The Virginia men’s basketball program has extended a new scholarship offer in the class of 2020. Jabri Abdur-Rahim, a 6’7”, 200-pound wing prospect out of Blair Academy (Blairstown, N.J.), claimed an offer from the Cavaliers on Wednesday (May 15).
Blessed to receive an offer the University of Virginia! 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/e6WE5Er912
— Jabri (@jabri404) May 16, 2019
UVA joins a long list of schools that have offered Abdur-Rahim, who claimed offers from Arizona State, Connecticut, Illinois, Marquette, Villanova and Wake Forest earlier this year. Georgia and Maryland are among those that offered in 2018, while California and Kansas are among the schools that came through in 2017. Abdur-Rahim’s father, Shareef, starred at California before moving on to a standout career in the NBA. He is currently the President of the NBA G League.
The younger Abdur-Rahim reportedly (per Rivals.com) scheduled a May 27 official visit to Michigan, but that was prior to head coach John Beilein’s departure for the Cleveland Cavaliers. That trip obviously may be in jeopardy. As for other visits, Abdur-Rahim told the Kansas City Star he plans to visit Kansas “in the near future.”
A consensus 4-star recruit, Abdur-Rahim is rated by ESPN.com as the No. 39 high school junior in the country and by Rivals as the No. 42 player in the nation in the class of 2020. 247Sports ranks the talented wing as the No. 113 junior in the country. Abdur-Rahim received 2018-19 Gatorade Player of the Year honors for his performance on and off the court. Here is an excerpt from the Gatorade POY press release …
The 6-foot-7, 200-pound junior forward led the Buccaneers to a 22-4 record and the Prep A state championship this past season. Abdur-Rahim averaged 15.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.
Abdur-Rahim has volunteered on behalf of Habitat for Humanity, a food bank and a program distributing school supplies to underprivileged children. “Jabri Abdur-Rahim is just a really good basketball player,” said Vincent Johnson, head coach at Pope John XXIII High. “He can score on all three levels, and he can defend multiple positions. He led that team to a state championship.”
Abdur-Rahim has maintained a B-plus average in the classroom and represents one of the state’s top academic candidates in meeting the Gatorade award’s broad criteria. He will begin his senior year of high school this fall.
Abdur-Rahim has maintained his quality play this spring on the Nike EYBL AAU Circuit. Through eight games, he is averaging 25.2 points (40.7% FG, 32.3% 3PFG, 71.4% FT) and 8.5 rebounds per game for the Playaz Club (N.J.).
UVA watched Abdur-Rahim during the April 26-28 Evaluation Period, catching at least the Playaz contest versus Vegas Elite. The Blair Academy star had 12 points and three bounds in this matchup. Highlights from that weekend included a 41-point outing versus the Texas Titans and a 44-point effort versus the Mac Irvin Fire. In the latter, Abdur-Rahim drained 10-of-15 from beyond the arc and 15-of-23 in total from the field.
The second leg of the 2019 Nike EYBL took place this past weekend. College coaches could not watch. Abdur-Rahim closed the session with two double-doubles – 29 points, 12 rebounds last Saturday evening and 40 points (15-of-36 from the field, 3-of-8 from 3), 15 boards on Sunday.
As of this writing, Virginia has one verbal commitment – 6’3” guard Carson McCorkle – and three scholarship spots available in the class of 2020. Click here to view our updated Scholarship Picture page, which includes a roster breakdown as well as a listing of those confirmed scholarship offers extended by the Hoos.
