A Close Look in at Brendan Adams - Could He Be Better Than Jaylen?
The last of the class of 2018 recruits to commit to the University of Rhode Island during September 2017 was Brendan Adams. Many Rhode Island MBB fans would say that he made the right choice, especially considering that he joined a class that includes the likes of ESPN top-100 big man Jermaine Harris, combo forward Dana Tate, and guard Tyrese Martin. After all, the class of 2018 recruiting class for Rhode Island men's basketball could be viewed as the recruiting class that Dan Hurley has had since his arrival to Kingston, RI. Adams received offers from the likes of Georgia, Wyoming, Columbia, George Mason, Georgia Tech, George Washington, Hofstra, Kansas State, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Princeton, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph's, Siena, Saint Bonaventure, Stanford, and Towson. Once Stanford retracted their offer, Brendan Adams knew that he would need to keep performing at a high level before other high major schools pulled out for his services.
Fortunately, he chose the Rhode Island Rams, an arch rival of his older brother's team (the Saint Bonaventure Bonnies).
In comparison to Jaylen Adams, Brendan looks like he could be a better driver and he has plenty of time to be a better shooter. There is no way that it can hurt when your older brother is the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year award. Family ties run strong within college basketball. All of the time that Jaylen and Brendan Adams spent training together and playing together should greatly benefit the younger brother in his future in Kingston, Rhode Island.
Quite obviously, Brendan Adam's college career will be linked and compared to Jaylen's. Luckily for the point guard/shooting guard from Maryland, he will be teammates with Daron "Fatts" Russell, a player that knows the exact same feeling. In the case of "Fatts" Russell, he has excelled in his freshman season while coming off the Rhode Island bench and he is on his way to a prolific career. Just like DeWayne Russell is in the corner of his younger brother, Daron Russell, the college basketball world knows that Jaylen Adams will be in the corner of his younger brother, as well.
Brendan Adams has explosiveness off the dribble at the guard position that is a rarity among Atlantic 10 men's basketball players. The Baltimore native's moves off the dribble allow him to free up space for open jump shots. Adams will be a deadly weapon for Dan Hurley's team if he can be a capable scorer when playing in isolation. Although Rhode Island MBB's offensive success is often predicated on their ability to assist one another on the majority of their made baskets, they still need players who can create and score off of their own shot. With the current 2017-2018 Rams team, players like E.C. Matthews and Jared Terrell help to keep their team dynamic on offense because of their ability to create their own scoring opportunities.
Another key part of what Adams brings to the table is his versatility. A common theme between the 2017-2018 iteration of the Rhode Island Rams is the versatility that all six of their guards bring. All six of the extremely talented guards can play at more than one position. In the case of Stanford Robinson, he is a 6'4" guard that plays at the power forward position. Meanwhile, E.C. Matthews is a 6'5" guard that plays at small forward. Therefore, Brendan Adams ability to play at point guard or shooting guard will be a welcome addition.
In an interview with Brendan's mother, Yalonda Adams, she spoke openly about Brendan's progression as a person and as a basketball player, "Each year Brendan has had to step up a bit more on his team in HS. There have been a variety of "UNEXPECTANTS" each year. I believe as a person and player he's had to grow in many ways. His leadership and maturity has come a long way and will need to continue to grow as this final varsity year progresses and making to the transition to what I call "Ground 0," starting all over again in a new environment. He works hard with both AM, HS, and PM workouts at least 5 times per week. He's the kid that you never really have to check on academically because he is going to stay on top of that. He also chose and pushed me to allow the morning workouts because I was concerned about sleep deprivation and his grades falling but he has proven to get through that as well." From the sounds of it, Brendan Adams is another determined, self-motivated player that will add another dimension to Rhode Island MBB next season.
For a mother going through the recruiting cycle again, Mrs. Adams had to have been more keen to what to look for after helping to get Jaylen Adams to Saint Bonaventure. Rhode Island fans may not like anything about Atlantic 10 foe Saint Bonaventure but they can appreciate the journey that Yolanda Adams went through to get her older son there. In fact, the Rhode Island coaching staff was sure to keep Brendan's older brother involved with their recruiting attempts. In the words of Mrs. Adams, "They were diligent about pursuing him and building the relationship with the entire family, including Jaylen. We valued and appreciated their approach to recruiting and their words were more importantly backed up with facts in the gym when we came up on the recruiting visit."
Everyone hears a bunch of stories about recruiting in the college basketball world but not everyone knows about what really goes on behind the scenes. Therefore, I had Brendan Adams' mother speak openly about her personal feelings on the recruitment of her youngest son. Accordingly, she expressed her view on recruiting by saying, "Recruiting can be a tricky thing. It's a lot of salesmanship but as a basketball mom, I never felt like we were being sold. It all felt authentic and that's important when you are sending your child off to start the next phase of their life. As Hurley said, we are a basketball family, and although as a family we have a lot of other great things going on, our primary focus has been basketball forever (of course we allowed them to choose.)"
As in many cases, the recruiting of Dan Hurley and David Cox has been on full display. Evidently, from the outset, Coach Hurley and Coach Cox saw the potential in Adams' abilities, "As far as the recruiting process... both Hurley and Cox were very decisive about Brendan and his potential with the program."
Going forward, Mrs. Adams had some words for the Rhode Island MBB fan base, on behalf of her son Brendan, "He's very excited to become a member of the Rhody community. What you are getting is a very hard working athlete and student!"
Be sure to follow @lifeoutsidethe9 on Twitter, @lifeoutsidethe94 on Instagram, and @lifeoutsidethe94 on Facebook for more coverage on the Adams family. I am sure that Brendan Adams will also be featured on this blog again after more of his positive performances in his senior year of high school and in his time with URI.
I have good faith in Brendan Adams being the second coming of Jaylen Adams... at the very least.
