For An Offer
Having averaged 13 points and 9 rebounds a game this past season for the Railsplitters it’s become pretty clear that 6’3″ guard Ezekiel Charles (Abraham Lincoln ’15) is one of the more underrated and under-appreciated prospects still available from the 2015 class.
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| M. Libert | |
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| Ezekial Charles |
Coming into the 2014-2015 season, not much was known about Charles. He was stuck being a talented senior class the year before so minutes were not readily available for him, but when given the chance this season, Charles really did shine.
He never doubted that he would be able to perform, he just needed the chance, and when given that chance, he feels he displayed all the abilities he could do for a team.
“I basically just showed I could play, that I have confidence, and I will come in every game and come to play and give it 100%,” Charles said. “I also feel I was a leader because I was one of only two seniors on the team and I became someone the younger guys could depend on.”
While he didn’t play much as a junior, a lot of his success as a senior was because of what he learned the year before from talented former Lincoln guard, and current Seton Hall star Isaiah Whitehead.
Whitehead was a teacher and a leader for a lot of his teammates, and Charles sucked in everything that Whitehead was saying, and he says that his help really turned him into the all around player and person he is now.
“Isaiah really showed me how to do a lot of things,” Charles admitted. “He always was such a leader and he really was helping me understand what I was going to need to do. We would work out a lot together and he would tell me what I would need to do, and playing alongside of him I also really studied how he played as took in as much as I could from him.”
All the time in the gym and the time putting in the hard work paid off as Charles became one of the PSAL’s top players this past season, but that didn’t equate to the college offer that he was hoping it would.
Still trying to get that elusive offer, Charles took to the court once again this July playing with Born Ready Elite on the AAU circuit hoping to prove that he is deserving of a scholarship. He has been playing a lot more on the ball, hoping to become a versatile player who can play near any position on the floor be it as a point guard or even as an undersized power forward because of his stronger rebounding abilities.
He still doesn’t have a decision though. Charles says he has the grades to qualify to play on the next level, but that no one has bit on him yet. He hopes something happens soon, though he admits that doing a postgrad is becoming an option, though he would like to go to college, and if he gets that opportunity he hopes that the coaches know the type of player they are getting.
“I am a player who will work harder than anyone else, and a player who more than anything wants to win. I will do whatever I can to help my team get that W.”
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