A. J. Hammons, a 7-foot, 278-pound center of Mouth of Wilson (VA) Oak Hill Academy, will visit Minnesota this weekend. Hammons shot 58% from the field as he helped lead the Warriors to a 29-4 record and a No. 4 ranking by the USA Today. GopherHole.com recently caught up with Oak Hill Academy head coach Steve Smith to learn more about Hammons.
Hammons transferred to Oak Hill Academy after he averaged 8.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore at Carmel High.
Hammons helped lead the Spiece AAU program to a 10-5 mark in the Nike Elite Youth Baksetball League (EYBL) and an appearance in the Peach Jam.
Oak Hill is a basketball powerhouse, so Hammons was not the focal point of the team, but Smith felt that he is a key player with a good upside.
“We run him in and out,” said Smith. “He played about 16-17 minutes per game. We had a kid Daniel Gomis, who is going to Oregon State, and is 6-9 and we just rotate them on and out. His stats are a little deceiving. He had a great year. He led the team in blocks, over three per game. He has changed his body a lot. You can really tell. Coaches who come in to see him are like “Wow, what happened?” He was a little pudgy and people questioned his conditioning, but he has changed a lot from being in the weight room, eating better and training all the time. He looks good. He is being heavily recruited. There are not many guys like him. He is 6-11, almost seven-foot. He is skilled. There are not many guys that size. If the light switch ever comes on where he goes hard all the time, he is a tough guy to handle because he is skilled and can play with both hands. He has a jump hook with his right and left. You just have to get him to run the court every possession.”
Smith feels that Hammons is a player with many strengths.
“His presence defensively in the lane area,” said Smith. “He is a shotblocker. There are not many guys with his size and he is long, too (7-foot-3 wing span). There are 6-11 guys who play like they are 6-5. He is a big guy and he plays big. His offense is coming. He was a little raw, but his offense is starting to come. The sky is the limit with him. He has more potential than anyone on our team, because of his size. Once he gets a work ethic, I think that he is going to be really, really good.”
Hammons did a good job on the books this past season, making the “B” honor roll all four quarters.
Hammons will attend the Minnesota-Miami of Ohio game this weekend.