The 2010 Newark Invitational at the Prudential Center drew some of the top teams from Jersey and destinations far and near. One team that traveled from over the river to compete in Newark (NJ) was Christ the King of NYC. CTK was matched up against Jersey City (NJ) power St. Peter’s Prep and the game lived up to expectations as the boys from New York City came away with a 75-72 overtime victory.
Also living up to expectations was Christ the King sophomore forward Omar Calhoun. The 6-foot-4 sophomore guard put on a show in his match-up against highly regarded St. Peter’s Prep junior (2011) guard Myles Davis, both showing why they have bright futures on the basketball court.
Omar Calhoun (21) and Myles Davis (15) could meet again in the Big East in the future (photo credit: Philip Hall/NY Post)
For his part, Calhoun finished with 23 points, displaying a high basketball IQ for a young player and showed off an accurante and picture-esque jump shot, extending out past the three-point arc where he was four of eight on the afternoon. Calhoun has a solid size and a good frame to add more weight before getting to college. His lack of strength and weight made some of his opportunities in the lane more difficult to finish in this contest.
Calhoun scored 11 of his team-high 23 points during a big third quarter for the Royals as they erased an 11-point deficit to take control of a game they would eventually win in overtime. It is that type of performance in a pressure-packed environment against a top-tier opponent that has many big time colleges already taking notice of this young guard.
When asked which schools have shown early interest, Callhoun responded, “A lot of Big East schools, Villanova, St. John’s, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, Louisville.”
Calhoun also added that North Carolina, Arizona, UCLA and Kentucky, but even with interest from schools considered to be the elite in the college game he is not going to relax and stop from learning the game he shares a love for with his family.
“My father is always teaching me and teaching me the game, he used to play basketball,” Calhoun told NBE. “My mom, she played, my whole family payed basketball, so we’re constantly talking about the game, reviewing the game and watching the game together.”
NBE next expects to see Omar Calhoun and his Christ the King teamates on Sunday, February 14th when they take on Half Hollow Hills West on the final day of the 2010 Primetime Shootout Schedule at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton (NJ). During the spring and summer Calhoun will be making the rounds on the AAU circuit with the always impressive NY Gaucho program We expect to see many college coaches checking him out along the way as well.
