Musa Jallow took two unofficial visits to Virginia in the past so he came to Charlottesville for the NBPA Top 100 Camp already comfortable with his surroundings. Of course, he’s usually comfortable on a basketball court anyway.
That’s certainly been true so far at the Top 100 Camp. Jallow, a four-star recruit at guard, has had at least 8 points in all but one game so far. He tallied 9 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 steal in the opener and followed up with 8 points, 1 assist, and 1 steal in the second game Wednesday. On Thursday, he posted 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks before finishing with 3 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal in the nightcap.
“It’s been a really good experience,” Jallow said. ”I’ve been here two times on an unofficial visit so I’m pretty familiar with the area and the court and stuff like that so it’s a fun experience.”
Of course, Jallow often receives attention for the things he does on defense beyond the box score. That’s a trait that’s been ingrained from an early age. The message from his AAU coach with the Bloomington Blaze is simple: defense doesn’t take a night off even if your shooting does.
That’s why Jallow is always willing to challenge a shot near the rim if he can get the timing right for the opportunity.
”My AAU coach has been training me since I was six years old,” Jallow said. ”He was a defensive guy, Derrick Cross, so he always preaches defense even if your shot’s not going in, you can always have a good night defensively. So no matter what, just play hard on defense and that’s pretty much the main focus.”
Jallow’s versatility on both ends of the floor has drawn high major attention in the basketball recruiting world. He said his recruitment is all over the place and “pretty open” at this stage of the summer with offers from Stanford, Butler, Ohio State, Purdue, Indiana, and Virginia among others. Stanford and Ohio State have made him one of their top priorities he said.
For now, the Indiana native wants to take his time with the decision process and play a timetable by ear until he figures out what the best situation is for him. He indicated that he hasn’t had time to build the relationship with Archie Miller and his staff at his hometown school Indiana yet. ”They still have to come out and see me. They only got to see me one tournament so we still have to figure it out,” he said.
As for the Cavaliers, Jallow said that UVA and probably Stanford would be places that he would lean for an official visit due to their distance from home. He hasn’t set any visits at this point, though.
If an official visit does come for Virginia, Jallow already likes what he sees with the program.
”Coach Bennett, the way he runs his team, the defensive intensity, the humbleness they have,” Jallow said. ”It’s a really good system.”
