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CATCHING UP WITH STERLING GIBBS

Class of 2011 point guard enjoys Big East trip, plays well at EGC

It was certainly a busy weekend for Sterling Gibbs, a standout point guard from Seton Hall Prep and the NY Panthers AAU squad. The first part of the weekend, Gibbs and his family went to Pittsburgh to visit his older brother Ashton, who is a freshman with the Panthers. To finish the weekend, Sterling was on the Rutgers campus participating in the Eddie Griffin Challenge, pitting the top players from New Jersey against the top players from Philadelphia in their respective classes. The NBE Basketball Report caught up with Sterling to see how his weekend was.

“The trip was crazy,” Gibbs said of his visit to Pitt. “I had a lot of fun hanging out with Ashton and the guys, it was a really good overall trip.”

On Sunday, it was Pitt’s annual fanfest where a Blue/Gold scrimmage took place. Even though Sterling and his family were headed back to New Jersey for the Eddie Griffin Challenge by the time Asthon hit the floor, they were able to see that Ashton is adjusting well at Pitt.

“Ashton’s doing well out there he has adjusted well and should be ready to see the floor this year,” Sterling said of his brother. Ashton was the starting point guard for the winning Gold team in the contest. With Levance Fields slowly recovering from foot surgery late this summer, Ashton has been getting a lot of early practice time at the point. In the scrimmage, he contributed 12 points, hitting all six of his free throws and knocked down a pair of three’s for 12 points. He also turned the ball over just once in the 32-minute scrimmage.

As for Sterling, he was on the losing end of his Eddie Griffin Challenge game as the 2011 Philly Stars outlasted those from New Jersey, 93-85.

“The highlight for me was when we made a comeback at the end of the game to actually make a game of it, because Philly had proven to be the tougher state/city at the beginning, but it was good that we left it out on the court and gave them a run for their money,” Sterling said of the contest.

For his part, Sterling scored 19 points in the contest, often taking the ball to the basket aggressively and displayed his excellent ball-handling skills. Often times this summer he was observed showing his high understanding of the game and ability to be a true point guard, traits he takes very seriously.

“The strongest part of my game is my decision making, shooting and my ability to make others better,” Gibbs said. To supplement those strenghts, the sophomore adds extra attention to his defense and adding a pull-up jumper to his offensive arsenal.

Playing for a high-profile high school program under long-time head coach Bob Farrell at Seton Hall Prep as well as playing up on the 17-U team of the NY Panthers AAU program has brought a lot of early recruiting attention to the 6-foot-1, 170 pound sophomore. Gibbs rattled off an impressive list of schools showing early interest in his abilities.

“The schools that have shown interest are Maryland, Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, Seton Hall, Florida, and Rutgers,” indicated Gibbs. As for favorites, too early to call as “at this point all of the schools are even,” says Sterling.

With three years of high school left, look for Sterling to give his brother Ashton a run at the impressive records he set at SHP. Major schools will continue to monitor his progress closely as he gets stronger physically and continues to improve his already impressive basketball abilities.

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