Prospect Spotlight: Omari Maulana (2021)
Class of 2021 6’1 guard Omari Maulana is poised and ready to have a break out freshman year for the Life Christian Academy Eagles.
When you think of a freshman you think of a player who is still growing into his body, who is still developing the necessary skill sets to be a successful high school player. You think of a player who is still maturing and at times will make very immature type plays on the floor. I don’t see that in this young. I got a chance to check out some live game coverage yesterday June 21st, 2017 6:30pm at Curtis High School and I was literally blown away with this young man’s demeanor and maturity at a an early age. After speaking with his father I can see where is poise comes from.
The Eagles were down early in the game and before half time fought of a 8-0 serge by White River to only be down by 4 at the half. Omari had 8 point by then and you already saw the Sting start to key in on him. In the 2nd half I was expecting the immaturity of a freshman to show. Once again he proved me wrong. Scoring 15 points in the second half, hitting the game winning shot along with a monstrous dunk with 5 minutes left in the game showed me why even as a 15 year old kid. Division 1 schools should take notice.
This young man is as aggressive as they come. He has a very good handle, good foot work to set up his blow by attacks and is a physical defender on the wing. He has a good mid-range jump shot and has the ability to apply pressure to the opposing guard all game along, which doesn’t only take intensity but HEART…
I got the chance to interview this young man to dig more deep into his passion for the game and what his goals are.
If a coached asked you to describe your game. How would you describe it?
“I’m very explosive getting to the rim. I’m great at coming off screens and slashing into the lane and finishing at the rim or getting a good kick out to some of my teammates for open looks and drawing defenders in. I’m also very good at reading the pick and roll and finding my roll man and making a good decision. My pull up mid-range is an important element of my game, which I’m also very good at.”
Tell me what improvements you want to make during the off-season?
“During the summer in my off season I’m really looking to improve my off hand and my 3 point accuracy, things like my off the dribble three and my catch and shoot 3 are coming along nicely. My handle is very good as well, but I’m look to increase the speed of my handle this summer because there’s always room for improvement.”
Are you playing AAU? If so what team are you playing for and how is that going?
“I play for Seattle select warriors and things are going very well. It’s a great organization and we have great coaches such as Chase Young and Mike Knight and my team is loaded with very good talented all around players. We have a competitive summer schedule playing some of the best national competition. Also we have been very successful playing up against the top 15u in the area as well as our own class of 14u teams.”
What is recruitment looking like for you?
“I’m honestly just getting started with the recruitment process now as a rising freshman. I will be visiting the U. of Idaho, WSU basketball camps later this month. I also have a D1 unofficial visit in California in July. I hope to have a big summer in Vegas in the Big Foot tournament and at the Indi Hoops world championships in August.
I also got a chance to talk the head coach of the Eagles Mark Lovelady and here is what he had to say about the young guard…
“Omari (with his amazing work ethic outside the program and with AAU could play low D-1 or high D-2.”
Here is some of the footage I was able to capture at one of his summer league games vs. White River Sting.
https://youtu.be/q7mCo6nXP8Y
https://youtu.be/1FW2OY4W1wY
https://youtu.be/KFskV4XhueA