I was working on confirming that Penn basketball got another verbal recruit today, but the Cornell Basketball Blog beat me to the punch. While I can’t vouch for the accuracy of their report, all signs do seem to indicate that 6-foot-3 guard Dau Jok from Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa visited Penn over the weekend and gave the coaches a verbal commitment sometime this afternoon. I’ll continue working on confirming this information myself, but until then, here are some very interesting tidbits I came upon while digging up this story:
- Jok is considered a supremely talented shooter, a true three-point specialist. This blog entry by a Montana basketball blogger mentions a report that says Jok “has almost unlimited range” and “has never met a 3 point shot that he didn’t like.” ESPN called him “the best catch-and-shoot player at the Hoop City Classic” this past July. From what I’ve read, Jok’s stock soared over the summer as he tore it up in AAU ball. I haven’t found any definite numbers for his high school stats yet but I’ll keep looking and post them when I do. I did find one blog post that said he was 54-for-138 from three (39.1%) last year.
- That last post by Jared Todd on Illinoishsbasketball.com presents some very interesting info about his recruitment and the rest of his game. He says “Dau is not a one-dimensional player, as he is also a very good passer and defender. He also consistently displays great leadership qualities, and is a very vocal player on the court.” As far as recruiting, Jok had a very long list which included a number of Ivies, but the interesting thing that Todd mentions is that Dau was looking for a school with “good education, coaching staff, a great fan base and basketball family, good tradition, and a chance to play for championships, either conference or NCAA.” Penn obviously seems to fit the bill. That article was posted Sept. 16, and Todd says “Dau doesn’t plan to make his decision anytime soon, as he wants a chance to take a strong look at all the schools recruiting him.” Either he got that opportunity within the last two weeks, or Miller, Gallagher and Co. were able to convince him that Penn perfectly fit his criteria.
- Perhaps the most interesting fact about this kid is his basketball pedigree. That same story mentions that he is the nephew of former 7-7 NBA center Manute Bol and the first cousin of current Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng. And the good Jok genes extend to his brother Peter, who is a 6-4 high school freshman guard that numerous sites list as one of the top talents in the country for the Class of 2013 (some even have him No. 1).
And just before finishing the writing of this post, I found more confirmation on the twitter feed for Kingdom Hoops, an AAU program started by Jake Sullivan, who used to coach Jok’s AAU team. The post says “Congratulations to Dau Jok for signing with Penn! Awesome to see him go to an Ivy League school.”
It looks like Penn has its sixth recruit for the Class of 2014 in the bag, and a very promising one at that. Maybe even better if his brother follows him a few years from now, or anyone else in his family for that matter.
Tags: basketball, Dau Jok, Recruiting
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September 29th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
6′3″ is a stretch and he’s 160 soaking wet. I’ve seen box scores from last season where he had 1 fg. Let’s hope he’s much improved.
September 29th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
Noah - Thank you for your contribution. You answered my other question about where you have been - You have been working on this terrific piece! Bravo to you, young man!
Some FOQs (follow-on questions)
Do we know the other teams in the mix for the services of Jok?
Can you find out which players his game resembles?
I trust you are having a rewarding week on campus - filled with a variety of activities keeping you gainfully occupied!
Kind Regards/Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
FOJL
September 29th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Men:
What do we know about this incident with Fitzpatrick today?
Where was it? Palestra? Weightman? Hutch? Gimbels?
Very curious…
Kind Regards/Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
FOJL
September 29th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Here’s all the schools I’ve seen associated with Jok: Iowa State, Arkansas State, Montana, Montana State, Missouri State, Army, North Dakota, Fairfield, Nebraska, Drake, Dartmouth, Princeton. Possibly some other Ivies, but I’m not positive. That’s all the names I saw definitively mentioned somewhere, but one site said “many of the Ivies” which very well could’ve meant dartmouth, princeton, and penn, but also implies it could’ve been more than that.
As far as what player his game resembles, I can’t really say. I think the info I provided above describes his game better than any comparison might. I am always wary of comparing players since each player has something unique about him. Certainly Jok compares to Kevin Egee in shooting ability, though I think he has a quicker release. Certainly he’s more athletic than Egee and the rest of their games don’t compare much. I don’t have too much knowledge of the precise styles of play of many former Penn players - only what I’ve heard from other alumni - since I wasn’t around. Jok really sounds like primarily a knock-down shooter with good raw skills in the rest of his game and very good athleticism.
I assume Fitzpatrick’s dunk occurred in the Palestra, since that’s where the team almost always practices. I know that the Volleyball practice tonight was cancelled, so the Palestra definitely was open for basketball practice. I can’t say this for sure, but I’ll try to find out. If it were open I’d run down there now and try to snap a picture. I’ll see if I can get that shot tomorrow. No matter where it happened, that feat is just absolutely crazy.
September 30th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Noah - Excellent work as always. Have you been able to get any confirmation on Dau Jok’s commitment?
September 30th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Rodney - Thank you for the contribution. I agree with you - this was a great job by Noah. Another top notch post.
The men have been doing a great job in the past few weeks with their updates (although there did seem to be a lack of action for a day or so after the Laf game).
Kudos to Noah, Zach, and David(Ben).
The men are firing on all cylinders
FOJL
September 30th, 2009 at 11:30 am
FOJL & Rodney -
All true, but you left out Eli Cohen. His dispassionately accurate, non-saccharin-laced analysis and report of the Lafayette O/T loss was terrific on several counts:
1) Perhaps brutal for some eyes and ears, but no sugar-coating and on target! Such articles have been extremely rare at DP in recent years.
2) It leaves daylight between itself and the next best, whatever that was.
3) It is a pleasure to pay tribute to DP reporters, who have clearly stepped up. I notice we’re praising different names regularly; great! (Can’t help believing their inherent talent has blossomed in part because they are aware that critical and appreciative readers/customers are paying attention to their efforts.)
EN
September 30th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Rodney-
I haven’t gotten any on-the-record confirmation, but I can still say with near certainty that Jok is committed. I have placed calls to his AAU coach and his high school to try to get something solid to report but I haven’t gotten any responses yet
September 30th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Ernie - You are correct. I did mistakenly leave out Eli Cohen who delivered a report of the Lafayette game.
I will surely give him the credit he surely deserves.
Eli is another talented young man.
And I fully agree that all of these men have really blossomed in recent weeks.
FOJL
October 1st, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Noah,
That Montana basketball blogger you referenced confirmed that Dau Jok is ‘off the board’ and headed to Penn State.
I’m just sayin’.
October 1st, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Thanks for letting me know Rodney. I will send him my “Not Penn State” shirt ASAP.
On a more serious note his post doesn’t really indicate that he confirmed it himself. He probably is drawing that info from the numerous other reports (the Inky, for starters) in the last day that did offer alternate confirmation. The reporting I have done in the last day has also brought confirmation, but writing a new post would be overkill at this point. Nobody I’ve talked to will put their name behind the information, as is usually the case in these situations. What I’ve already said is as much as I can say about a firm confirmation.
October 1st, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I’m not sure I’d take much solace in the shooting comparison with Egee. Egee was not a great shooter, but he was, actually, a very good athlete. Let’s hope Jok is a much better shooter than Egee?
October 1st, 2009 at 3:04 pm
NY2LASPORTS.COM - PENN STRIKE ON TRAIL…LANDS IOWA SHARPSHOOTER JOK
Antonio Curro - National Recruiting Editor NY2LASports.com
September 30, 2009
E-mail us at info@ny2lasports.com with questions or comments
Twitter at https://twitter.com/ny2lasports
One of the top pure 2010 shooting guards left on the board in the Midwest is no more as 6-3 Dau Jok of Des Moines Roosevelt in Iowa has verbally committed to Penn this week. Jok took a visit to Penn this past weekend and returned home before offering up his verbal commitment this week.
The sharpshooting Iowa standout saw his stock take off this past spring/summer as he turned in a number of excellent showings both regionally and nationally where he built a reputation as one of the top pure marksmen on the circuit in the Midwest. Jok has excellent instincts and is a lethal spot up perimeter specialist with excellent range and the ability to fill it up from well beyond the arc. Add to the mix good size, excellent grades, and a solid upside and the talented young off guard is a perfect fit for Penn and should turn in an excellent career both on and off the court. This is an excellent addition to the Quakers program as Jok has already shown an ability to take over games with his perimeter stroke, is a true specialist in every sense of the word, and should be perfect fit for the Ivy league style of play.
Jok competed this past spring/summer at the 2009 Swish & Dish Spring Warm-Up and both the 2009 Next Level Invitational and Summer Jam events for the All Iowa Attack grassroots travel program under the direction of Jake Sullivan at that time. Sullivan has since become the director of the Kingdom Hoops grassroots travel program.
Note: Antonio Curro is the National Recruiting Editor for NY2LASports.com, PhenomNationHoops.com, and 414Hoops.com as well as the Midwest “PUNKS” Editor for SLAM Magazine and the Midwest Editor and National Consultant for the HoopScoop
October 1st, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Steve -
Kevin Egee had his games, and arguably shot the longest and most dramatic 3 in Penn BB history. But I agree he would not have been my paradigm for reliable outside shooting. I’d nominate Matt Maloney, Tim Begley, and Matt Langel in recent years.
Without doubt the greatest Penn outside shooter I ever saw was Bob Morse, who went on to be a great force in Europe/Italy. Too bad he played before the 3 point rule, because most of his shots came from 4 point range.
EN
October 1st, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Steve Egee - NOT
see http://www.ny2lasports.com/NY2LA%20Sports%20Articles/JoktoPenn.htm
October 1st, 2009 at 4:46 pm
“Steve Egee”
Man - I do really want to forget last season. But brother Steve missed a few at Columbia last year as well.
October 2nd, 2009 at 5:14 pm
To anyone that still cares-
I got a call back from Jake Sullivan today and he confirmed unquestionably that Dau Jok is committed to Penn. Jok had offers from North Dakota and Montana, and it came down to those 2 schools and Penn. Princeton was the most active Ivy school besides Penn, but wasn’t a major consideration. Sullivan said he thinks it’ll be a great fit and repeated that Jok is a great shooter.
October 4th, 2009 at 11:26 am
I still care, Noah.
And this is good news.
By the way, my sources tell me that Jok has grown four inches in the last two weeks, making him 6′7″ at present. Will keep you posted on his growth trajectory.
October 5th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
At this rate he should be at least 15′ by his first game.
This is a major problem, I doubt he will fit through the doors at the Palestra.