Claude opening eyes of college coaches
PUTNAM — College coaches, some of the biggest names in the sport, roll into town, roll past the cascades of Cargill Falls and park on Maple Street.
The caravan to the tiny gym for the intense intrasquad scrimmages has become an annual rite each September at Putnam Science Academy. Some days there may only be a handful of head coaches and assistants. Some days, like when the world seemed to be chasing Hamidou Diallo, there has been as many as 50 representing 35 schools.
Jay Wright. Jim Boeheim. Jim Calhoun. John Calipari. Dan Hurley. Ed Cooley. John Calipari. Over the years, they’ve all walked through the lobby of what once was an all-girls Catholic high school and into the coziest gym this side of “Hoosiers.”
This year, Shaka Smart, who left Texas to coach Marquette, has come to watch with his assistant Cody Hatt. So has Steve Pikiell and his entire Rutgers staff. And, among others, so has Travis Steele and his entire Xavier staff.
Their eyes have been fixed on Desmond Claude, a 6-foot-5 post-grad point guard from New Haven.
Donovan Clingan? You’ve heard of him. Plenty. He has been continually featured in newspapers and television across the state. For good reason. He’s 7-1. He’s headed to UConn. He led Bristol Central to an undefeated season as a junior, and although there was no 2021 CIAC state championships, the Rams finished No. 1 in the GameTimeCT poll. Clingan is rated No. 1 in the state for 2022 by various recruiting rankings.
How much, even around New Haven, do you know about No. 2?
Granted media publicity is one matter, yet even with his recruiting stock rising Putnam coach Tom Espinosa said he still thinks Claude is under the radar.
“We had a college coach who we’re pretty close to in here yesterday and he said he thinks he’s an NBA player,” Espinosa said Friday. “Desmond is 6-5, he’s athletic, he’s skilled, can shoot it, dribble, go by defenders, and when he gets to college his body is going to get bigger and stronger. He has all the tools to be special.”
Espinosa turns and points to photos of former players in his office.
“Tyson Etienne (2021 AAC co-player of the year at Wichita State), really good, he was 6-1, 6-2,” Espinosa said. “Hassan Diarra (at Texas A&M) one of the better guards we’ve had, again 6-2.
“Even Hamidou (Kentucky and now NBA), 6-5, 6-6 and so explosive, but Desmond is much more skilled than Hamidou at the same age. He’s probably the best post-grad guard we’ve ever had here, someone who has come for one year. I’m telling you. He’s special.”
Claude smiles.
“I am under the radar,” he said.
He played his freshman year at Hillhouse. He played two years for the varsity team (the second team) at St. Thomas More before moving up to the prep team as a senior last season.
“Every summer I worked on something to improve,” Claude said. “Every year people said I got better and got better and I would show it on the court. I did get taller. I did get faster. I did get stronger.”
“He is a late bloomer,” Espinosa said.
With COVID, he spent time this past offseason playing and working out at Edgewood Park in New Haven or at a court in Shelton.
He said he studies Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dejounte Murray, Ja Morant, taller point guards who run NBA offenses.
“Ja’s really athletic,” Claude said, “but Shai and Dejounte, how they create space off the dribble, how they do certain things, I think I can mimic my game after them.”
Yet it was when Claude, 18, played impressively in the EYBL for Expressions this past offseason that offers really started pouring in and where he said he realized who’d he’d be playing against in major college hoops. The talent, the physicality. He decided to head up I-395 to Putnam for his post-grad year.
His younger brother, Jalen, is also playing at Putnam Science, and you may recall Hassan Diarra followed his older brother Mamadou to PSA.
“Recognizing the talent I was going to face next year, Putnam Science was a better decision for me,” Claude said. “Along with a few other things, but that’s the main reason.”
He also sees how 10 PSA alums from UConn’s Akok Akok to Maryland’s Eric Ayala — who essentially eliminated UConn — played in the NCAA Tournament last March. That was the most of any high school in the nation. Two more, including Mamadou Diarra, serving as a UConn grad assistant after injuries ended his career, were involved with NCAA teams.
“Of course, of course, I see the path from here,” Claude said. “I like watching those guys and how they’re doing. But as far as what college, it will be what fit is best for me.”
He maintains he is “100 percent open” in his recruiting. He’s not prepared to cut anyone out yet. He said his final decision may not happen for two or three months. Nothing is set. Boston College has been in and is involved. Georgia is involved. Notre Dame, Maryland, Providence, Butler, Cal, Kansas State, Seton Hall, Creighton, URI, UMass all have offered scholarships, about 20 schools in all.
UConn has not pursued him.
Building a strong relationship is important to Claude and Xavier, Rutgers and Marquette appear to want him badly. Pikiell’s associate coach Karl Hobbs has been back. So has Steele, who Espinosa said plans to return regularly. Claude has plans to make official visits to those three schools.
“I have built a good relationship with (Rutgers),” Claude said. “I took an unofficial, visited the facilities, it definitely passed the eye test. Talking to them, I liked what I heard.”
Smart is known as a coaching connoisseur of the ball screen. And that is music to Claude’s ears.
“He actually set the record for second most ball screens in college history,” Claude said. “That’s what he told me. I believe him. I love ball screens. That’s a big plus. Play-making guards, he said he lets his guards grow and mature. Even if you make a mistake, continue to keep doing what you do. He’s not going to sit them unless he really has to. Something I really like.”
And Xavier, another Big East rival?
“We’re building a really good relationship too,” Claude said. “They want me to be their ballhandler, their point guard. Their system looks like a good fit as well as Rutgers and Marquette. Everything they say, they’re texting, they’re here, I can feel their presence.”
When coaches arrive at the Putnam Science gym, that is no exaggeration. It is tight enough to feel everyone’s presence. There is a stage at one end, the wall with two national prep championship banners at the other. The benches are on one side. One row of seats on the other. On the court are some of the best high school recruits in New England. One of them is Desmond Claude of New Haven. And each September, with their college futures on the line, they go at it.
“It’s fun and very competitive,” Claude said. “Our coaches encourage us to do our best in front of the college coaches. It’s pretty intense. Afterward we talk with them. It’s a great experience.”