Silas looking towards future

Being in the right place at the right time sometimes pays off; Jamal Silas is no exception to this. A chance encounter with a PE coach his freshman year at O.P. Walker in New Orleans, La. started off his career, now he's looking to continue it in college.

"I was a PE coach, when a small freshman came into the gym and dunked the ball in front of me," Walker assistant coach Jason Bertrand said. "I immediately called him over and gave him a practice schedule."

Now three years later, Silas is looking to move his game from a role player that averages nine points, five rebounds, and two steals per game, to a more dominate threat like former teammate Colby Carr, now with ULM, and like current teammate Jarvis Ray.

"This is the season that I establish myself as a legitimate player," Silas said. "This season I'm going to step up my game to better mimic Colby's game, especially since he was such a big part of our offense that will have to be replaced."

Helping to do this, he camped at the I-10 Elite Camp in Baton Rouge, which featured 80 of the region's top prospects. This was in addition to playing AAU basketball throughout the summer for the New Orleans based Fleur de Leis All-Stars, which under his leadership played to a third place finish in the state tournament.

Silas's hard work has not just been on the hardwood though, as he has maintained a 3.8 GPA ranking in the top 15 of the class of 2010. Despite this hard work though, no offers have been extended, but interest has begun to come in from the likes of Loyola-New Orleans and Bucknell, with some in-state schools beginning to take notice.

"New Orleans is an under recruited area, some feel that these kids will not make the grades, but Jamal is something special, a smart player, and will make a great student-athlete for some lucky college coach," Bertrand said.