Cal basketball recruiting hasn’t added a new commit since Trevin Knell in October, and he wont be joining the program immediately anyways, but Cal recently offered an under-the-radar west coast prospect in Justice Sueing.
I can confirm that #Cal has offered a scholarship to 2017 3-star SF Justice Sueing from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, CA. #Pac12Hoops
— Ben Parker (@slamdunk406) January 11, 2017
Sueing is a 6’6, 205 pound small forward playing for Mater Dei in Santa Ana, California. He used to ply his trade in Hawaii, where he was the big fish in a small pond, but he has looked far from out of place since relocating to the mainland.
According to Scout, Sueing is a three-star prospect with offers from Hawaii, Montana, San Francisco, Vanderbilt, Utah, and now Cal. Utah, Vanderbilt, and Cal are looked at as the primary contenders for his commitment.
ICYMI, we chatted with Justice Sueing about his offer from #Cal: https://t.co/tjkKUiqO0b
— Ryan Gorcey (@RGBearTerritory) January 19, 2017
He has helped Mater Dei to a 19-1 record through January 17 and led all scorers with 17 points in a January 13 win against JSerra. According to MaxPreps, he is averaging 17 points per game, 6.9 rebounds per game, and 1.7 steals per game through 20 contests this season.
Here is a highlight video on Sueing that I will be breaking down below.
On the first highlight Sueing receives a pass outside of the three-point arc and takes advantage of a late reacting defense to drive to the hoop with authority and dunk on an opposing defender.
The second highlight is on the defensive end and Sueing uses his athleticism to recover and block a shot after being screened on the play.
Two of the next three highlights features Sueing finding himself in the right place at the right time to put back an offensive rebound, while he shows off his range from deep on the other.
He frequently shows a willingness to hustle and do the little things that go a long way towards winning games. He fights for rebounds and hustles on the defensive end, which makes it easy to see why Cuonzo Martin and his staff are interested in bringing Sueing into the fold at Cal.
There is another play where Sueing is in the corner and a double team is on the way, but he does not panic. He holds the ball up, pivots and fires a bullet of a pass to a driving teammate for the basket.
Sueing displays a good knack for driving to the hoop and finishing while adjusting his positioning. There is another play where he uses his length to jump the passing lane and takes the ball the length of the court for the finish. He is definitely willing to use his frame to absorb contact when driving to the hoop for the finish, which is good to see.
Here are a few interesting tidbits from an interview he did with Rivals about a month ago. The full video is available as well.
On the attention from media and if it’s a little late in the game to finally be receiving this attention:
“I mean, I really haven’t had any hype since I’ve been here in California, but it is interesting having all of these high major schools try to come in at the last minute. I know some schools have seen me before, like St. Mary’s and Utah ... I’ve been on official visits with them. It’s cool that I’m finally getting noticed out here.”
On what schools have come in late and showed the most interest:
“The most recent schools, I’d say Princeton and Cal.”
Is Cal close to offering?
“I have no idea, actually. I hope so, but I’ll take what I get.”
At 6’6 and 205 pounds he already has decent size, and could definitely fill the void at the three spot in the lineup for Cal in the future. His willingness to defend and do the dirty work in the paint makes him a fit for Cuonzo’s style of play.
The Bears have been signing a lot of guards lately, but still need some players to fill out the forward positions for the future, and to beat Utah for Sueing would be a nice addition for the Bears.
Here is what the roster looks like next season, assuming Ivan Rabb declares for the NBA Draft (not including current walk-on players):
Guard: Charlie Moore (5’11, SO), Don Coleman (6’2, JR), Jemarl Baker (6’2, FR), Juhwan Harris-Dyson (6’4, FR), Brandon Chauca (5’8, SR),
Forward: Marcus Lee (6’10, SR), Roman Davis (6’7, SO)
Center: Kam Rooks (7’1, SR), Kingsley Okoroh (7’0, SR)
As we have known for a while, Cal needs some size. And while Sueing isn’t a big man, he would bring a bit more size to the wing spots in the future because, as of now, we have a good number of talented guards that are on the shorter end of the scale.
Sueing admitted to hoping for an offer from Cal, so what do you think our chances are of signing him?
Sound off in the comments below!