Rogers Providence Christian Academy Coach Austin Bivins is high on sophomore forward S.K. Shittu’s talent, but what happened on Tuesday even surprised him.
He emailed several colleges a three and half minute highlight video of Shittu that was put together by assistant coach Michael Tate.
“We really did make sure we didn’t just put in a lot of dunks,” Bivins said. “In high school, there’s a not a 6-9 kid in America that can’t give you highlight film of dunks. We made sure to put in one of S.K.’s best attributes, his 15 foot jumper. He’s got good court vision and that kind of thing.”
Bivins sent out the video around noon and the response was swift.
“Before our 3:30 off-season started, we already had an offer from LSU,” Bivins said. “We had Wichita State emailing saying they're going to talk to him. Oklahoma invited us to their game this weekend against Kansas. We got home that night and Portland University called. They offered him.”
“The LSU coach told me ‘I didn't watch the whole video. I had to call you’.”
Shittu , 6-9, 193 pounds, also has scholarship offers from Tulsa and Central Arkansas. He was a standout at Arkansas' camp in August and has the attention of Coach Mike Anderson and his staff.
He averaged about 12.3 points, 13.6 rebounds and 3.8 block shots while shooting 52 precent from the field this season.
Thursday morning, Iowa jumped into the mix of schools showing interest.
“He said they’re very interested and loved the video,” Bivins said.
The college coaches have been complimentary.
“They’re saying pro athlete ability, super athletic, great jump shot, just a sophomore and those kind of things,” Bivins said.
Bivins has raved about Shittu’s character and schools have impressed him with their desire to recruit such prospects.
“I’ve been impressed with these bigger universities on how much they cared when I started talking about his character,” Bivins said.