Like most big men, Amile Jefferson wants to become a wing.
At 6-foot-8, 197 pounds, Jefferson is the No. 12 power forward in the Class of 2012 according to Rivals.
But he’s currently at the Kevin Durant Nike Skills Academy in Chicago in order to learn how to “come off screens, slicing, getting to that basket, creating a shot off less dribbles, instead of taking five dribbles, taking one.”
After finishing up at Philly Friends Central, he hopes to play the wing in college.
Among the schools on his list right now are Villanova, N.C. State, Temple, Ohio State, UConn, Maryland and Miami.
“Right now I’m really wide open,” he said Tuesday by phone.
“Hopefully I can get some visits in and be closer to narrowing down my list in September when school starts,” he said.
Villanova has long been on Jefferson because he’s a stud in their backyard. But he just took his first unofficial to campus a week ago.
“It went really well,” he said. “It was definitely good. I get to go up there often, see games and things like that.”
“I really like that school,” he added. “They’ve done a great job of getting guys from around the Philadelphia area, so they definitely have a great staff and a great program.”
UConn is also in the hunt for Jefferson.
“I got to talk to them a bunch of times,” he said. “I’m still learning more about the school and they probably could learn more about me.”
Wherever he goes, Jefferson said he’s looking for “a school where I can make an impact, a place where I’m comfortable on and off the court. Somewhere where really I just fit in.”
