Prince Ali Is a UConn Husky
After heading to UConn’s game against Indiana on Friday at Madison Square Garden and unofficially visiting on Saturday Prince Ali had seen enough, he decided to become a UConn Husky! The 6’4″ 190lbs. shooting guard who attends The Sagemont School in Florida is Kevin Ollie’s first commitment in the class of 2015.
Ali first received an offer from UConn on February of this year. Ever since then Ollie has taken full charge of his recruitment and it seems as if he has put the full court press on him lately. Ever since getting the offer he has been very interested in UConn. He told Future150 this after receiving the offer, “I’m very interested in UConn. It’s close to where I am originally from, and the program produces a lot of professionals. I’m glad to see my work is paying off, though.” Ali committed to UConn over USF, Florida, Providence, UCLA, Florida State, Miami, Illinois, Indiana, Georgia, and Kansas among others.
As for why he committed Ali had one main reason, “Me and Kevin Ollie have a great relationship. I trust that he will put me in a situation where I can excel.” Ollie has been Ali’s main recruiter basically the entire time. That’s what kept UConn in contention and ultimately got Prince Ali to commit to UConn. Prince also explained what he liked about coach Ollie and his coaching staff, “Coach ollie is an honest guy, great coach, better person, and the coaching staff is young.” It’s clear that he and the staff have built a great relationship. He also added, “They all believe in me also.”
Ali is known by many people for being an elite athlete. He is tremendous in transition and that’s when he’s at his best. He often finishes with his tomahawk dunk or other high flying finishes. However, he is very good in half court offense and is an underrated shooter. He also has the body and athleticism to be a very good defender as well in college. Ali thinks he can bring, “Offense and defense,” to the team. Coach Ollie also told him what he wants him to be able to do when he gets here, “Coach Ollie wants me to come in and do what I do, which is score the ball and play hard.”
In Prince’s first game of his junior year, last Wednesday, his brother told me he had 21 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists in only about 15 minutes. Prince’s team was clearly superior, winning 82-31, so his coach decided not to risk injury by leaving him on the court. This Friday Ali will have a very good matchup with another top ranked shooting guard in Florida Antonio Blakeney. It will be a very good test for him on his first game as a UConn commit.
The class of 2015 is Ollie’s first full recruiting class. It’s the first class in which he and his staff will identify who they want to go after, if they haven’t done that already. He will have identified his targets and will be the lead in their recruitments. So far it looks as if it will be a promising class with Prince Ali being the first to be on board. From here they will likely go out and prioritize a true point guard and a very good big. Then they will likely add another wing or big.
Prince Ali’s Rankings:
ESPN: Not in the ESPN60. Grade of a 82 and has 4 stars.
Scout: #78. 4 stars.
Rivals: #75. 4 stars.
247 Sports: #45. Grade of a 96 and has 4 stars.
Future150: #46. Grade of a 95 and has 4 stars.
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