Ignore the college recruiters – NBA executives and scouts are fascinated with 7-foot-2 John Riek, a Sudanese immigrant who surfaced last season at Our Savior New American on New York's Long Island. With his dominant performance at the LeBron James camp in Akron last week, Riek solidified himself as perhaps the most desired commodity in amateur basketball.
He's a junior in high school, so he won't be eligible for the NBA until 2010. Nevertheless, this didn't stop comparisons to Greg Oden from pro and college personnel. Maybe most intriguing about Riek have been the private debates about his age. School officials are listing him at 17, but even Riek says he isn't sure about his true birth date. Said one Western Conference scout, "I think he could be as old as 26."
Of course, one Big East assistant coach insisted, "It would not surprise me if he was 30 years old."
Our Savior New American is a one-room school house where the coach happens to be the teacher, and several college sources believe Riek is eventually destined for the Winchendon Prep School in Massachusetts. Foxsports.com's Jeff Goodman reported that Riek has been accepted (surprise, surprise) and will soon enroll.
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