Like an overwhelming majority of American high school graduates, Drummond spent four years in high school. Joe Pelletier of The Middletown Press :. Thomas More School. Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated :. For the last two years, Drummond attended St. Thomas More, a prep school in Oakdale, Conn. After graduating this spring, he is academically qualified to play in college this fall.
Thomas More for a total of four years of high school. The confusion comes because Drummond initially planned to take a fifth year at a prep school during the school year. Associated Press :. But Drummond scrapped those plans and joined UConn in August. So, could Drummond have been in high school last year?
The question is, would Drummond have been better prepared for basketball at the professional level had he not expedited his journey to get there? Even though the prep level or the collegiate level are far inferior to the professional level, they provide players with a friendlier and more supportive environment to work on their game. An extra year in this type of environment may have been more conducive to Drummond improving his offensive post moves, a skill he badly lacks.
This is all hypothetical, however, as who knows if Drummond would have made the necessary improvements to his game with an extra year at the amateur level. It would not be surprising to see Drummond slowly develop into a fantastic NBA post presence in a similar manner to Tyson Chandler. But with time, Chandler has become one of the best centers in all of basketball. Already this year, two more top prospects have followed in Drummond's footsteps and made the same decision to reclassify.
Andrew Wiggins, the ultra-talented Canadian wing player, reclassified to become a member of the recruiting class of , and the big man, Karl Towns of Metuchen, N. Both of these players are taking the same risk as Drummond in order to realize their dreams of playing in the NBA a year early. Wiggins, who happens to be the son of the former NBA player Mitchell Wiggins and Canadian Olympian Marita Payne-Wiggins, has shown a more refined skill set throughout his high school career than Drummond ever exhibited.
Not only does Wiggins have game-changing athleticism but he also intertwines this natural ability with an expansive arsenal of offensive moves, a lethal jump shot and great court awareness.
He will need to learn to be more aggressive when boxing out and going after rebounds on the defensive end of the court at the next level. This is an adjustment that should be achievable if he has the desire—which has yet to be seen.
The year-old's most dominant game of the season was a point, 8-board, 5-block performance on shooting in an early season blowout victory against Holy Cross. Unfortunately, consistency was the biggest issue for Drummond, as he could show flashes of brilliance one night, then do absolutely nothing the next. Drummond is the definition of a high-risk, high-reward player. He could very easily dwindle out of the league within a few years and cost a general manager his job, or he could develop into the best center in the league and bring his team numerous championships.
In the past few months, Drummond's stock has declined from potentially giving Davis a run for his money as the top overall selection to going anywhere in the range. This could actually be a blessing in disguise for him as being in the right situation will be a major factor in determining how long and successful his career will be. Drummond seems to lack the drive and discipline to do great things on his own. He needs a veteran presence to keep him focused and motivated in order to help him realize his potential.
This is something Greg Oden lacked when he was selected by Portland in and has since blamed for his failure in the league. Situations such as Charlotte and Sacramento would be nightmares for Drummond. There may be an interesting powers shift occurring in the player rankings as there may soon be another number one player in that class and his name is not Michael Gilchrist or Anthony Davis.
Word is that the consensus number one player in the class, Andre Drummond, may be re-classifying into the class. Since Drummond is already picked as the number one draft pick in the NBA Draft, it goes without saying that there will be a battle royale at the top of the class.
He was slated to release a list later this month and is is unknown where Kentucky may or may not be on it. Even with the re-classification, Kentucky still has a good chance at landing the top recruit in as the current 1 and 5 prospects Michael Gilchrist and Marquis Teague have already committed to Kentucky and 2 Quincy Miller, 3 Austin Rivers, 4 LeBryan Nash and 8 Anthony Davis still have Kentucky in their sights.
Drummond will have completed eight semesters after this coming school year.
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