Economou pledges to Seattle U
One of the most difficult basketball combinations to find in a prospect nowadays is perimeter size, length and shooting ability.
Class of 2018 wing Rip Economou is one of few Southern California prep hoopers who possesses all of those traits and Seattle University landed the rising senior Monday night.
Jim Hayford and the Redhawks edged out Boston University, Davidson and UTEP.
Economou broke down the reasons why he chose to head to the Pacific Northwest to continue his academic and athletic careers.
2018 wing Rip Economou committed to Seattle U over Boston U, Davidson and UTEP.“I took an unofficial to Seattle a week ago and just fell in love with it,” he told Prep Hoops So-Cal. “The city is beautiful, the campus is even better and then I played with the team and could see myself fitting in and playing well there.”
The Santa Monica High star said getting some run in with the current Seattle players opened his eyes as to how he fit with the squad and the team’s future potential.
“I saw how many open shots I was getting, how they like to move the ball and how they like to work the ball inside-out,” Economou said. “The pieces they have, with me as an addition, I feel like we could do some big things.”
Economou believes there are two aspects of his game that translate to the college level right now.
“I think one big strength to my game is my length which helps me shoot over guys and play defense against just about anybody,” he said. “The second thing is my ability to run the floor. It gets me a lot of open shots and dunks and really helps my game.”
Economou is well-known around the high school and club basketball scenes as a rangy and hyper athletic forward who finishes above the rim and can hit the open 3-pointer, but does know which aspects of the game he needs to improve on.
“Before I get to college I want to focus on getting my handles down to the collegiate standard,” he said. “I need to be able to do that to create shots for myself and others when open easy opportunities aren’t presented. I also need to get stronger and get my body ready for the next level.”
In an age where players bounce from one club to another or one high school to another, Economou has stayed loyal to trainer and California Stars coach Julius Von Hanzlik, saying Julius showed him what it would take to reach his Division I goals.
“He’s been my mentor from day one. I moved California in eighth grade and started playing basketball in eighth grade and he instilled an insane work ethic in me,” he said. “He turned me into a gym rat and I kept getting better every day. I went from a kid who couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time to committing to a college. It’s just a dream come true.”