• Abif to play for Lawrenceville School

  • By Adam Finkelstein, ESPN Recruiting | June 18, 2010 9:36:43 AM PDT
I was at Fordham University last weekend, taking in the Rumble in the Bronx from the first game played early Friday evening to the U-17 championship game played late Sunday afternoon.During those 48 hours I saw 22 games and roughly 100 Division I prospects, but of all the players I saw power forward Kazembe Abif (Elizabeth, N.J./University) stood out the most. He wasn't the most talented player or the most skilled, however, he was by far the hardest working player I saw all weekend.At 6-foot-6, Abif is a little undersized for his power forward position, but he has good athleticism, terrific length and a motor that absolutely never stops. He infuses energy into the game, rebounds in traffic, gets his team extra possessions and gets his hands on a ton of balls defensively.While playing hard is a skill in my opinion, it isn't always one that gets you noticed quickly. Consequently, Abif's recruitment is all over the board."His recruitment is this wide," New Jersey ABC coach Matt Pauls said, holding his arms out as far as they could stretch. "I get a ton of calls about him but I don't know what level he'll end up at. We have heard from Providence and St. John's all the way to the NEC and everything in between."Abif will graduate this month and head to the Lawrenceville School as a post-graduate next year, affording him the opportunity to play during another July live period with New Jersey ABC.While Abif has a trip to Penn State on the horizon for its elite camp, he and Pauls both acknowledged that his future will be decided, almost entirely, by what happens next month."I don't have any favorites right now," Abif said. "We'll see what happens."

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