Friar Basketball

This Week in the Big East: Closer Look at Omari Spellman

Omari Spellman

In the latest “This Week in the Big East” first-hand impressions are shared of 2016 5 star power forward Omari Spellman, who committed to Villanova late last week. The article also takes a look at Xavier’s critical victories last week and features the latest conference power rankings.

From the article.

Spellman does a little bit of everything. He shows flashes of being an outstanding passer, can put the ball on the deck, shoots with range beyond the 3-point arc, and is quite nimble for his size.

What I’ll be looking for out of Spellman as the playoffs approach is whether or not he can dominate games with it all on the line. This will be MacDuffie’s first appearance in the AA playoffs and they’ll rely heavily on their big men.

My first look at Spellman came at the National Prep Showcase in November, when MacDuffie took on a very good Hargrave team. Spellman really got into it with 2015 Auburn commit Danjel Purifoy, an athletic 6’7 small forward whom MacDuffie had no answer for. Purifoy finished with 29 that day, while Spellman had 21 points and eight rebounds as Hargrave pulled away in the second half after trailing at the break (Tshimanga had 21/12).

A month later at the Hoop Mountain Classic, Spellman and MacDuffie overwhelmed Brimmer and May. Spellman was too much inside, finishing with 15 points and 14 rebounds.

These are heady times at Villanova. Wright’s club is dominating the Big East and should land a two seed in the NCAA Tournament. They have a McDonald’s All American coming in the class of 2015 (point guard Jalen Brunson), and now a top 20 big man in 2016.

Brunson has all the makings of a superstar. He has ripped off a handful of 40-50 point games, yet he’s more of a playmaking point guard. With Spellman on board in ’16 Wright’s staff can focus on finding a scorer in 2016, with top 30 prospects Rawle Alkins (Brooklyn, NY) and Tyus Battle (Edison, NJ) both showing interest according to Adam Finkelstein.

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