The Bounce: Shumpert impressing recruiters

If any high school basketball player thinks the college recruiting circuit passed them by, take a look at the summer Santa Rita graduate Darnell Shumpert has had.

The 6-foot-8 forward flew under the radar until his senior year when he transferred from Sahuarita (a Class 3A school when he played there) to Santa Rita this past season.

Averaging a triple-double assured his name would start popping up on the target lists of at least a few college coaches.

But once the season ended, a season in which he helped lead Santa Rita to a second-straight Class 4A Division II state title game, the offers still weren't exactly pouring in.

"I didn't worry," Shumpert said. "I knew the way it worked out for me was that I needed to wait until this summer and do all the tournaments I could and then they'd finally notice me."

A handful of strong performances at summer camps and AAU basketball tournaments made Shumpert leap from unknown to one of the hottest "slipped-through-the-cracks" players in the class of 2008.

Shumpert, who was invited to play this summer on the Compton Magic AAU team, has in the past month received scholarship offers from UNLV, St. Mary's (Calif.), Oregon State and Alabama-Birmingham, to name a few.

This past weekend in Las Vegas, Shumpert helped lead the Magic to the championship game of the adidas 64 tournament, one of the biggest stops for college recruiters on the summer circuit.

His team lost to Grassroots Canada Elite, a team that knocked off Arizona Pump N' Run in the first round of the tournament's bracket play.

Arizona Pump N' Run features such Arizona stars as Shumpert's Santa Rita teammate, Terrell Stoglin, and University of Arizona target Matt Carlino, who plays for Scottsdale Highland.

"I did pretty good, I think," Shumpert said. "There were college coaches watching giving thumbs up and head nods during my games, so I think they all were pretty happy with how I played. My defense was good and that's my strong point."

Shumpert, who was driving back to Tucson Sunday night, said he expects more college letters awaiting him in the mailbox at home and will again talk with coaches in early August when they are again allowed to make contact with him.

"I'm still planning on early or mid-August for a decision," Shumpert said.

Based on feedback he's received from his AAU coach and others on the summer circuit, Shumpert is expecting contact from a few more Pac-10 schools in the coming weeks. Arizona has only offered him the chance to be a walk-on.

If Shumpert opts to join the 2009 class at a school which has already filled its allotted number of scholarships, he'd either play in a prep school for a year or at a junior college.

"The UNLV guys have told me they think I can step right in (in the 2009-10 season) and be a contributor right away," Shumpert said.

"So if I can go to a top-30 program and contribute right away, that's something that I'll definitely consider."