Sage Tolentino, a 7-foot high school junior from Hawaii, offered scholarship by KU
Sage Tolentino, a 7-foot-0 junior center from Maryknoll High School in Honolulu, has been offered a basketball scholarship by the University of Kansas, he reported on Instagram.
“Blessed to receive an offer from Kansas. Thanks to coach (Bill) Self and coach (Kurtis) Townsend for believing in me. All glory to God!” the Hawaii native wrote on Instagram.
Tolentino, who has also heard from Kentucky, Auburn and other college programs, averaged 13.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.5 blocked shots per game in his sophomore season for state-champion Maryknoll.
“I feel good, great. Kansas has a great coaching staff. They really want me and they’re interested,” Tolentino told Hawaii Prep World.
“I really like their facilities and their school. I saw it on a Zoom call. They also talked to me about their winning program and their championships. I was very surprised, but also thankful,” he added.
He told KHON2 TV in Honolulu that an offer from KU “is motivation just to work harder.. Knowing that they’re division champions and stuff makes me more motivated to go to college and work harder.
“No commitment, no pressure,” Tolentino added of the recruiting process at this point. “Just live my life and just keep working hard on academics and school and just work hard for my dream to make the NBA.”
Tolentino — his parents were born in the Philippines but he has lived his entire life in Hawaii — recently was in Georgia, Ohio and Kentucky working out with trainers from the company East-West Private. The group, hawaiiprepworld.com says, “helps young players develop and prepare for the college and pro levels.”
“It’s good for me to play better competition, bigger guys, more skillful and at the college level,” Tolentino told hawaiiprepworld.com. “It’s good to have a run with players like them. I was there for close to a month.
Since returning to Hawaii …“I’ve been working out every day,” he told hawaiiprepworld.com. “I have a bar and some plates, and I’m shooting, working on my form. I want to shoot higher. Higher arch and higher release.”
Maryknoll coach Kelly Grant said Tolentino is definitely a major-college prospect.
“Defensively he could be the best ever to come out of Hawaii,” Gran saidt “In my PE classes he doesn’t like to lose, and he doesn’t like to lose as a teammate for our team. He is very competitive.”
Tolentino is not yet ranked in the Class of 2022 by Rivals.com.
Adams to pick school on Friday
K.J. Adams, a 6-6 senior forward from Westlake High in Austin, Texas, will announce his college decision at 6 p.m. Friday, according to Tipton Edits. Adams has a final list of 10: KU, Baylor, Texas Tech, Texas, Arkansas, Iowa, Iona, UCF, Georgetown and Oklahoma. Adams is ranked No. 83 in the recruiting Class of 2021 by Rivals.com.
He recently told 247sports.com that Texas and Baylor were high on his list.
“Texas is definitely really interesting because it’s my hometown and I was born and raised in Austin,Texas,” he said. “That’s definitely a really good thing to look at, staying at home. I’ve been there multiple times for games and a bunch of unofficial visits. The atmosphere is good, it’s definitely growing and going to get better when the new arena gets built.”
Of Baylor, he said: “Baylor has a real family feeling. They are always rising up and staying consistent on how they play. I love their facilities and everything they have in the arena was really cool.”
Mikey Williams lists KU, nine others
Mikey Williams, a 6-foot-1 sophomore point guard from San Ysidro (California) High who is ranked No. 3 in the recruiting Class of 2023 by ESPN.com, has trimmed his list of colleges to 10.
They include major colleges Kansas, Memphis, San Diego State, USC and Arizona State, plus HBCUs Alabama State, Hampton, N.C. Central, Tennessee State and Texas Southern.
It’s believed Williams will never play college basketball. The NBA is expected to rescind its one-and-done rule by 2023, allowing him, and others who choose to do so, to head straight to the pros.
“Not only is Williams one of the best prospects in 2023, but also one of the most popular high school players of all time. Williams has amassed a following of more than 2.3 million followers on Instagram, due to his explosive dunks and impressive highlight reels,” wrote Travis Branham of 247sports.com.
His 247sports.com evaluation reads: “Extremely productive combo guard with good size and length. Strong kid for age but not maxed out physically. High level athlete who is an explosive finisher. Has range to perimeter with jumper and is pretty consistent three-point shooter. Has handle and vision to facilitate and play on ball full time. Physical tools to be a good defender. Level of fame at age is current biggest obstacle to overcome.”
This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Sage Tolentino, a 7-foot high school junior from Hawaii, offered scholarship by KU."
