gil723

SoCalHoops Tournament Update

Gilbert Arenas Could Just Be
The Next Roy Hobbs--(July 23, 1998)

Remember the baseball movie with Robert Redford, "The Natural"? Well, DePaul head coach Pat Kennedy told us that when he watches Gilbert Arenas (6'-4" Sr. G) play, as he did this evening, that he's reminded of the character of Roy Hobbs, who was "the best baseball player ever." Coach Kennedy was apparently just awestruck by some of the things that Gilbert does, and we agree with him. He's got an incredible amount of talent and pure natural ability. Perhaps the only player we saw today who maybe can "out-Gilbert" Gilbert, is Jamal Crawford (6'-5" Sr. PG/SG) from Rainier Beach in Washington. Jamal and Gilbert are very similar players, but Jamal, a full year older than Gil, is perhaps a bit more mature at this stage. Both of them have Cal, Washington and the Arizona schools on their wish list.

We also spotted the Cal coaches, the USC coaches, and several others, and it seems that the consesus is that both Gilbert is the player who most reminds people of Crawford, and Crawford is the player who reminds most people of Gilbert.

Not bad company. And here's some further word on the Gilbert Arenas watch: We spoke with Gil and his dad today, and aside from being "wide open" Gil will probably visit Kansas State, Cal (if he gets an invite), Arizona State, and maybe a couple of schools in the midwest. Gil is definitely interested in DePaul also, and adding him to that great incoming freshman class who signed this year could see him in a final four sooner rather than later.