|
|
|
|
Player Diary: Brandon Ewing of Chicago Julian
Brandon Ewing (Chicago Julian) Special to ChicagoHoops.com June 22, 2004 Email Questions/Comments To brian@chicagohoops.com Brandon Ewing of Chicago Julian High School brings the fifth installment of his player diary to ChicagoHoops.com. Brandon ranks as one of the top Class of 2005 basketball prospects in the state of Illinois, and will bring us a special look inside his recruitment, and his life on and off of the basketball court. What’s up ya’ll! It’s me again, B. Ewing and I’m back with my 5th installment of my summer journal. Let me give a shout out to my high school, Percy L. Julian and the hardest working, most dedicated coach in high school basketball – Loren Jackson! One part of me is glad its summer, but this also means the Class of 2005 is now considered seniors. High school went very fast. On Sunday, I did something I haven’t done in years, I played drive-way basketball with my cousins DeShaughn Boyd, DeAndre Ivory and “Lil” Kev Dillard. Playing on a broken rim in my grandparent’s driveway used to be the spot! That was fun! Over the years, we’ve all been extremely busy, so it was good to reconnect with where it all began. My fault everybody, I know it’s been a long time since you heard from me, but my last few weeks have been very, very busy. First and foremost, I have been working out everyday on my strength, agility and individual basketball skills. I’m still in the gym shooting hundreds of jump shots, and trying to regain my lateral quickness after my ankle injury. In addition, my school team has been participating in the summer league over at De La Salle High School. Last Friday, we played in the Loyola Shootout where a lot of the younger guys that played sophomore ball last year had an opportunity to get a feel for the varsity level. We (Julian) are a young team, and we only have two seniors on this year’s varsity team. Overall we did well, falling short in the championship game, but it was fun playing against my Meanstreets teammates that play for Thornton and Hillcrest. Upcoming events for me include the Illinois Team Camp, Monday and Tuesday (22nd & 23rd) at the Moody Bible Institute, and the Brother Rice Shootout on Thursday the 24th. Since the end of the season I’ve actually gained 10-pounds, so I’m up to 173. I take vitamins everyday, and my mom has been making these chocolate protein shakes with bananas, strawberries and ice cream for me to drink along with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I must say they are working. For those of you that don’t know, my parents are my biggest fans, and I appreciate all they do for me! Over the past few weeks I have also been visiting several colleges including Bradley, Marquette and Louisville. The Louisville Skills Camp was nice. I played well and received many compliments, and also received individual instruction from the staff. I had a chance to run with some of the college guys. The best player I played against has to be Francisco Garcia from Louisville. If you don’t know him, just watch the Louisville Cardinals this year. Like I said in my previous diaries, I plan on visiting most, if not all of the colleges that have been recruiting me... those colleges know who they are... big ups to them all! I have received a few more scholarship offers including Wyoming, Bradley, Purdue, Akron and Loyola. Hopefully when I visit DePaul and Illinois they will offer me a scholarship as well. I also have a few more colleges that are very interested, so every college that wants me will get a look from me. Lastly, and most importantly, I want to say to everyone reading my diary - players, parents and coaches. I know firsthand that recruiting can be a very stressful time, and can basically give you plenty of headaches. However, this is the BEST time of our lives, and we are blessed to feel the love no matter if it is from one college or fifteen. This only happens once for us, and before we know it it’ll be over. Take advantage of this time. Sit back, be patient, and always remain humble in trying make the best decision for yourselves. Feel no pressure guys, we respect the game, and the game respects us! Until next time...... Peace! B. Ewing |
|
