Emmanuel Mudiay continuing to work hard on AAU circuit, looks to get better
photo from Emmanuel Mudiay’s Instagram
Over the weekend, Emmanuel Mudiay looked good in some cases for MWA in a pool-play game against the Arkansas Wings at the Fab 48 tournament at Bishop Gorman High. Mudiay did get shaken up during the course of the game on Friday, and the mishap caused him to lay on the ground while holding his knee. Emmanuel knows, just like any other athlete, that he is always one wrong move away in a game from getting injured and jeopardizing his career.
“Honestly, I just prayed. I started praying,” Mudiay told Sporting News. “God’s taken care of me on the court. That’s why I pray before every game, to avoid injuries like that. I was fine. I’ll be all right.”
The Arkansas Wings had a phenomenal full-court pressure that caused problems, even for the elite backcourt that featured Emmanuel Mudiay (a top-5 prospect in the 2014 class) and Malik Newman (a top-5 prospect in 2015). MWA struggled for the first half of the game and found themselves behind 25 points at the half. After a series of runs they eventually clawed their way back, but lost by a dozen.
Emmanuel Mudiay is a 6-foot-5, 197 pound prodigy that has been blessed with physical attributes for a lead guard. He can get to the rim well and finish on contact. One of the most important things that Emmanuel shows is his leadership skills as a guard. Court vision is definitely 20-20 for Mudiay, and he can find the open man anywhere on the court with effective decision making.
Friday was probably the best day for Mudiay to look not like himself. Many of the head coaches that are interested in Emmanuel were elsewhere, attending a tournament in Orlando instead. However, Kansas’s Bill Self along with SMU’s Larry Brown, N.C. State’s Mark Gottfried and Texas’ Rick Barnes were court-side watching. A single game shouldn’t have a bad effect on Emmanuel. His level of skill is just too promising.
Emmanuel Mudiay is reportedly interested in playing for coach John Calipari at Kentucky. He still lists nine schools as potential choices, but so far he has only scheduled one official visit. And what could be better than scheduling a visit to Big Blue Madness? That is what Emmanuel decided to do.
“It’s just an experience I want to have, going up there,” Mudiay said. “I’m hearing it’s crazy, so I’m going to go check it out.”
Mudiay said his interest in SMU stems from Brown “trying to start something new. He’s a legend, and he’s trying to get people where they want to go.”
You wouldn’t think of SMU as a potential destination for top -5 prospects, but Mudiay is friends with Dallas wing Keith Frazier, a McDonald’s All-American who signed with the Mustangs last spring.
Emmanuel Mudiay looks like a good kid with a bright future. He wants to find a coach “that’s going to make me better, off and on the court, make be a better person, bring the best out of me and get me to where my goals are.”
Taking players beyond their goals has been something that the Kentucky Wildcats have done well recently, and arguably better than any other team. Coach Cal is a players first coach and intends to keep it that way. A player like Emmanuel would be great to add along with the already-committed Karl Towns Jr. The Kentucky Wildcats look like a strong front-runner to pick up Mudiay, and things are looking good down the road.