floor because he’s so smooth. He can do everything.”
One of Parker’s most notable teammates at the Miller School is Hippolyte Tsafack, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound power forward from Cameroon.
“His recruitment is kind of all over the map,” Landseadel said. “He’s got a couple high-major schools that have offered, including Auburn. He’s still kind of trying to feel things out. We’ll get him to take a couple visits this fall and try to figure out what he wants to do.”
Maryland has been one of the high-major schools that have monitored Tsafack’s progress for quite some time, although it’s unclear how heavily the Terps are pursuing him.
“I know Maryland’s near the top of his list,” Landseadel said. “I haven’t had a chance to speak with anybody from the Maryland staff this summer, so I don’t know how heavily they’re invested in him at this point. I know that would be something that Hipp would really like -- to be a Terrapin.”
Comments
Highly informative post, Matt. It hard not to be excited about the coming year.
Posted by: Ed | August 22, 2009 4:50 PM
Matt-
Lets say that MD can have any of the big men they are going after for 2010. Who is their favorite?
I guess Harris, but it seems to me they have a better shot at Jones.
Who do you get the impression they have to best chance to land?
I wish every kid was like Parker. He really wanted to come here. His father is in it for the tradition and academics. Perfect fit. Lets hope Ross and Parker creat match-up problems like a MF'r, and the 2 bigs that will be sophmores can box out and clean it up.
Bowie will be a Senior and Stoglin a freshman, so if they distribute well, it should be a pretty dominant season for the terps.
Let's make sure we don't look too far past this year though.
Posted by: Ryan | August 23, 2009 5:32 AM
Ryan -- I think UM would be ecstatic with Harris, Jones, Leslie or Smith. All four had pretty unbelievable summers. I'm not sure if they'll land any of those mentioned, but the staff has done a good job to be seriously in the mix with each.
Posted by: Matt Bracken | August 24, 2009 10:13 AM
I would love to see Hippolyte play for the Terps-sounds like the real deal. I can just imagine some of the nicknames he will draw.
Posted by: Bob C | August 24, 2009 11:43 AM