Recruiting Report: Gibson Jimmerson (2019)
Despite how easy it sounds, trusting the process as a high school aged athlete can be difficult at times. Especially in this age of social media and kids getting recruited earlier and earlier, it can be tough to keep your head down and keep working when it seems like no one is realizing how hard you work.
While things can seem tough at times, it is true that players who work hard and trust the process often flourish when the time is right, and that’s what 2019 wing Gibson Jimmerson is seeing. He reclassified as a 6’5” pudgy freshman at Benedictine who saw moderate success early, and after hard work and dedication he’s seeing some big time improvements on the court.
Playing up on the UA circuit with DC Blue Devils, he’s been one of the best shooters on the Under Armour circuit and coaches are starting to take notice. He picked up his first two offers from high major programs in Cincinnati and Kansas State, and has seen serious interest from programs such as Richmond, Virginia Tech, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Iowa, UVA, UMass and Creighton.
The biggest change has been in his body, where he’s dropped over 50 pounds the last few seasons. He’s now moving better, and able to create his own shot, but it didn’t come without hard work and dedication both on and off the court.
“For me, it was changing what I ate and when I was eating,” he said about his weight loss. “I stopped eating late at night, I cleaned up my diet and stopped eating a lot of carbohydrates and stayed away from bread. Then in the spring before the live periods I was running at least four miles a day, just getting in shape because that’s the biggest thing in AAU is being able to run and get up and down the floor, so those are the things that helped me the most.”
While he’s had to really work at getting his body right, he’s seen big time payoffs as he’s been able to showcase his abilities against some of the best seniors in the country, and his decision to stick with the Blue Devils instead of jumping ship and shining on a 16U team.
The transformation of Jimmerson’s body has been his biggest benefit in the last two seasons.“My decision to play 17U was huge, because I’m playing against bigger and faster players and I have to guard that kind of talent each and every game. Obviously the exposure is better, but the guys on my team they trust me, they know what I can do and they make sure they find me when I’m open, and playing with this group has been great for me.”
Now that he’s blown up, Jimmerson feels like he’s ready to take over a team as a go-to guy, and has decided to transfer to Saint Christopher’s this up coming season, a move that works out well for both parties. Coming off of their best three year run in program history, the Saints have lost two division one prospects over the past two seasons in Nick Sherod (Richmond) and Alex Petrie (Lafayette), the top two scorers in program history, and are in desperate need of a go-to scorer next season.
“I think I’ll be a leader on this team, because even though I’m new I know all the guys and they kind of look up to me,” Jimmerson said about his new teammates. “Obviously I’ll bring scoring and shooting, but I think I’ll need to do a little bit of everything from scoring, rebounding, passing. I’m looking forward to it I think it will make me a better player overall.”
Much like his decision to transfer to Saint Chris, Jimmerson believes that when he makes his decision on where he’ll attend college will likely come down to a matter of what school fits his needs best.
“I think it’s all about the right fit for me, what college will showcase my skill set the best. I want to come in and make an impact right away, not just in scoring but wherever I can go in and fit and I feel comfortable with the coaching staff.”
As for why he believes college coaches should recruit him, his body of work, and work on his body, speaks for itself.
“The amount of work I put in. I’m a hard worker, and I’ve had to put in a lot of work in the past years to get where I am now. I’ve worked for everything I have and I think that’s one thing that separates me from other players similar to me.”
Be sure to keep an eye out for Jimmerson the next two years, as his name should be circulating throughout college recruiting circles around the country.