Texas Lands The Best Three-Man Class in the Nation
Words. HShoop
Avery Bradley (photo. Kelly Kline)
For months, we’d been hearing about how Seattle natives Avery Bradley and Abdul Gaddy were dead set on playing in the same backcourt at the next level. Gaddy backed out of his commitment to Arizona earlier this summer, adding another dimension to the Wildcats’ state of turmoil, and thereby reinforcing these rumors. But in the middle of September, Gaddy re-committed to Lute Olson‘s program without having lured Bradley to play with him.
However, all is not lost for the talented two from the Pacific Northwest. Though he won’t end up playing alongside Gaddy, Bradley is arguably the centerpiece to what is now the best three-man recruiting class in the nation. And it might be one of the best trio’s that we’ve seen in years. Bradley, Dominguez’s (Compton, Calif.) 6-7 SF Jordan Hamilton, and Duncanville’s (Texas) 6-7 F Shawn Williams have all signed on to play for Rick Barnes, thereby making up the most talented group that UT has had since a very similar grouping of talent – Kevin Durant, D.J. Augustin and Damion James – came in in 2006.
While it’s unfair to say that this trio is the second coming of that group, it’s tough to ignore the similarities:
* Both Durant and Hamilton are versatile small forwards who are incredibly confident in their ability to handle the ball. Hamilton doesn’t have Durant’s jumper, but he has a physical presence that KD didn’t get until his rookie season in the League.
* Both Augustin and Bradley are gifted guards – the biggest difference being that Augustin has always been a playmaking scorer, while Bradley prefers to hurt teams with his more-than-reliable jumper.
* Both James and Williams are the odd man out in a sense, but they’re both incredibly valuable. While James looks like he’s cut from stone, Williams’ strength is his smooth finesse.
[...] a hard-knock life) in between recruiting trips. During the call, I asked Coach Barnes about the Longhorns’ much-hyped 2009 recruiting class, ranked #2 in the country by most publications (after Kentucky), as well as other UT-related stuff [...]