by Alex Schwartz

There is a lot of talent in the state of Washington right now, so being the state player of the year is a big deal. Last year the honoree was Abdul Gaddy '09 of Bellarmine Prep (WA), a 6'3 point guard, who is a former Arizona-commit. Since re-opening his recruitment, Abdul has become extremely sought after, and had a number of options. He narrowed his list down to five schools, and the Wildcats are included in that group. I spoke with the highly regarded floor leader after the Boost Mobile Elite 24 Classic at Rucker Park in Harlem, New York.

NB: Could you just comment on the situation Memphis and the recruiting violation [regarding you]? [See Adam Zagoria's article on ZagsBlog.net for more.]
AG: It was a . . . big misunderstanding really.

NB: Has that given them anything they’ll have to overcome in your recruitment in any way?
AG: No, not at all. I’m just taking my process slowly and [am] just [going to] take a couple visits and then get it over with.

NB: So who are your finalists officially?
AG: U-Dub [Washington], Oregon, Arizona, Memphis, and UCLA.

NB: If you had to commit tomorrow, who would you pick?
AG: I have no clue.

NB: What do you see as the strongest and weakest points in your game?
AG: [My] strongest [point] is being a pure point guard, pass-first, getting everybody involved, knowing when to score and when to pass. [My biggest] weakness [is] just [defense. I need to be] getting better on defense really. [I have to] become a better defender.

NB: What do you think the chances are [that] you go to school with your AAU [and high school] teammate Avery Bradley?
AG: We probably [are] going to go our separate ways. Our coach feels like we need to separate. So, it’ll help us out in the long run. I’ll wish him the best of luck and we just both [are] going to do our thing.

NB: What’s your relationship with Avery like on an overall level?
AG: He’s like one of my best friends. [We] . . . hang out all the time [and] work out all the time, so we do everything really together a lot. So,  . . . it isn’t going to be good leaving him during college, but it’ll be better for us. We [are] always going to be boys and everything.

NB: There’s so many talent in Washington right now. What was it like for you to win state player of the year last year?
AG: It was a great honor. We went far in the . . . state tournament. . . . I’m a team player, so I put that on my teammates. They helped me out a lot [and] my coaches helped me get better. So, it was a great honor to receive that award.

The rankings provided by Rivals tell the story of just how many gifted ballers are in the Evergreen State right now. In the class of 2009, there are two five star ballers in Abdul Gaddy and Avery Bradley, along with two four star prospects in Louisville-commit Peyton Siva and Aaron Dotson. Washington's class of 2010 features Rivals' number one overall player, five star baller Josh Smith, and Aaron Bright, a four star player. Washington also has Rivals' number two player in the class of 2011 in Tony Wroten, Jr. To show just how impressive this is for the state, the class of 2008 had one four star player on Rivals, Mark McLaughlin, who is headed to Nevada, and no five stars. Washington's class of 2007 had four star Steven Gray, who headed to Gonzaga, along with no five stars. In 2006, there was five star Spencer Hawes who went to Washington and was one-and-done before being an NBA lottery pick by the Sacramento Kings. Thus, the three year class of 2009-2011 features four five stars and three four stars for seven total, while the three year class from 2006-2008 had just one five star and two four stars for three total, less than 2009 has alone. That makes it clear just how many gifted ballers are in Washington right now. Thus, it's clearly quite impressive that Abdul Gaddy was selected as the state player of the year.

Note- photo is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/.