Coach Crean is still looking to add to the 2008 class, and appears to be focused on big men. Not only is Emmanuel Negedu scheduled to visit next week, Tom Crean is also interested in Latay Darden.
Who is Latay Darden you ask? We’ll get the bad news out of the way first. Darden has been in prep school for a couple years and took forever to qualify because of some issues with a class he took at a school in Houston. So there may be some academic issues.
Now for the good news. Darden was described as a “shot blocking machine” (scroll down) back in 2004. That season he had a game where he recorded 23 blocks. This year, for Progressive Christian Academy in Baltimore, he averaged a triple double (15/13/11 blocks along with 4 steals).
And the weird news. Darden’s coach seems convinced that he’s headed to Maryland. Darden allegedly has Maryland as his prohibitive favorite. Thus far though, the feeling isn’t mutual, as Maryland has not offered the kid a scholarship.
So Coach Crean is trying to make up a lot of ground on a kid who might be something of an academic risk but seems to be a defensive animal. Personally, I would prefer Negedu or saving the scholarship, but if we’re going to get obsessed over Maurice Sutton, Darden would be just as good.
(If anyone can find a picture of this kid, I would really appreciate it, because I can’t find one.)
latay darden is a pure T beast! he has the defensive presence of a young alonzo mourning and has sound footwork and rebounding skill all though he has a slim build. Latay is a workhorse that just needs the right mentor and coach to push him and the “sky is the limit” for him.