Posted by KARNIVORE:
I don't know anything about this kat. Is he legit ???
Oh fo sho. I brought him up a while ago. The deal is, he is a 3. If Dice doesn't come back, we'll basically be sending Spree out the door and conceding the next season. Regardless, he's gonna be a star in the league.
Check this article from SLAM Magazine:
Risin' Outlaw
By Nima Zarrabi
Travis Outlaw is one of the best dunkers in the country. But if you only focus on that, you'll miss the big picture.
It doesn't take much to get Travis Outlaw to start clownin'. A mere mention of his 10 blocks per game last season is all it takes to get the Starkville (MS) High School star laughing. "I don't know why they ain't learned yet," Outlaw says of his opponents, between giggles. "It might be because I look so slim and they think they can take it to me or get me in foul trouble, but no. I'm going to send it out."
The 6-9, 200-pound senior did more than pin shots last season, dropping 25 ppg, 11 bpg and 6 apg, good enough to catch some serious looks from some of the top colleges in the country. "People have no idea how athletic this kid is," says Starkville coach Greg Carter, an ALL-SEC performer and former assistant coach at Mississippi State. "I'd compare him to McGrady in that he's a tall, athletic player who can handle the ball, shoot the three and dunk on you." A member of the Starkville varsity since the eighth grade, Outlaw has long been on the wish list of MSU, the local university. The Bulldogs have made Outlaw a top priority during the past few years, hoping to keep their home-grown star from leaving the state. Outlaw rewarded that persistence in June when he picked MSU over Memphis. "The decision was a very close one," he says. "It really came down to staying at home so my family and my friends can watch me play–that was the biggest factor."
Outlaw sees himself as a two or three in college, preferring to do most of his damage form the perimeter. "I've had a lot of coaches try to stick me down in the post and it hasn't worked out," he says. "I like to move around a lot and get a chance to shoot jump shots. Sometimes I settle for the jumper a little too much, but I'm working on that."
Last summer at adidas ABCD camp, Outlaw's jumper hit a snag, but hardly derailed his aggressive approach. Instead, he shifted his focus to quickness, getting to the rack with ease and putting down monster dunks that got some heavy play form the crowd, including a memorable alley-oop from beyond half-court. "My jumper just wasn't falling for me," the ABCD All-Star co-MVP says. "So i just told myself to go out there and start dunking, and that's what I did."He's basically this years more athletic Q Woods. But with an abundance of talented lottery-bound big men, we really need to decide whether we address our needs this draft or not.
5/9/2003 7:14 PM
isn't that the greatest BBALL mag?