I'm telling you, I don't think NU has had a recruit like Joe Bam before. We know he has a game that we may not have seen before in Evanston, but he's also got an attitude and confidence that we haven't experienced before, either.
I interviewed him about his performances at the Jay Bilas and NBA Players Association Top 100 camps, and this is some of what he had to say:
About his performance at the NBAPA Top 100 camp, where he was recognized by just about everyone as an outstanding performer against some of the best players in the country, he said, "I think I've always been one of the best players in the country. I just hadn't been in position to show that before. I finally had a chance to show that... I'm a super-confident person, so it's easy for me to do well."
He added, "This notion that I only played well in high school because I was playing at a low level or whatever. Well, I did all the same things against the top guys in the country."
About getting a fourth star from Rivals, he said, "soon, it will go up to five stars."
He said that he didn't really learn much at the Top 100 camp, but he did at the Jay Bilas Camp the week before, where he learned to be more of a vocal leader on the floor. "I learned to talk more and be more engaged and that carried over (and helped me) at the Top 100 Camp."
A few more notes:
- He takes about "600-700 shots a day" in his training routine, which he does "five or six times a week." Today, for example, he made 250 shots from 7:30 to 9:30 am, working with a trainer, then he lifted weights with a lifting coach and did conditioning and a bike and treadmill. He'll head back to the gym tonight and make another 250 shots. "It's what I do," he said. "It doesn't even feel like work to me."
- He trains at the same place as 2019 incoming freshman Robbie Beran. Joe Bam sees Robbie "two or three times" a week and the two have become pretty good friends.
- He was on the same team at the Top 100 Camp with Patrick Baldwin Jr. "He's so quiet," he said. "I didn't realize that he was the No. 1 player in the country. But on the court, he's super-confident in the way he plays." They talked quite a bit about NU, but he didn't call it "recruiting him." He said it was more of "a passive kind of thing," similar to the way that Beran talked to him about NU.
- He admitted he was baffled about NU signing lacrosse star Patrick Spencer. "I was so confused. I was super-shocked," he said with a laugh. "I was like, We're getting lacrosse players now?"
I interviewed him about his performances at the Jay Bilas and NBA Players Association Top 100 camps, and this is some of what he had to say:
About his performance at the NBAPA Top 100 camp, where he was recognized by just about everyone as an outstanding performer against some of the best players in the country, he said, "I think I've always been one of the best players in the country. I just hadn't been in position to show that before. I finally had a chance to show that... I'm a super-confident person, so it's easy for me to do well."
He added, "This notion that I only played well in high school because I was playing at a low level or whatever. Well, I did all the same things against the top guys in the country."
About getting a fourth star from Rivals, he said, "soon, it will go up to five stars."
He said that he didn't really learn much at the Top 100 camp, but he did at the Jay Bilas Camp the week before, where he learned to be more of a vocal leader on the floor. "I learned to talk more and be more engaged and that carried over (and helped me) at the Top 100 Camp."
A few more notes:
- He takes about "600-700 shots a day" in his training routine, which he does "five or six times a week." Today, for example, he made 250 shots from 7:30 to 9:30 am, working with a trainer, then he lifted weights with a lifting coach and did conditioning and a bike and treadmill. He'll head back to the gym tonight and make another 250 shots. "It's what I do," he said. "It doesn't even feel like work to me."
- He trains at the same place as 2019 incoming freshman Robbie Beran. Joe Bam sees Robbie "two or three times" a week and the two have become pretty good friends.
- He was on the same team at the Top 100 Camp with Patrick Baldwin Jr. "He's so quiet," he said. "I didn't realize that he was the No. 1 player in the country. But on the court, he's super-confident in the way he plays." They talked quite a bit about NU, but he didn't call it "recruiting him." He said it was more of "a passive kind of thing," similar to the way that Beran talked to him about NU.
- He admitted he was baffled about NU signing lacrosse star Patrick Spencer. "I was so confused. I was super-shocked," he said with a laugh. "I was like, We're getting lacrosse players now?"
