Miami Hurricanes Add PF Deng Gak to 2017 Recruiting Class
The Miami Hurricanes continue to add to their 2017 recruiting class. Jim Larranaga received a verbal commitment from Power Forward Deng Gak earlier this week.
Gak is a 6’10 195 pound four-star power forward. He is the third commit to the Hurricanes 2017 recruiting class. Gak is the 93rd rated player nationally according to ESPN. He was considering eight other schools. Duke, Kansas, and UConn were among the other schools he was looking at.
The Hurricanes had been the co-favorite with Kansas to get a commitment from Gak, To be able to get a commitment going up against Kansas speaks a lot about Jim Larranaga and his staff. This also shows how strong the program is and the positive direction they are going in.
Gak who is of Sudanese descent was born in Egypt and raised in Australia. He currently attends Blair Academy in Blairstown, New Jersey. Three BA alums have played in the NBA including Los Luol Deng of the Los Angeles Lakers who used to play for the Miami Heat .
Gak joins another big man from Oceania as part of the Hurricanes 2017 recruiting class. Samuel Waardenburg, a 6’9 205-pound power forward is from Auckland, New Zealand. He was also was considering SMU, Utah. and Virginia. Waardenburg is unrated at this time.
Four Star Point Guard Chris Lykes is the third player in Miami’s 2017 class. He is the 11th player ranked player at his position and the 52nd ranked overall in the class of 2017. Lykes will likely backup Ja’Quan Newton in 2017-18 and then take over running the team in 2018-19.
From FanSided Busting Brackets via Scout.Com, Gak said: “From watching (Miami’s) games last year and some of their practices this year, I really liked how they utilize their forwards and the freedom they have,”
Miami will have to replace its captains Devon Reed and Kamari Murphy at the end of this season. Murphy will be counted on to help replace center Tonye Jekiri and Reed will be a key on the wing to help overcome the loss of the Hurricanes leading scorer from a season ago, Sheldon McClellan.
Murphy averaged 5.6 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game last season in almost 25 minutes per game. The Hurricanes will be counting on him more this year. Reed is the Hurricanes leading returning scorer at 11.1 PPG.
Gak is going to battle with Sophomore Anthony Lawrence, Jr and Freshman Dewan Huell. Lawrence and Huell will both challenge for starting spots and playing time this season. By the 2017-18 season, the starting frontline could be Lawrence, Huell, and Gak.
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