Talib Zanna got a profile that went out on the AP wire. As he left his family and came here almost exclusively because of his raw potential as a basketball player.
It was in Lagos, at a big man camp run former Georgetown player Godwin Owinje, that Zanna met Keithline, who was part of a contingent of high school and junior college coaches invited to run drills for the 75 or so Nigerian youngsters.
“We talked extensively for about five months after I went over there,” Keithline said, “trying to get him a visa, trying to get everything settled with immigration and making sure the paperwork was straight.”
Zanna’s talent was never in question. He posted 17 points and 16 rebounds in his first game on U.S. soil. He averaged 14.6 points and 11.8 rebounds as a senior. He added about 30 pounds of muscle in his 2.5 years at Bishop McNamara, benefiting from a better diet and the school’s weightlifting program.
“When I came over to America, all I do is block shots, rebound, that’s all I want to do,” Zanna said. “But coach Keithline worked hard with me and he made him an offensive player, defensive player, good rebounder.”
Zanna has developed a reliable outside shot, which he demonstrated in a drill with Keithline after an interview at the school’s gym.
“I need to work on my shooting more and my ball-handling because I love to get a 3, yeah,” he said, flashing a smile.
His family back home was not dirt poor, but they are not wealthy elites either. They seem to be part of the very limited middle class in Nigeria. So, when Zanna’s father passed away, he had to remain in the US. He does have a visit planned to see his family over the summer.
Zanna is seen as part of a continent-wide explosion of kids coming from Africa to play. Zanna, as a Nigerian, is part of the group that was inspired by countryman Hakeem Olajuwon.
Of course, this explosion and exporting of talent from Africa has been predicted for the better part of 20 years, and even resulted in a 90s Kevin Bacon movie.
Zanna will have an opportunity to start — or at least play significant minutes in the frontcourt rotation. Dante Taylor has been penciled into the rotation as the starting power forward, but Pitt fans had the right to feel panicked after this little bit came from DraftExpress.
Dante Taylor was a big time disappointment considering his McDonald’s All-American status, looking extremely out of shape and almost disinterested in the proceedings for the most part. One scout went as far as to compare him with fellow Pitt alum Chris Taft. Jamie Dixon is either going to get him playing hard or run him out fairly quickly we imagine. Taylor was not surprisingly cut from the roster after two and a half days.
Well, looking at the roster, no one from the U-19 got on the team without at least a year of college. Still, a Chris Taft comparison seemed ridiculous. Not to mention, there had never before been any question of Taylor’s motor or being that poorly conditioned. Not necessarily peak conditioning, but never “extremely out of shape.”
Chris Dokish addressed this, though, stating that Pitt’s staff was not worried.
Taylor was in poor condition at the tryouts and it showed in his play. To be blunt, it cost him a spot on the team. But the staff is not worried. For players at Taylor’s level, there is virtually no offseason and sometimes they don’t work as hard as they should to stay in shape twelve months out of the year. That’s what happened to Taylor and it cost him. The Pitt staff does not expect it to be an ongoing problem, and certainly don’t see him as a Chris Taft-like bad apple, as was mentioned in the Draft Express article. In fact, the staff notes that Taylor has previously kept himself well-conditioned.
Taylor is also, apparently still growing a bit and now has a wingspan measuring 7′ 1″.
As for future recruiting, it looks like Pitt seems to be leaning towards adding another guard for 2010 to go with point guard commit Isiah Epps.
A coach’s son from the NBA Top 100 Camp was a focus of Pitt in Trey Zeigler.
The 6-foot-5 shooting guard out of Mt. Pleasant (MI) informed NBE on Saturday that he has offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Miami, Michigan State, Michigan, Providence, UCLA, LSU and Dayton.
Lately, Pittsburgh has also been showing strong interest and Zeigler definitely plans to visit Pitt later this summer, likely in August. He has already visited Michigan, Michigan State and UCLA and also would like to visit Arizona State and LSU this summer. A top five list would likely be created following the summer visits.
Trey is the son of Ernie Zeigler, the current head basketball coach at Central Michigan. Prior to the job at CMU, Ernie was an assistant under Ben Howland at UCLA and Pittsburgh, where he was on the staff with Jamie Dixon.
Another guard Pitt likes for 2011 is Myles Davis. From the Rumble in the Bronx competition.
Myles was dominant in the contest for the Playaz we watched on Saturday. He had his shot really working from the outside. He knocked down three from beyond the arc, including one of the pull up variety. He followed that up with a runner in the lane before hitting another three-pointer. Myles is good at attacking off the dribble too. He finished or drew fouls on several occasions. He is quite the talented young guard.
In recruiting, Davis likes Virginia, Marist, Pittsburgh, Kentucky, Louisville, Wake Forest, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Arizona. He informed NBE he hopes to visit UVA and Pitt soon.
