Nick Rakocevic working hard to rebuild his game and reputation
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- A year ago, three-star senior power forward Nick Rakocevic of Westchester (Ill.) St. Joseph didn’t imagine he would find himself in his current situation.
This time last year, Rakocevic was a four-star prospect and genuinely considered the top prospect from the class of 2016 in the state of Illinois.
Now, he’s working hard to rebuild his game and reputation after a tough summer.
At the HoopHall Classic on Saturday, Rakocevic looked as good as he has in quite some time while racking up 23 points and 18 rebounds in a tough loss to Springfield (Mass.) Catholic.
After essentially starting his recruitment back a the beginning, Rakocevic listed offers from Miami, Auburn, Wisconsin, DePaul and Creighton to go along with interest from Louisville and North Carolina.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
“My senior year is pretty well right now. My teammates are giving me more confidence and my coaches are doing the same thing.
“I know that I had a bad summer and scared some people away.”
“I am kind of starting all over from the beginning. I kind of have to.”
WHAT'S NEXT
Rakocevic said that he wants to take a bit more time to see if anybody else gets involved before setting up official visits. He is one of the top available big men in America.
RIVALS' REACTION
More often than note, kids look for somebody else to blame when their reputation takes a slide but Rakocevic took the responsibility for his poor summer. More impressive is the much-improved attitude and activity level that he showed and his overall activity level.
At HoopHall he was very active on the glass, showed spring around the hoop and some competitive fire. He still has to get much stronger and the lack of strength could be an issue for his first year or two in college.