Recruiting Report: Abdul Mohamed (2019)
It’s been a tough couple of months for West Seattle forward Abdul Mohamed; he’s been sitting idle, waiting to heal, missing his 16U offseason.
Two months ago, Mohamed fractured his foot, and X-rays revealed he had bone spurs and tight calves, forcing him to have surgery on both feet.
Washington’s 5th-ranked 2019, Mohamed underwent surgery in May, and says he’s getting the boot off next week. He’ll be cleared to play again by possibly late July, but will likely miss his entire 16U summer.
“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever been through in my life,” said Mohamed. “A couple weeks ago I couldn’t even walk, I was just sitting in bed, it was hard. I had a lot of negative thoughts, but I stopped with that self-pity.”
The problem with his feet and calves was found early enough, that Mohamed says it was a blessing in disguise.
“What they found in my feet, it helped my basketball career in the long run,” he said. “It’s really opened my eyes, and made me hungrier.”
Certainly one of the state’s most promising young prospects, the 6-foot-8 forward mentioned that there’s a couple schools on the verge of offering. They just want to wait and see how he comes back from the surgery.
“Montana said that they were going to offer, but then I got injured so they’re going to wait until I get healthy again so they can come watch me play again,” said Mohamed.
“I got heavy interest from Stanford, San Diego State, Washington and Eastern Washington is waiting until I’m healthy to reevaluate me.”
He received an offer from Portland State last summer, but with a new coaching staff in place, he’s not sure if that offer’s still on the table.
“I haven’t really talked to Portland State since they had a coaching change,” said Mohamed. “But I’m not really too worried about it. If they take the offer back I won’t be too upset, it will just make me want to work harder.”
Despite being sidelined for the time-being, Mohamed discussed what he had been working to improve prior to the surgery. And it seems his versatility is a priority for him.
“I’ve been working on my athleticism, now I’m playing above the rim with ease, and that’s fun to do. My ball-handling is starting to get better, I’ve been really working on that,” said Mohamed, who says his sophomore season went well.
“As a sophomore I did a lot better than most people thought I was going to do. We got third in the state, and I had a big defensive role; and offensively, getting the ball to me was a big priority most of the games.”
Next season, as a junior, he’ll be the everything guy for West Seattle.
“My high school coach wants me to work on my ball-handling and bring the ball up the court sometimes,” said Mohamed. “And just be the man, be the leader, scorer, everything.”