Recruiting Report: Alex Petrie (2017)
The St. Christopher’s Saints are building off of their best season in school history, starting the season 8-0 after making their first trip to the VISAA Division One Final Four last season. The main reason has been the duo of…
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Continue ReadingThe St. Christopher’s Saints are building off of their best season in school history, starting the season 8-0 after making their first trip to the VISAA Division One Final Four last season.
The main reason has been the duo of Senior Nick Sherod and junior point guard Alex Petrie, who have combined to score over 85% of the Saints’ points this season. While Sherod has been a heralded prospect since his freshman season and signed with the University of Richmond over the summer, Petrie burst onto the scene last season and hasn’t slowed down one bit.
“I try not to force things, because I know each game there are going to be scoring opportunities,” Petrie said about his fast start. “I just try to get everyone involve, and having Nick (Sherod) makes life a whole lot easier.”
Petrie has been outstanding early this season, averaging 22.9 points and 3.1 assists per game. He’s been one of the start attractions in the Richmond Times Dispatch Tournament where the Saints will play for the championship tonight against Deep Run. In their two wins over George Wythe and Benedictine, Petrie has scored 27 and 26 points, respectively. Along with Sherod, they have combined for 60 of their 75 points against Wythe and 59 of their 68 points against Benedictine.
“Everyone knows who we are,” Petrie says about other teams game planning for them. “It’s important that we take advantage of the scoring opportunities when they present themselves, such as knocking down my free throws late in the game. We’re still trying to get other guys going, because we’ll need them to score more when other teams start focusing on us.”
Alex Petrie and Nick Sherod are one of the best guard duos in the state.
Petrie has begun to catch the attention of division one coaches over the past two seasons. He hit a growth spurt two summers ago, and has sprung up 6 inches to a legitimate 6’3. He’s a crafty ball handler and finisher, who can rock more athletic opponents one way and counter to get by them. He has a quick trigger off the bounce, and is good at initiating contact and getting to the free throw line.
As for his recruiting, Petrie lists a host of high academic schools on the east coast, such as American, Columbia, William & Mary, Mount St. Mary’s and Davidson have reached out. He said that American and Mount St. Mary’s have been recruiting him hardest, but with his level of production and ability to score and facilitate it shouldn’t be long before he pulls in his first offer.
As for now, he’s just focused on winning the RTD Tournament Championship.
“We have to focus on playing 32 minutes,” Petrie said. “I have to bring energy, and being tired won’t be an excuse. It’s the championship game so we have to bring it and hit shots.”
Petrie flirted with the idea of reclassifying to 2018 over the summer, but ultimately decided to wait until the end of this season to decide. It will be interesting to see how that affects his recruitment if he decides to, but for now be sure to catch one of the most talented and exciting scoring point guards in Virginia.