Rivals.com Home  

September 27, 2001

Thad Mumau
CarolinaBlue.com

North Carolina is in the final five for Aliou Kane after offering the 6-10 West African center a scholarship.

Kane, a senior at Dyke (VA) Blue Ridge School, is also considering Wake Forest, Southern Methodist University, Minnesota and Iowa.

"Carolina has offered Aliou a scholarship," Blue Ridge coach Bill Ramsey said, "as have the other four schools."

Kane came to the United States from West Africa in the fall of 1999 and spent a year at Green Hills Prep School in Dallas, Texas, which is the home of his guardian and AAU coach, Travis Edwards.

After arriving at Blue Ridge for summer school in 2000, Kane averaged nine points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots last season as a junior. He made nearly 60 percent of his field goal attempts, most of which were stickbacks on offensive rebounds.

He helped Blue Ridge School finish 26-7 and win the Virginia Independent Schools Division I championship for the second straight year. One of the team's top scorers was guard Jermaine Harper, who is now a freshman at Virginia. Carolina was not in the forefront of Kane's recruiting plans a few weeks ago when his favorites also included Clemson, Maryland and Alabama.

"Aliou knows he is no better than sixth on the list of big men North Carolina is recruiting," Ramsey said at the time. "I'm not saying he won't go there; he just wants to go where he is a higher priority."

That is now the case with the Tar Heels.

"The scholarship offer has changed things," Ramsey said. "Doug Wojcik met with Aliou and let him know Carolina is very interested if Aliou is, and that they would take a commitment from him right now if he were ready to make one.

"Carolina has made a hard push. They called a lot, wrote and then said a scholarship is on the table. They had to do their homework, and they know Aliou is a good student and a hard worker.

"When Wojcik came, he told Aliou to let Carolina know if he wants Coach (Matt) Doherty to come, and that will now happen. Doherty will be here for an in-home visit next week (Sept. 24-27)."

Kane has had in-home visits with Wake Forest, SMU, Minnesota, UNC-Charlotte and Iowa. He canceled in-homes with Clemson and Alabama after phoning both schools to say he was no longer interested. His in-homes are held in a Blue Ridge school classroom with Ramsey joining Kane to host coaches.

Kane's first official visit will be to Wake on the last weekend of September. He will drive to Winston-Salem with either Edwards or Edwards' wife.

"I'm discussing with Aliou when to go to Carolina," Ramsey said. "I will probably go there with him. It's about a four-hour drive from here to Chapel Hill and about four and a half hours to Winston-Salem."

Kane was scheduled to make an official trip to Minnesota Sept. 21, but he postponed the visit as a result of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

"Like many other people, he doesn't want to fly right now," Ramsey explained. "We'll just have to see when he goes to Minnesota and Iowa. He has been on the SMU campus, but still wants to take a visit there."

Kane's defense is ahead of his offense at this stage, but college coaches do not mind that he hasn't exhibited many scoring tools.

"Offensively, he has a way to go," Ramsey said. "Defensively, he is very, very good. I don't know of anybody in high school that plays better post defense. Aliou outplayed Sagana Diop last season when we lost to Oak Hill in overtime.

"Aliou is very strong, and he understands body positioning. He shoves people around and doesn't care who he's going against. He is not intimidated.

"His offensive game slowly came along. At first, he was uncomfortable with the ball, but it's just a matter of confidence. He can hit his jump shot from 12-15 feet, and he has a nice rotation and a high release. He has a little jump hook with both hands. The tools are there.

"He is very motivated in the weight room. He loves it. We have to drag him out sometimes for practice. He runs well and will beat most guys his size down the court."

Kane has taken the SAT once and scored close to the required 820. English is the main obstacle, since it is his sixth language. He speaks French, Arabic and three African dialects. His grades are fine.

"Carolina can offer Aliou a lot of playing time right away," Ramsey said, "and that is a big thing to consider, especially with the kind of program they have.

"This thing with airplanes puts a special emphasis on the in-home visits. He still wants to make those other trips, but he also wants to sign during the early period."

Rivals.com News
Rivals.com is your source for: College Football | Football Recruiting | College Basketball | Basketball Recruiting | College Baseball | High School | College Merchandise
Site-specific editorial/photos © Rivals.com. All rights reserved. This website is an unofficial and independently operated source of news and information not affiliated with any school or team.
About | Advertise with Us | Contact | Privacy Policy | About our Ads | Terms of Service | Copyright/IP policy | Yahoo! News Network