LINCOLN — One basketball recruiting website refers to Keith Coleman as “a 6-foot-9 refrigerator who can dunk.”
Rivals.com recruiting analyst Eric Bossi, when asked this spring to pick a prep prospect who could double as a bodyguard, named the 250-pound Coleman.
“He could easily pass for a grown man,” Bossi said. “And I seriously doubt there is anybody who would want to try their luck with him.”
Coleman decided Thursday that he’ll bring his bulk to Nebraska next season, making the Philadelphia native who last year played at Lee (Maine) Academy the first oral commitment for coach Doc Sadler’s 2012-13 class.
The man who will coach Coleman this season at Marshalltown (Iowa) Community College said his new prospect attracts attention easily.
“When Keith walks in the gym, you can see he has an NBA body,” MCC coach Brynjar Brynjarsson said Thursday night. “He’s a back-to-the-basket guy, but he can really run the floor and dunk and block shots.”
Coleman was expected to play another year at Lee. But he was a late transfer to Marshalltown and will have three years of eligibility at Nebraska starting next season.
A past connection helped Nebraska get hooked up with Coleman.
David Anwar, the Huskers’ director of basketball operations, is a Philadelphia native and former prep school coach in the area who has known Coleman for about five years, Brynjarsson said.
Last winter, Coleman had scholarship offers from Virginia Commonwealth, La Salle, Rutgers and Seton Hall, and had drawn interest from Florida, Texas and Cincinnati.
Coleman’s recruiting got reshuffled after his move to Marshalltown. After a recent appearance in a showcase event, Brynjarsson said, high-interest phone calls came from Missouri, Iowa, USC and Penn State.
“Keith hasn’t been here long,” Brynjarsson said. “But he’s coming along in his feel for the game. And I can’t say a bad word about the kid. He has done everything we’ve asked him to do.”
Nebraska has five scholarships open for 2012-13.
Contact the writer:
402-444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com
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