A week ago, Clemson basketball coach Brad Brownell and assistant coach Sean Dixon decided to offer senior 6-6 Amare James of Marietta, GA. The Tigers had been on his trail for a little while, just waiting for him to develop to the point where they felt he was worthy of an offer to play at their level. In their eyes, he reached that point.
“Since going to Wheeler (High School), you get a lot of exposure to high major programs. I’ve been there since I was a freshman, a four-year player. They’ve been seeing me and my development over the years,” James said. “Coach Sean Dixon told me back when I was like a sophomore or a junior, he was like, I see your game, just keep working. I like your game. When they came back and saw me with more improvements before the beginning of my senior year, I guess that’s just what sealed it.”
One thing Brownell and Dixon saw in James was a get-after-it kind of player.
“I’m a competitive, high-intensity player,” James said. “I’m 6-6, so I can stretch the floor. I like to guard, and I’m just really competitive at the end of the day. I get after it.”
Another thing they saw, and this had to please the defensive-minded Brownell, is that James loves to play defense.
“I feel like defense is just want to,” James said. “You’ve got to be engaged the whole entire play, and head on swivel knowing where your man is, knowing where the ball is. It’s a lot of variables to it. As long as you’re fully engaged in knowing where you’re at on the court, you should be able to guard the man in front of you.”
Clemson is the first really major offer for James, and he will take his official visit with the Tigers starting Wednesday night. He’ll have the option to commit on his visit, but he’s not planning to do that going in.
“I still have some visits to go on, but I like what Clemson has to offer,” James said. “It’s definitely an option for me. I’ll just have to see. I’ve already visited Evansville, and I’m going on another visit to Southern Indiana on November 7th.”
James has also received offers from the College of Charleston, Charleston Southern, Alcorn State and Eastern Illinois. He is not sure yet if he will sign in November.
James estimated that he averaged around 13 points per game last season