Recruiting Report: DJ Haggins (2017)
The wrap on college athletes is they’ve always been handed opportunity as youngsters. The star was never forced to earn his spot. Talent alone means the game and the local fame comes easy, right? Wrong! That’s definitely not the case…
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Continue ReadingThe wrap on college athletes is they’ve always been handed opportunity as youngsters. The star was never forced to earn his spot. Talent alone means the game and the local fame comes easy, right? Wrong! That’s definitely not the case for 6’2” combo guard DJ Haggins (2017), who currently plays for New Day Academy and NEO Elite.
After hardly seeing the court as a freshman and sophomore at Lake Catholic, Haggins was cut as a junior. With no time to waste before the season, he found a home across the city at New Day Academy.
Months after being cut at Lake, Haggins was a starter on New Day’s varsity team. Since then, he’s attracted interest from Heidelberg and Frostburg State (Maryland). He also hopes to attend the Ashland Elite Camp this summer.
“Both of those schools offered me official visits, so I’m going to be doing both … My goal is to get a scholarship, whether it be D-I, D-II, NAIA, JUCO, I don’t care. I want to achieve that. That’s always been a goal of mine,” Haggins said.
Haggins is known for his ability to slash to the rim from the perimeter. However, there’s more to his game.
“I’m a team oriented player, I like to hype my team up so we can get wins. I have a great defensive mindset, love getting steals … As soon as I get a steal, I’m thinking about dunking it. I’m not the best shooter. Ball-handling is okay, it’s gotten a lot better over the past three years but it’s not to where I want it to be,” Haggins said.
Along with improving his shooting and ball-handling, there’s more layers of his game yet to come. He credits his obsession with summer training regiments for the drastic improvements — which have taken him from substitute to a potential scholarship student-athlete.
“This summer is going to be crazy. It’s going to be the hardest working summer yet … I want to train to be a point guard, so I’ve been studying the pick and roll … I have been using some of the smaller [AAU] tournaments to work on my passing,” Haggins said.
College programs interested in Haggins don’t have to worry about is self-discipline. He is the founder of the NEO Elite grassroots team, which Haggins started because he and other under-the-radar guys needed a place to play.
He simply answered, “Myself,” when asked who he has trained with over the past few summers. Furthermore, he’s taken strides over those years. Given that work ethic, he’ll most likely be ready to play both guard positions by the time he comes onto a campus in the fall of 2017.
In an earlier report, Prep Hoops reported that he was going to transfer prior to his senior season. However, he will finish his high school career at New Day.
“I also wanted to show people that you can make it from anywhere, not just a household name school,” Haggins said.