May 31, 2003 Scott Vogelsberg(TheWolfpacker.com) One of the more impressive players The Wolfpacker saw at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions was Maryland forward Rudy Gay. The slender, 6-9 forward plays at Archbishop Spalding in Severn, Md., for coach Mike Glick, who coached Levi Watkins as a sophomore and also Georgia Tech rising sophomore Jarrett Jack. Glick said that Gay has as high a ceiling as any player he has coached. “I think Rudy is wide open in every sense of the word,” said Glick. “From my perspective -- and I’ve had 17 Division I players and have been doing this for a while -- Rudy can be a pro. So I want him to look at schools with coaches that are well-grounded and have had success getting players better, because Rudy has a chance to be an NBA player if progresses the way he has. “NC State’s style and system and the way they go up and down the court would give him a chance to showcase his skills, but so would some others. Academics are very important to him, as well as a family environment and the coach. All those things will supercede location.” Gay journeyed to Archbishop Spalding last year after spending his childhood in Baltimore-area schools, with the hope of bettering his academics. Until he improves in that area, the Pack won’t recruit him, according to Glick. Gay is enrolled in summer school classes, however, and he took the SAT for the first time in May and is doing well at his new school. Many schools are monitoring Gay closely, and if he continues to make progress academically, the list could skyrocket for the versatile 16-year-old. “I still think he’s pretty wide open, and basically has a big a list of schools,” said Glick. “UConn, Maryland and Syracuse -- all three head coaches made a school visit. Also, Clemson and Villanova sat down and invested some time with him. “NC State was interested early, but they backed off because he has a little work to do academically.” There are few questions about Gay’s game on the basketball court. When we saw him play, he was a force on the offensive boards, displayed an effective mid-range jumper and swatted away a few shots on the interior. A hybrid “three/four” at this point, Gay would like to develop his small forward skills as he progresses. “He’s a great kid with the potential to be a great player,” said Glick. “His game has rapidly improved in a short period of time; this was his first year with us. “We have been able to play him outside as a ‘three,’ facing the basket, and he’s gotten tremendously better in the last six to nine months at facing the basket. He can really score facing the basket.” Gay told us that he knows that he needs to put on weight, and has added 15 pounds since last summer. When he arrived at Archbishop Spalding, he got his first taste of an organized weight-training program. “He just gets better and better,” Glick said. “He never really lifted weights until he got here, so he’s physically growing into his body. After nine months of lifting, he’s getting stronger, and his best days are ahead.” As his strength has improved, so has his all-around game. Glick said that college coaches who saw him play as a junior and then visited following the season had trouble believing he was the same player. “He has to work on his ball-handing and getting stronger, but other than that, he’s a pretty complete player,” said Glick. “He can score fading away, posting up, facing the basket, going to the basket … He’s underrated defensively. He can really guard guys his size, although 6-3, 6-4 guys give him some problems – he’s 6-9, but you get some matchups like that [vs. smaller players] in high school. “He just gets better by leaps and bounds. A lot of coaches who saw him in April said he was one of most improved players in country since October. He’s just gotten so much better from October and November to now.” And at 16 years old, Gay appears to have no limit on how good he can become. If he dedicates himself to the books and continues to refine his body and skills, the youngster could have his pick of schools.