Aaron Gordon Archbishop Mitty
(Photo by Photo by Jimmy Kelley)
By JORDAN HIGGS
SPRINGFIELD -- Archbishop Mitty forward Aaron Gordon elevated and caught an inbounds pass with one hand Monday before throwing it down over Lone Peak center Spencer Curtis.
The crowd at Springfield College for the Hoophall Classic matchup rose to its feet, and a group of youngsters shouted "Come to Arizona!"
This is the life for Gordon these days: throwing down dunks, wowing crowds, and hearing plenty about his impending college decision.
The slam over Curtis was only one of Gordon's many thrilling dunks this afternoon, but his highlight show wasn't enough as Archbishop ultimately fell in a blowout, 81-46.
It was never close, but Gordon competed hard until he was finally subbed out in the waning moments of the second half, finishing with a game high 27 points and 12 rebounds.
"I always though we had a chance to win," Gordon said.
"That's just his makeup," said Archbishop coach Tim Kennedy. "He's a total competitor and he won't back down from anybody and it doesn't matter what the score is. He's going 100% every time. He has that drive … he finds a way to win."
A human highlight reel, the obvious comparison would be Blake Griffin, but Gordon said the player he looks up to most is Magic Johnson. While their games don't resemble each other, Gordon is similarly involved in every facet of the game. In addition to being a scoring and rebounding presence, Gordon functioned as a facilitator on offense and a disruptive presence on defense. He's immensely gifted physically, but Gordon isn't content to sit back and rely on his talent alone.
"I've obviously been blessed with basketball talents, I just want to live up to the highest potential that I possibly can," he said. "I don't know what that is, or what that means, or what it could possibly be, but just the highest level of my basketball potential I can live up to."
Living up to that potential will take a lot of work, work Gordon expressed his willingness to put in. In addition to developing his post game, Gordon is focused on improving his jumper.
"I've just got to keep my jumper consistent," said Gordon "I've got to hit about maybe three, four jumpers a game just to keep everybody honest, and I haven't got to that stage of my game yet."
"Recently I've started to shoot about five-hundred, five-hundred and fifty shots a day," Gordon added. "I'm going to continue to do that until I've got a really consistent jumper."
Gordon is still undeclared, but has narrowed his search down to 3 schools: Washington, Kentucky, and Arizona.
"I think at the beginning … it started to weigh on him," Kennedy said. "But once he didn't make a decision he agreed that he wasn't going to do it until the spring signing period, the pressure was all off."
"He's had control of the recruiting process the whole time. He limited his list right off the bat so it hasn't been a crazy circus with a hundred schools contacting him."
Kentucky already has a crowded incoming class but Gordon isn't weighing that in his ultimate decision.
"I'm not really looking to fit in at college," he said. "I'm looking to stand out."