International Education
Lucas Siewert is receiving quite the education.
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A 6-10 forward with a scorer's mentality, Siewert has been winning more than his share of games lately. He starred alongside Idrissa Diallo and Jerome Bryant on the state's 20th ranked team, the Cathedral Phantoms last season, and this summer has been splitting time playing internationally with his native Brazil, while also logging minutes with AAU-power, the Compton Magic.
Of course, three different teams means equally different styles of play, and the Class of 2016 prospect has proven amenable to just about anything. Siewert's sturdy build and strong fundamentals have given him the ability to play inside, even as he does so against frequently older opponents. But the junior-to-be -- who is already drawing strong interest from UCLA, USC, Arizona State, California and Boston College, among others -- is at his most dangerous utilizing the jump shot. He's a near-40% shooter from downtown and with the help of Coaches William Middlebrooks and Will Kimble, has developed a dribble pull-up that's allowed him to prey on over-pursuing defenses.
"He's got a ton of upside," said Middlebrooks, Siewert's high school and AAU head coach. "He has the ceiling to play in the NBA some day if he continues to work."
"The Middlebrooks Way," as players have come to call it, is all about putting in the work, and Siewert and his teammates wake most mornings at 5am for individual and team workouts.
However unpleasant the dawn rousing may be, the conditioning has given Siewert the motor to tackle an ambitious summer.
A May littered with AAU tournaments and the Nike Junior International Tournament in Milan, Italy, culminated in an invitation to the prestigious Pangos All-American Camp May 30-June 1. There, Siewert thrived, named to the Top-60 "Cream of the Crop" Game. Next week, he'll travel to Brazil for 10 days to train with the U18 National Team, returning June 20th for the beginning of the FIBA Americas U18 Championship at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
All that jet-setting doesn't leave much time to visit prospective colleges. It does, however, bolster a high-major resume that nearly every program covets. And if there's one thing that Siewert has demonstrated, it's that he can play anywhere.
See Siewert score 30 in the 3rd round of the State Championship...
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