Juco guard Abdul-Aleem picks Bulls

Posted Sep 23, 2011 by Adam Adkins

Updated Sep 23, 2011 at 03:07 PM

University of South Florida men’s basketball coach Stan Heath has landed his first commitment for the 2012-13 recruiting class, securing a verbal pledge from junior college guard Musa Abdul-Aleem.

Abdul-Aleem, a sophomore at Georgia Perimeter College listed a 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, was being recruited by several Division I programs, among them Memphis, Rhode Island, Georgetown, Gonzaga, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, UAB and Nebraska, according to GPC associate head coach David Dennis.

Abdul-Aleem made a visit to USF over the weekend, and Dennis said the rapport Abdul-Aleem built with the Bulls coaching staff during the recruiting process was the primary thing that helped secure his commitment.

“Stan and his staff did an excellent job in that whole process with Musa and the way that they treated him on the visit and the way that the recruited him from the very beginning to the end,” Dennis said. “There were some smaller factors, some intangible factors, that probably pushed the visit and pushed his decision over the edge. The fact that his dad lives in Orlando, and Musa actually grew up in Tampa. Being a devout Muslim and following Islam, a lot of the people at the mosque and those things like that that he knew when he was a kid. It makes the transition for him a lot smoother and a lot easier.”

Abdul-Aleem was the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association Freshman of the Year and an NJCAA first-team all-region pick in 2010-11 after averaging a team-best 14.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

“He’s a heck of a basketball player,” Dennis said. “He shoots the ball exceptionally well, he defends well, shares the basketball well. He’s a complete player. He has a chance to come to South Florida and make an impact, and help them start to be successful.”

As good as Abdul-Aleem is on the court, his makeup off it is his best attribute, according to Dennis.

“Very charismatic, very intelligent young man, hard working, very, very good character,” Dennis said. “He always does what he’s supposed to do, is always where he’s supposed to be. You just don’t have any issues with him, and that’s a good thing to be able to have at that level and on any level.”

Abdul-Aleem is eligible to sign with the Bulls in November and will have two years of eligibility at USF.