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Draft Diary: Kenny Adeleke

Draft Diary: Kenny Adeleke
Jun 10, 2006, 10:27 am
I think my season went good in the sense individually with me being so consistent and getting a double-double almost every game. With getting one in 24 out of the 28 games, I was real happy with my rebounding. I started off a little slow, but I picked it up. My goal was to lead the country in rebounding, but I was pretty happy that I finished in second. I accomplished some good things. I got the record for player of the week with 8 times in conference. I broke the double-double record of Malik Rose and Vin Baker.

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That rebounding title was the only thing on my mind. I was really upset when I didn’t get the rebounding title. There were a lot of games where I was hot and I felt like I was going to grab 25 rebounds, but then I got in foul trouble. Things happen that kind of stopped me from getting those numbers. I think I can rebound with anybody, anywhere I play. That’s just what I try to do. When I didn’t win it, it got me a little upset, but at the same time, I knew I gave it 100%.

My team finished 13-15, but we had a lot of injuries. By the end of the year, we only had 7 players left whom we started the season with. Whether it was injuries or they quit the team. My goal was to go to the NCAA tournament, and it was a little disappointing. With the players that we had, we did the best we could. We would play with 6 or 7 scholarship players each game. I think it made the best out me. Defenses were really focusing on me. Every game from the beginning to the end, I got double and triple teamed every game. I think it made the best out of me because now that I’m getting single coverage, I’m making the most out of it and scoring at will.

The NBA was on my mind all the time because I knew from when I started college that I was capable of playing in the NBA. The biggest thing was that I wanted to get the attention of the NBA and rebounding was definitely something that sticks out. A lot of people don’t do things like that anymore. I feel that I’m a blue collar type of player. I like doing things like diving on loose balls, getting rebounds out of my area, being scrappy, and just being a high energy player.

The biggest thing with agents is that you want to have somebody who knows what they’re doing. I had a couple of big guys coming after me, but at the same time you want somebody that you can trust and somebody that will work hard for you. That’s why I felt my agent, Michael Whittaker, was just a guy like that. He worked hard to get me in a sense in that I knew one of his clients, Ricky Shields. He recruited me harder then anybody and made me feel comfortable. I’m glad I made my decision. I know how hard he works. That’s the main thing. I’m a hard worker and he’s a hard worker, so I really wanted to reward him. I knew I was probably taking a chance because he didn’t have a big name like some of the other agents, but at the same time, but I think that he was effective because not only did he get me in Portsmouth but he got me in the Orlando Pre-Draft camp. He has two clients in the camp. It’s just something that you want somebody that you can trust and that’s going to work hard for me.

Porstmouth…I think I played well. Unfortunately I had an injury and wasn’t able to play the last game. The one thing that I’m upset about is my rebounding because I know I’m a better rebounder then what I finished up with. I know I can rebound a lot better and I showed that at the Orlando Pre-Draft camp. I did average 8.5 per game though in my two games. In terms of scoring, I played with a great point guard in Juan Jose Barea who if you run the court and play hard, he’ll get you the ball. It was fun because it was the first time all year that I got 1 on 1 coverage. It felt good because I was able to score and do the different moves I can do.

In my pre-draft training, I did a lot of lifting, about 4 times a week. I would run at least 2 miles three times a week. The main thing was that I worked on my shooting. Whether it was my head coach Larry Harrison working me out, or someone else, we would still do a lot of shooting. We would do a lot of post stuff and stuff to help me facing the basket. When I was in Cleveland, I had a shooting coach, Bob Donewald, who really helped me with my shot. In all these workouts, I’ve shown teams and they’ve been happy with my shooting. I would do different types of post drills and stuff too, but the main thing I would do is make sure that I made at least 200 shots. I would make sure I did that at least 4 or 5 days a week. My shooting in these workouts has been really good, so it’s obviously paying off.

I would spend at least four hours a day training before workouts, but I haven’t been able to as much with all these workouts. My body is sore from the workouts, but I still get in the gym. People who know me know that I’m a workaholic and I work harder then a lot of people. I think eventually it’s going to pay off and my name will come out in that sense.

All of these pre-draft workouts give you mental toughness in that you have to go from city to city and it might be annoying, but at the same time, it’s a job interview. You’re looking for the right situation and its tough being a player coming from a small school. I treat every workout like it’s my last. I feel like I’m fighting to make it in this draft. In every workout, I just make it a point to work harder then everyone. I just do the little things like rebounding out of my area and diving from loose balls. So far, everything has been going good. In my opinion, and even in the other players that I have went up against I feel that I have at least outplayed my opponents. I feel that I’m a great one on one player and I don’t feel that anybody can stop me in the post. The biggest thing with me is just making sure. I’m a very competitive player, especially in one on one. I make sure that when I go out there that I leave with respect from all my opponents.

The teams…Different teams do different things. Minnesota did a lot of two on two. To see if you can read it, how you pick, how you roll. We did a lot of like one on one, two on two. A lot of full court transition drills. Some teams might even have you do conditioning drills like the Lakers. They put us through a four man weave that had to do with conditioning and we had to dunk the ball as many times as possible in 30 seconds. Some of these teams are more based on conditioning, but the majority wanna see your skill level in one on ones, two on twos, and how well you shoot the ball.

Of all the players I went up against, Alexander Johnson really impressed me with his athleticism and his quickness. For somebody to be that size and that athletic, that’s something really special. I also really like Soloman Jones. He’s long, athletic, and he plays really hard.

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