Reacting to Marial Mading's Commitment to URI
Although his height of 6'10 often comes into question, one thing is for sure - Marial Mading is a talented basketball player. Quite frankly, I do not care if he is 6'9, 6'10, or 6'11, I just know that the Springfield native can arrive to Kingston, RI and immediately contribute. With Rhode Island MBB's recent struggles on the offensive side of the ball, players like Mading are exactly what David Cox and his coaching staff needs.
The following video has some people drawing comparisons between Mading and the likes of Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo (obviously, to a lesser extent). I was pretty speechless when I watched the driving ability and overall scoring ability that he displayed in the highlight reel. The long-term goal should be for him to put more muscle on to his frame and to develop a post game. If he is able to make those progressions, he can become an all-conference player.
While holding offers from programs like Texas Tech and Houston, the forward also received interest from UConn, Old Dominion, and Tulane. Clearly, at his height, Marial Mading possesses an extremely unique play style. All of his game film emphasizes his athleticism and his agility. While playing at an elevated level at Rhode Island, he will be tested much more than in his days of high school basketball but his quickness will give him an edge over most opposing power forwards and centers. Most importantly, the current Commonwealth Academy student will give his head coach a vast number of lineup possibilities and he will allow his team to play plenty of small ball, if necessary.
The one big concern I have is that URI will underutilize Mading, a near 7'0 athlete, just like they have done with Michael Tertsea. With that said, it looks like he could be a much-improved version of what Nicola Akele should have been in Kingston, RI.
Out of the current class of 2019 commits that URI holds, I cannot quite say which commit I am most looking forward to watching in person but Mading is certainly up there. By the end of his time as a Rhode Island Ram, Marial Mading could very well prove to be one of the biggest steals of the class of 2019 recruits in men's college basketball.
