Recruiting Report: Jarvis Doles (2016)

<h2>November 24, 2015</h2>One of 2016's more intriguing prospects, Jarvis Doles had plenty of news to share with us regarding his regular season plans and recruitment. The 6-foot-8 forward has recently transferred schools, from Mount St. Mary’s to Hammond, and is seeing some additional Division I interest start to come his way. Doles - PHM’s 21st-ranked 2016 - still holds the three offers from UMBC, Towson, and Mount St. Mary’s, and could soon add more. “I haven’t had new offers but I’ve talked to Coppin State, I’ve talked to American, and George Mason. And I’ve just seen a little bit of interest from Princeton,” he said. “I haven’t talked to Princeton on the phone, they called my school asking about me and my transcripts. I’ve talked to George Mason in person, and I’ve talked to the Coppin State and American coaches. I feel as though Coppin State may be next to offer.” Doles says he will commit late, if at all this year. And that prep school has been an idea he’s considering. “I’m going to see how everything plays out, I’ve talked to Mount St. Mary’s and told them I’ve contemplated doing a prep year and they let me know if I do reclass to 2017 they’ll offer me again for that class. I’ll probably decide on where I’ll go late, and if not I’ll probably go the prep option,” said Doles, who says finding a like-minded coach is key to his decision. “I just want to see if I can find a school that really has a genuine interest in me. And I get along with the coach and the coach gets along with me, and we share the same interests, and the same idea of where we’d like to go continuing forward, as well as being able to sharpen my skills.” After playing his first three seasons at Mount St. Joseph’s, he recently transferred to Hammond, where he will play his senior season. “I learned a lot from Mount. St. Joseph's, it was a great overall experience. But in order to take it - not just basketball but overall - to a whole new level, in order to grow and develop, I needed to transfer into a place that would allow me to do so,” said Doles, who will play his first game with the Golden Bears next Friday, December 4 “I’ll play an all-around role with Hammond; bringing the ball up the court, shooting, rebounding, and of course scoring and leading my team. We have a lot of young guys, and rarely do you see a team as hungry and ready to work as hard every single day. The chemistry is great, we have two other guys that transferred, and it’s going to be good to play with these guys.” <h2>May 14, 2015</h2>Still with the same three Division I offers (UMBC, Towson, Mount St. Mary’s) and interest he had in February, Mount St. Joseph forward Jarvis Doles has one new school that’s joined his recruitment, and he continues to see progress in a transition from post, to wing. “DePaul has shown some interest recently, it wasn’t a huge recruiting thing, one of their coaches just text me and was talking about their new arena, just a real quick thing,” said Doles, who was unable to pick out any schools that were recruiting him most aggressively. “I don’t know, I don’t think I can really say right now, they’re all about the same.” As the 6-foot-8 junior continues to develop as a small forward, he says it’s his improved flexibility and mobility that has been most beneficial to the process. “I’d say I’m still a power forward, but I definitely see myself improving with my mobility, being able to get down allows me to be quicker and stronger with my dribble-moves. I definitely see myself improving, especially with mobility, and that will help me with that transition moving forward,” said Doles, PHM’s 21st-ranked 2016. “And I’ve seen myself in terms of flexibility improve tremendously. I’ve seen an increase in my jumping ability and in my ball-handling, and defensively I’ve been able to get lower and cover more ground.” Originally slated to play his 17U season with Baltimore Elite, he says the team “disbanded,” and he is now playing with a very talented Maryland 3D squad. The plan for him is not just to continue and develop as a small forward, but also to gain as much exposure as he can. “I want to create a bigger name for myself, and just try and become more athletic.” said Doles. “And I just really want to play more aggressive and make a name for myself, that’s really it.” <h2>February 12, 2015</h2>After an unsatisfying junior season, PHM’s 21st -ranked 2016 Jarvis Doles will seek to diversify himself this offseason with Baltimore Elite. He currently is classified as a 6-foot-8 power forward, but sees himself more as a small forward at the next level. “I’ve notified my (AAU) coaches that this summer my main focus is becoming a better athlete, so that I can try to make that transition to a small forward,” said the Mount Saint Joseph prospect. “In order to maximize my potential I feel I need to improve my overall athleticism and ball-handling, shooting as well.” He says his strengths currently lie in his leadership ability, and post play. “I’m a vocal leader and I rebound and defend, it’s simple,” said Doles. “During the AAU season I handle the ball a lot more, I consider myself a very good shooter, I can finish around the basket -- I see myself as a stretch four.” But still, there’s something missing for the talented junior. “I want to improve my ball-handling and overall athleticism and take my game to the next, elite level,” said Doles. He currently holds three Division I offers from Mount Saint Mary’s, Towson and UMBC. And he says Creighton, Quinnipiac, George Mason, Robert Morris, UNC-Asheville, Loyola (MD), Fairfield and West Virginia are all showing interest. He’s visited Mount Saint Mary’s, Towson and UMBC -- each has something different that the sought-after junior likes. “Mount Saint Mary’s is a place that if I went there I would thrive as a basketball player and a person. I love their coach, I love what they stand for, I just like it,” said Doles. “I liked Towson a lot, they play with an edge and they go hard, they talk and communicate and that’s one thing I like to do and it’s in their culture. They play hard all the time, they're not soft and I just love how they go hard every play.” “UMBC made me feel like I was at home. I love their coach and his staff and I just love the way they treat me -- being so interested in math and science, that’s a school that excels in those, it’s a place where I could really take my academics serious.”