The Wolfpacker

MAY 2014 ■ 35 ■ BASKETBALL RECRUITING ISSUE the whole way," Abu said. "I think with ex- perience, those things don't happen again." Abu arrives with great credentials after playing five years of high school basketball and being a part of Expressions Elite. Abu averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds per game in leading Kimball Union to a 21-7 re- cord this past season, and the New England Prep School Athletic Council named him the AA Player of the Year and a first-team all-league selection. He finished with 1,284 career points at Kimball Union. Rivals ranked him No. 45 in the class of 2015, while ESPN listed him as the No. 32 player nationally. "I improved my ballhandling, and I've been working a lot on being able to create my own shot off the dribble," Abu said. "My jump shot is getting a lot better. I've been putting up a lot of shots." Abu played in the Senior Showcase March 15 in Orlando, where he won the slam dunk contest. Abu won his first dunk contest, featuring a dunk that included jumping over a stand- ing player. "The slam dunk contest was fun," Abu said. "We each got three dunks, so I didn't really know what to do and just kind of made it up on the fly. I dunk a lot, but I'm not really a tricks guy. I just jump really high." Abu also participated in the Jordan Brand Classic regional game April 18 at the Bar- clays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., collecting 10 points and 11 rebounds in the contest. He is slated to play in his third Mary Kline Classic, a regional all-star contest, May 31 at West Orange (N.J.) High. At NC State, Abu will join with sopho- more post players BeeJay Anya, the lone true center from the group, and power for- wards Kyle Washington and Lennard Free- man to form a strong frontcourt. "I want to come in and be a versatile ath- lete and score in different ways," Abu said. "I want to stretch the floor and also get some hustle points. "I'm looking forward to a good season. Our goal is to be the best team in North Car- olina, over Duke, UNC and Wake Forest." Abu expects the team's post play to be "special" and likes that the players comple- ment each other well. "We are athletic bigs with high motors," Abu said. "We have a chance to do some big things. Coming in as a freshman, it's going to be a challenge for me, but that's what it is all about." Abu will arrive in Raleigh after spend- ing his first two prep years at Marblehead (Mass.) High and then reclassifying as a sophomore at Kimball Union for the 2011- 12 school year. Basketball and academics were his main focus during his three years at Kimball Union, but he avidly watched any col- lege basketball game he could, since there wasn't much else to do in the unincorpo- rated town of Meriden (population 309, not counting the 327 students). Abu officially visited NC State in late August, but had never seen the Wolfpack play live at PNC Arena. His first chance came when he unofficially visited and watched NC State fall 68-64 to Missouri Dec. 28 at PNC Arena. "I didn't know how packed it got at the PNC Arena, and that was a big game," Abu said. "That was a good feeling seeing the support at PNC Arena. A lot of people recognized me, and I got to sit right behind the bench." This year, he will be in the thick of the action, and Wolfpack Nation will know exactly who he is. ■ Abu averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds per game this past season, and the New England Prep School Athletic Council named him the AA Player of the Year and a first-team all-league selection. PHOTO COURTESY NIKE GLOBAL "I could have stayed near home if I wanted to sit and watch games. That's not me, and I'll be working harder than anyone else." ■ Abdul-Malik Abu 34-35.Adbul-Malik Abu.indd 35 4/29/14 12:01 PM

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