Over the next month, The Post will bring you into the world of South Shore/New Heights point guard Terrence Samuel as he travels from Indiana to Reading, Pa., to King of Prussia, Pa., Las Vegas and back to Reading during the live recruiting period. This is entry No. 2 of 5, as told to The Post’s Zach Braziller, that will appear over the next four weeks. The rest are slated for July 26 and August 1.
The live period was good. We won our first big tournament as a team, the Adidas Invitational. There were a lot of good coaches in Indiana, we went 7-1 out there. Me and Shamiek Sheppard didn’t get to our first game for South Shore at Hoop Group Team Camp and lost, but it was a good experience and we won our tournament [Hoop Group’s Summer Classic East] with New Heights in Philadelphia.
I got offers from Rutgers, Villanova, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Oregon State and Arizona. I also have offers from Iowa State and Cincinnati. Now I have more opportunities to go to college for free.
I have a lot of interest, too. I don’t have a leader. Villanova, Iowa State and Cincinnati were at every one of my games I can remember. I like Iowa State. They’re recruiting me the hardest. I spoke to them this week.
All the recruiting stuff feels good. When I was coming up in the eighth grade, a lot of people were going to college to play basketball in the Big East and I didn’t think I would be good enough to play on that type of level. I never thought I would get these types of schools.
When you go away, you always think about winning a championship. To win the Adidas Invitational was big. It was the first national tournament New Heights won and our team as a whole played good the whole tournament. I feel we grew as a team. I already knew we were one of the best AAU teams in the country, now we’re just playing to our full potential.
I’ve been playing good, limiting my turnovers, hitting mid-range jumpers. Some people thought I couldn’t shoot before so they have to respect my shot which lets me drive into the lane more. That’s what I do best.
I played games for seven straight days and had games starting at 9 a.m. It’s not really difficult, my body is not sore. I’m in good shape I guess. I haven’t felt any pain.
Before we leave for Las Vegas, I’m gonna go back to my friend Mike Bourke’s house in New Jersey and take more jump shots. I’ll just be working out and we have Battle of the Boroughs practice on Tuesday. For the next live period, I want to win the Adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas; that would be big if we win that. I just want to lead my team.