Recruiting Report: Joe Whitlock (2018)
Fury Wilde had no shortage of capable scorers on the floor during the grassroots season. So a guy like Joe Whitlock who could properly disperse the ball to everybody was a perfect fit.
Whitlock, a 5-foot-11 point guard from St. Louis Park, spent the summer with Fury Wilde, playing against top level competition all over the country.
“It was a great group of guys to be around and a fun team to be a part of,” Whitlock said. “Ben is a super good coach. It was great the team was super good and everyone knew their role, it was team first, nobody cared who scored or put up numbers. Everyone’s thought was ‘I have a good shot but I can get a better shot.’ Nobody forced up shots, there weren’t ball hogs. It was nice.”
Whitlock is more of a throwback point guard who prefers to defer to his teammates, run the offense and set up guys for shots rather than go out of his way to look for his own offense. He’s a feisty perimeter defender and is always looking to convert stops or turnovers into quick offense. Whitlock said the biggest area in his game he improved at playing with Fury was his overall defense.
“People think AAU is just offense and scoring but we practice a lot of defensive stuff,” said Whitlock. “Shell; a lot of defensive stuff. Now everyone can score, so that wasn’t an issue for us. We had to work on chemistry and get our defense right.”
Whitlock’s drawn a good amount of college interest from schools in the MIAC and IIAC.
“If the opportunity is there I’d love to play,” said Whitlock. “A few MIAC and IIAC schools have been in touch. Hamline has reached out to me. Concordia Moorhead and Luther and a few other IACs. I’m just looking for a school where I feel like I fit in best.”