Shahar Gordon
by Scott Granowitz
February, 1998--Deep in the woods of eastern Connecticut situated along Gardner Lake resides one of many private college preparatory schools in the New England region. This is not your ordinary school that prepares high school aged young men for the everyday rigors of college life. It is St. Thomas More School, a 36 year-old school that is home of the Chancellors, one of the top postgraduate basketball teams in the nation. This year the Chancellors have over a half-dozen NCAA Division I prospects on their roster, one of them being a 6-foot-11-inch, 245-pound presence from Ramat-Aviv, Israel.
His name is Shahar Gordon and you will be hearing a lot about this 17 year-old in the coming years. Gordon, on the suggestion of Jay Hoffman - the athletic trainer for the Israeli National Team, decided last summer to spend a year in the United States working on his post moves and getting acclimated to the American style of play before entering an NCAA institution sometime in the near future. Hoffman is a former assistant coach for the University of Connecticut, where he worked for current head coach Jim Calhoun. Hoffman called Calhoun to get a list of prep schools that would be suitable for Gordon's development. Upon visiting six such schools with his parents last summer, Gordon decided that St. Thomas More, located in Oakdale, Connecticut, would best fit his needs.
The talented players that Gordon practices with each day has made him a better player and aware of the type of talent he will face in the coming years playing major college basketball.
"Oh definitely," Gordon states emphatically. "American basketball, especially on our team, we got an All-American 7-footer called Ajou Ajou Deng [who will attend UConn next year]. Going against him every day really helps me a lot as a player. I think that will give me an edge about other Israeli players that come to play college ball."
Upon watching Gordon play, it is evident that he has incredible passing skills for a post player his age and has a nice shooting touch up to 15-feet, with decent 3-point range.
"I can pass good," Gordon said. "That's the thing that gives me an edge about other big men. I think it helps my game a lot because it opens up a lot of opportunities for me."
Gordon also provides a nice presence on the defensive end as this left-hander blocked a few shots with ease, while keeping the ball in play for his teammates to gain possession. His main weakness at this stage is his post moves, playing with his back to the basket. But this is something that 20-year Head Coach Jere Quinn is confident will be rectified in the coming years with the hard work that Gordon continues to exhibit during practice and games.
"He's a young adult who's grown up to almost 7-foot at the age of 17 years-old," said Quinn. "He will get stronger. He will get more physical. He needs to get quicker. He needs to develop some post moves. When you have a young adult and all they like to do is work. I expect some very good opportunities will arise for him in the near future."
Coach Quinn has nothing but praise for this young prodigy. He says that Gordon's character, integrity and high academic credentials are rare among today's student-athletes in "big-time" college athletics, and whoever lands him will have a jewel in its hands.
"Shahar Gordon's going to be a fascinating kid because when the
universities in the States get him in the next two or three years he's going
to have 25 more pounds of muscle," Quinn said. "He's not adverse to ever entering
a weight room. So when you get a kid who likes to lift, who likes to play, who's
very mature, very interested in being the complete student athlete, in a couple
of years he'll be a big strong young man."
As for selecting a college, Gordon's future will be decided in April when he,
his parents, and Coach Quinn iron out all the details. Gordon says he is still
not sure whether he will attend an American university next year, as he has
a commitment to the Israeli Defense Forces, as does every other Israeli high
school graduate. Gordon has the go ahead to receive a military deferment and
attend college starting next year, but is still pondering the situation as he
is not sure if he wants his military service hanging over his head for the next
four years. If he decides to fulfill his military duty first, he will only be
obligated to serve two years instead of the usual three due to a new Israeli
law regarding the service
of citizens with high athletic status.
There are a plethora of schools (around 200) that have been recruiting Gordon in the past year, the leading ones being California (Berkeley), George Washington, Northwestern, Ohio St., Rutgers, St. John's, Syracuse, Virginia, and West Virginia. UConn, the school that was indirectly instrumental in landing him at St. Thomas More and has a proud history of Israeli basketball players starring for it, is out of the mix. According to Gordon, the Huskies already have the majority of their roster set for next year, in addition to the fast breaking/pressing style that does not fit his game. Gordon will probably sign with a college that plays more of a half-court style and allows its post players more liberty on offensive sets. Even though Gordon's mother is a native of Bergenfield, New Jersey [he happens to speak without an Israeli accent due to this] and still has relatives in the general area, he says location will not be a deciding factor in his college choice.
As for the upcoming summer, Gordon is very excited about the final round of the European Championships for Junior Men (Under-18) that will be held in Varna, Bulgaria from July 3rd-12th. He captained the Israeli team last August that finished with a perfect 5-0 record (including a most impressive 80-60 rout of powerful Lithuania) in the semi-final round.
"We're looking for the championship," Gordon said. "We finished 5-0 in the semi-finals. We're heavy favorites to win and we have a great team this year."
During the winter break, Gordon and the Junior National Team participated in a tournament in Russia in which the team came away with a silver medal. Gordon was named the MVP of the tournament. One of the other players on the team is Herzliya's Ori Itzhaki, who toured the United States last fall playing colleges during the exhibition season with the "Rest of the World" all-stars. Gordon has been keeping in touch with him and his other close friends during the school year and says that Itzhaki may spend his senior year of high school at St. Thomas More.
Upcoming this March (4th-8th) for Gordon and his St. Thomas More teammates are the New England Class "A" Prep School Championships. As of the middle of February, the team had a 20-5 record in this powerful conference. It will be the culminating event of a successful sabbatical for the most promising young Israeli post player in over a decade. The future of Israeli basketball looks bright with guys like Gordon around.
Reflections | Profiles | News | About | Jews in Sports | Trivia | Links | Home