by Alex Schwartz

The University HS (NJ) Phoenix had a fantastic year this season, winning the Group I state title and making it to the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions. There were a number of talented players on the UHS squad, including Davon Gibson '09, Kazembe Abif '10, and Sahid Dortch '10. I had the opportunity to catch up with one of the aforementioned UHS star players yesterday, Kazembe Abif, a 6'6 combo forward. "It [was] an incredible feeling winning the state title. It was the first that the boys ever won in school history. At the beginning of the year we made a list of goals, which included a county title, sectional title, and state title. We accomplished all three, but this was definitely the best of them all," said Abif on winning the state crown. Kazembe certainly had a lot to do with his team's success, as he reeled off an impressive list when I asked him about his personal season accomplishments: "I was All-Conference and All-County, County Junior of the Year Runner-up, All-Newark Team, All-Junior Team, and Group I All-State [while averaging] 15.2 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game." It was the "Star Ledger, Essex County edition" that gave these awards to Abif. Next year, Abif has some very lofty goals, both personally and team-wise: "Personally, [I hope to be] 1st Team All-County and Conference, Essex County Player of the Year and hopefully All-State, and [also] average a double-double. [My] team [goals are to] repeat [as] state and county champions and go further in the TOC. I also play football, so God willing, I can make a lot of noise on the girdiron as well." Along with his many athletic accomplishments, most importantly and most impressively, Abif does very well in the classroom, boasting a nice 3.2 GPA.

Kazembe considers the strongest point of his game to "be driving to the basket." Although he feels that his adept in this area, Abif can also bang down low with the bigs, as he is a fantastic athlete with nice size. Regarding what he feels he needs to work on, Kazembe said, "The weakest point of my game, I would have to say is dribbling with my right hand." So what is the junior doing to work on that part of his game? "I'm in the gym as much as possible doing dribbling drills with my right hand. In my free time away from school work, I keep [practicing] dribbling with my right hand." Clearly Abif is a dedicated player in addition to being an efficient and talented one, and that is always a good sign.

With all of his success in both basketball and football, the UHS dual-sport star is receiving college interest from a number of schools for one sport or the other. On the girdiron, where Abif "plays wide receiver and safety," he is being courted by Michigan State, Harvard, Princeton, Georgetown, and Purdue. At these schools, "the coaches all want me to come for visits and talk and look at the spring games with the other recruits, but it clashes with basketball tournaments," Kazembe said. Other schools such as UConn, Cincinnati, Syracuse, Stanford, Army, Lehigh, Marist, and Stony Brook are also showing him varying degrees of interest. As of now, Abif claims offers from Michigan State, Purdue, and Georgetown, while Harvard and Princeton have given him the equivalent of an offer, as Ivy League schools cannot give athletic scholarships. I asked Kazembe which sport her prefers and which one he feels he is better at, to which he replied, "I like basketball better and I think I'm better at basketball, but I'm a bigger recruit in football than basketball." That is likely due to Abif's impressive size at 6'6, which is great for a wide receiver at any level. Although he is being shown more interest in his football skills, some basketball programs have come his way too. NJIT, Monmouth, Rider, Farleigh Dickinson, Bucknell, and St. Peter's are actively recruiting Abif for basketball. The athletic forward told me that he has a school he would really like to go to: "Maryland is my dream school. That's the place where I want to spend my four years [of college] at." Right now, Abif said both NJIT and St. Peter's have offered him a basketball scholarship, but he went on to say, "After this summer I should—God willing—get more, and [as for] Maryland, my favorite school, somehow I'm [going to] find a way for them to offer me for either football or basketball."

It is evident that Kazembe Abif is a big-time athlete as well as a quality student. From being in contact with him yesterday, I also got the impression that he is a great kid. Abif is a prospect to keep an eye on. He is already making noise on the basketball court and in the football field, and he's not done yet.

Note- photo is from http://njhoops.rivals.com/default.asp