Believe the hype : Gulley, Hawks dealing with added pressure at Real Deal
Posted on Saturday, April 19, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Sports/64306/
Fred Gulley has grown comfortable to the attention.
As an 11-year-old guard at Woodland Junior High, phone calls began to pour in about an apparent report of his recruitment by the University of Arkansas. Having yet to play high school ball, the Fayetteville native was thrust into the spotlight of the growing recruiting frenzy without much of a buffer period.
“ It was sort of scary, ” Gulley said. “ I’ve been putting in a lot of hours in the gym so I can back it up. I had hype, a lot of hype from a young age. I just had to make sure I could back it up. I try to come out here and prove it every day. ”
Several of his teammates on the Arkansas Hawks, a spring AAU squad, know what it’s like to have hype surrounding them, especially at this weekend’s Real Deal on the Hill. Dozens of coaches will watch them today during the NCAA’s first sanctioned weekend for evaluating the class of 2009.
“ Every day it seems like somebody new. [Thursday ] I had a bunch of coaches calling me, ” Gulley said. “ I had about five or six calls of coaches coming in. After this tournament I’m going to look at my choices and narrow down the list. ”
Clarence Trent of Henderson Findlay Prep (Nevada ) has dealt with college coaches for the last two years. He, like Gulley, is also a recruit of John Pelphrey’s Arkansas Razorbacks.
“ I’m pretty much wide open right now with schools, ” Trent said of the process. “ Arkansas is on me hard, but I’m also looking at places like UNLV. ”
The Hawks, which beat Team Nashville Fire 71-56 in the opening round Friday night, haven’t seen much of each other on the court. They spent Spring Break in Little Rock practicing, but this weekend is the first AAU tournament for the team.
They’re still familiar with each other, however. Gulley’s Fayetteville High teammate Cable Hogue is on the team, as is Siloam Springs ’ 3-point specialist Coleson Rakestraw.
Even the out-of-state guys are in close.
“ Clarence has been around these guys for a couple of years, so it’s really easy. He knows all of them, ” said Bill Ingram, Hawks coach and executive director of Real Deal on the Hill. “ They text message all the time. ”
Trent and Gulley have most of the coaches’ attention this weekend. Rakestraw, though, has also garnered some attention from schools such as Bucknell and Baylor. Rakestraw and Gulley have been with the Hawks program since fourth grade. This weekend could propel players such as Rakestraw to another level in the eyes of college coaches. His 8 points Friday night, coming mostly from outside the lane, all came in the first half. On Saturday, the pressure really mounts with the eyes of fans and high profile college coaches on his back.
“ There is some pressure there, ” said Rakestraw, who led Siloam Springs to a state title this year. “ You know that they’re up in the stands evaluating you. That’s something that can make you nervous if you let it. You just can’t let it. ”
There’s also the factor of getting used to AAU ball, which is a tad faster than high school games, Gulley admitted. But he said he’s helped prepare himself under the tutelage of cousin Ronnie Brewer, a former Razorback and current star for the NBA’s Utah Jazz.
During the summer, the two play pick-up games at the UA campus and Gulley often seeks advice of the former Fayetteville Bulldog.
“ He’s had a lot of attention and a lot of people around him, ” Gulley said. “ It’s good he comes and mentors me. He’ll probably send me a text [message ] tonight asking how the game went. ”
Gulley turned the ball over five times Friday, but he also scored 11 points and distributed the ball well around the court as Hogue added 9 points and Trent exploded with an emphatic dunk during a period when he scored 8 of the Hawks ’ final 10 points.
Admittedly, the team is a work in progress, Gulley and Ingram said. Their coach sees a lot of promise, though, especially in Gulley.
“ I think we picked the perfect team, ” Ingram said. “[Gulley ] has to get used to guys playing him physical like that. We’ll play teams like that the rest of the tournament. I think it is really good for him.... That’s what he needs. He doesn’t get a chance to see that in the regular season.
“ Fred, I think you’ll see as the tournament goes on, he’s as good as any point guard here. ”
High praise from his coach, but Gulley is used to lofty expectations and the attention that he has been burdened with since he was 11.
“ It has its good days and bad days. I enjoy it, ” Gulley said. “ I try to look at it as a great opportunity. ”