Recruiting Report: Brendan La Rose (2018)
Brendan La Rose is well aware of the current landscape of college basketball, which is becoming more and more positionless with each passing year. Even players who stand, 6-foot-8, like La Rose, are asked to shoot from long range. “In…
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Continue ReadingBrendan La Rose is well aware of the current landscape of college basketball, which is becoming more and more positionless with each passing year.
Even players who stand, 6-foot-8, like La Rose, are asked to shoot from long range.
“In middle school, I had two coaches who really stressed that I needed to know how to shoot,” said La Rose, who recently wrapped up a highly successful season with the Colorado Hawks 16U Red squad, demonstrating his long-range prowess along the way. “I was finally able to start shooting because I put in I don’t know how many hours per day working on my jumper. Then I tried out for the Hawks and they put me on the squad as a shooter.”
La Rose’s impact was evident in the Hawks’ final game of the season against a long and talented Team Loaded North Carolina, when he knocked down three 3-pointers in short succession in the first half to keep the Hawks in front. They eventually fell short by one point.
But to describe La Rose as merely a stretch-the-floor shooter would be to undersell an overall impact that has had a handful of Division I programs expressing interest.
“Brendan is not only a knockdown shooter from 3, but he is more athletic than people anticipate,” said Hawks coach Simeon Boddie. “He led our team in dunks and has great timing, which is useful when he is helping protect the rim for us. Brendan is a student-athlete in every sense of the word and will for sure be a valuable asset on college team’s roster in the immediate future.”
La Rose, shown here volunteering at an elementary school field day, made big strides this past spring and summer.Among the teams expressing interest in the 2018 forward are Air Force, South Dakota, Northern Colorado and the University of Denver.
La Rose, who averaged five points and five rebounds per game as a sophomore at Rampart, will finish his career at Falcon High. La Rose, who said he was most proud of how he developed as a rebounder this past grassroots season, will be bringing a newfound confidence into his junior season after playing against some of the nation’s stiffest competition this past spring and summer on the Adidas Gauntlet circuit.
“I learned that no matter how good the competition is, you just have to keep your confidence and keep your head,” he said. “As long as you’re out there playing hard, there’s not really anybody you can’t play against. I think our whole group kind of showed that.”