While on the prowl this Summer at AAU events searching for the top recruits in the 2012 recruiting class, Texas coach Rick Barnes got a surprise commitment from one of the fastest rising forwards in the 2011 Class.
Currently a Top 20 rated SF, Jaylen Bond suddenly decided to head to Texas for the upcoming season rather than play a year of prep school, alongside top rated Andre Drummond at St Thomas More in Connecticut.
Standing 6‘7 and a chiseled 230lbs, Bond is a physical high flyer and is billed as a poor man’s Lebron James, because he usually fills up the stat sheet and partly since he bears a slight resemblence to the former 2 time NBA MVP. Others have compared his game to that of Bucks guard John Salmons, albeit during his younger days in Philadelphia.
Jaylen has starred for the Philadelphia based hoops superpower Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonels for four seasons. After winning a Pennsylvania State Title alongside former Top 100 rated big man and current St Joe’s Hawk center CJ Aiken in 2010, Bond promptly committed to Coach Jaime Dixon at Pittsburgh prior to his senior season. But after giving it more thought, the elite level SF decided to de-commit from Pitt in March to play a post-graduate year at a Connecticut based prep school.
That is until Texas assistant coach and master recruiter Rob Lanier got ahold of Bond while playing for the NJ Playaz this Summer on the AAU circuit. Lanier is also responsible for prying promising PG prospect Sterling Gibbs, the younger brother of Ashton at Pitt, away from Maryland after Gary Williams retired.
Per ESPN, Bond is a high energy combination forward with a non-stop motor. His turnaround jumpers from either side of the lane are deadly and can be bruising on his way to the basket. Bond plays a very active brand of basketball and has good size. He has very good length coupled with very good leaping ability, which makes him a handful on the offensive boards. He runs the floor well and can finish off the break with a dunk. He has a rapidly developing skill set facing the basket, still utilizing his physical tools to attack the basket while showing a smooth floor game with surprisingly impressive feel for the game.
Bond has garnered a sort of cult following over the past two seasons in the Mid Atlantic region for his numerous poster dunks and one-handed alley-oops in AAU competition. He even has accomplished jumping clear over a defender on the break for the ever popular And 1 play.
Check out Jaylen Bond scoring 32 points in 3 quarters:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
