Tyrese Samuel On The Low French Canadian Big Time Prospect
Tyrese Samuel is the name that you will be hearing a lot of in the coming summer. Hailing from Montreal, Quebec’s borough of LaSalle, he’s the sleeper Canadian prospect. Samuel suits up for high school ball at Riverdale Baptist in Maryland.
Under the radar would be an understatement in his case. As a member of the 2018 class, he’s shot up the rankings with still room to rise. Samuel currently sits at number five in North Pole Hoops’ Canadian 2018 class.
Yet another Canadian prospect with NBA type of upside.
Standing at 6’8 with a ridiculous load of athleticism and length, the upside for a prospect with his physical makeup and skill set will lead to NCAA recruitment at the highest levels.
Syracuse, Illinois, Tulane and Virginia Tech, recently have taken interest and many more got to have a look a few weekends ago in New Jersey at the Prime Time Shootout.
When I caught up with Samuel recently, he didn’t shy away from noting his worth.
“For my height, I’m more advanced than other guys at this size. My dribbling ability and shooting, those separate me from others.”
“I can impact the game by rebounding and pushing the ball up the floor…hitting jump shots and breaking down defenders. When the attention of the defense is on me, I can get others open and that makes it hard to guard our team.”
Two years ago, Samuel shot up from 6’2 to 6’6 in height and today towers over most opponents at 6’8.
With the change in physicals came a change in skill. Before the growth spurt, Samuel had been cultivating guard skills and was beginning to get comfortable creating for himself.
Today he uses one to two dribbles to get to the rim before finishing aggressively with dunks. Tyrese Samuel has a dynamic skill set to play as a hybrid forward at the next level.
His long time mentor and coach Robert Gibbs of the Boys and Girls Club of LaSalle has been a witness to the development.
“Converting him to guard last season is what made him blossom. He made a lot of mistakes at first but has adapted very well as the season went on.”
Gibbs went on to speak on Tyrese Samuel’s direction and work ethic.
“I’ve been coaching youth ball for about 10 years with LaSalle and other environment, in that time I’ve never met someone that loves the game as much as Tyrese. Always in the gym, always open to get a workout in.”
Recruitment is really going to heat up this summer, as he has already been receiving interest from a few high caliber NCAA programs.
Samuel was invited and accepted to play with UPlay Canada on the Nike EYBL circuit with some of the world’s top prospects in Rowan Barrett Jr, Andrew Nembhard and others.
The French-Canadian province of Quebec is producing a surge of talent at the present time. Chris Boucher of the Oregon Ducks is a major piece to one of the hottest teams in the NCAA and a clear cut favourite in the Pac 12 conference.
Lugentz Dort and Quincy Guerrier are two of the next up with many more coming behind them.
For the immediate future, Tyrese Samuel is up next.
