Jon Han knew he was headed to prep school during his senior season at Lawrence Woodmere Academy (N.Y.).
The 6-foot, 160-pound senior floor leader needed an extra year of maturity and decided to spend the year at Tilton (N.H.) under coach Scott Willard.
Han, 17, also played for New Heights with Lance Thomas and Cameron Lewis so when he went up against Lewis and Phillips Exeter Academy on Wednesday, the 6-8, 220-pound forward knew what to expect.
But after the game, even Lewis was surprised.
``How many did he finish with?” asked a smiling Lewis. “He never took that many shots when he played with us.”
Han had 29 points, including seven trifectas, to almost single-handedly keep Tilton in the game before losing a close one, 76-71. This came after a 26-point effort in a setback to New Hampton.
``He can shoot it from anywhere,” Willard said. “He has unbelievable range and is a great passer. He doesn’t make many mistakes.”
While Han is a big-time shooter and also makes crisp passes, he’ll need to work on his quickness and strength. He’s also need to get into the lane more often and make things happen.
After his senior season in high school, in which he averaged 14 points, 8 boards and 7 assists, Han had offers from Marist, Rider and Loyola (Md.). However, he opted to see what he could do after a prep year.
Now Han, who has a 3.1 GPA and a 920 on the SAT, has other schools such as Holy Cross and Delaware – along with Princeton, Columbia, Fairfield, Hawaii and St. Francis (Pa.) who have all expressed recent interest.
``I like the New York area,” Han said. “Columbia has shown some interest and it’s a good situation. I like Fairfield if not an Ivy, but I’m not focused on one school. I’m wide open right now.”