WHITE PLAINS' KILPATRICK HEADED TO BEARCAT COUNTRY

by Zach Smart



Sean Kilpatrick’s efficient arsenal of 20-footers, mano y mano moves, and good life from the perimeter is what helped him mount a considerable Division-I stock.


Notre Dame Prep’s Kilpatrick, a second team All-State selection who helped lead White Plains to a 15-7 season (culminating with a 93-65 playoff loss to Poughkeepsie), had been comfortably nestled on the recruiting radar the past few days.


Kilpatrick, the combination guard who averaged a sublime 25.6 points per game last season, had been hotly pursued by a number of Big East schools, Providence, St. John’s, and Cincinnati, to name a few.


He arrived at a decision yesterday, giving Cincinnati a verbal commitment.

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Kilpatrick, who played alongside the state’s most electrifying dunker in Rashad James (18.7 ppg) in the White Plains backcourt, has sold Big East hoop tycoons on his scoring prowess.

The 6-foot-4, 185-lb. Kilpatrick can score in clusters. The second-highest ranked player from Section I last season (second only to West Virginia’s Kevin Jones, outclassing Archbishop Stepinac’s Tony Taylor Mount Vernon’s Sherrod Wright and a buffet-line of highly-touted players), Kilpatrick’s aggressive scoring aptitude smashed the surface during multiple pivotal games last season.

When the Tigers eked out an 82-79 thriller over Canarsie (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Kilpatrick simply went off. The then-senior erupted for 44 points, connecting on 17 field goals and 10 free throws.

In a big-stage game against cross-town rival New Rochelle, Kilpatrick hung 38 points, including seven treys. Kilpatrick poured in 30 points in two games against perennial power Mount Vernon, another one of White Plains’ fiercest rivals.

The oceans opened for Kilpatrick during a five-game stretch in middle-late January, as he averaged 28.2 points against a handful of reputable Section I opponents, including Mookie Jones (Syracuse) and Peekskill.

According to the Daily News, Kilpatrick still needs to right the academic ship. His boards were never a problem on the court, he attacked the glass with a reckless abandon can sky very well for a guard.

Off the court, however, his boards kept him from big-time schools. Kilpatrick will up his grades at the prestigious prep program situated in the woodworks of Massachusetts.

Cincinatti can certainly use the guard’s explosive scoring as a future replacment of go-to-guy Deonta Vaughn. The offensive ratchet led the Bearcats with 17 points per game. The three-point assailant cooked Syracuse and UConn to the recipe of 29 and 34 points, respectively. Having an offensive scoring talent such as Kilpatrick to apprentice under Vaughn for a season and then waiting in the wings to make his mark will help Mick Cronin's squad increase their college basketball odds of winning.

Kilpatrick nearly gave St. John’s an oral commitment last year. He was impressed with the school’s proximity and the lured by the opportunity to make an immediate impact. It looks like another one of the city-area prospects will be heading south for the winter.

One pothole in Kilpatrick’s game is his habit of playing erratically. His performance in the Jordan Brand All-American Classic at MSG (two points on 1-for-10 shooting) is indicative of this.

Kilpatrick is a combination guard and worked on operating offense this summer. He spent long, grueling hours in the gym with Gerard Jones (the older brother of the aforementioned Kevin Jones), refining elements of his game and adapting to the role of a point guard. Gerard Jones describes Kilpatrick as a “true” off guard, according to a recent story on Zagsblog.

http://njmg.typepad.com/zagsblog/2008/01/kilpatrick-offe.html


Kilpatrick played for the Westchester Hawks on the AAU circuit.