2009 UC COMMIT KILPATRICK SHINES

by Zach Smart

Throughout his high school career, Sean Kilpatrick has been recognized for being a prolific scorer. The Cincinnati-commit staked his claim as one of the top scorers in New York State during his four year stay at White Plains High School. His major upside has always been his ability to score in clusters, knife through defenses, hit from the outside, and barrel to the bucket.

He also has a penchant for dizzying opponents off the dribble with an arsenal of one-on-one moves.

For 26 minutes Saturday at the Big Apple Basketball Invitational, Kilpatrick's scoring wasn't the main aspect of his game that stood out. It was his harassing defense and pin-point passing that helped Notre Dame Prep cruise to a 100-69 mauling of Apex at the ARC arena of Baruch College.

Kilpatrick scored a game-high 21 points, doled out seven assists, and collected four steals in a game that saw Prep's suffocating defense lead to countless fast break opportunities. Apex never recovered from a shaky first half, and their porous defense allowed four prep players to finish in double-figures.

Kilpatrick was named game MVP, during the second contest of the sixth annual Big Apple Basketball Invitational.

He found the open man early and often, drawing double teams and kicking it out to teammates. He found teammates on his way to the basket. He rifled in passes from beyond the arc. All in all, he kept the defense off balance and shouldered the role of playmaker in one of the finest performances of his post-graduate career.

"That's not just today you see that from Sean," said Notre Dame coach Ryan Hurd.

"Sean’s made a concentrated effort this year on getting everybody involved. That’s why, I think more so than ever at this level, we have a group of guys that take a little bit of pleasure in the other kids being successful. That starts with Sean, with the ability to get to the rim and draw people and willing to give the ball up.”

“Coach told us to come in and play defense,” said Kilpatrick following the game. “We play defense and they can’t stay in the game with us, because we have too much talent. That was the whole key of the game. If we play defense then it will turn into buckets.”

Has his augmented passing role helped prepare him for the next level?

“I have to go into Cincinnati and do my job as a scorer. I guess everything else will take care of itself. Coach (Mick) Cronin just told me to basically focus on this year, with Prep. I think it’s really preparing me for Cincinnati, but right now I’m just focusing on what I can do to help this team win.”

For more on Zach Smart's coverage of the Big Apple Basketball Invitational, please visit the NBE Basketball Report.