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Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Clarkston coach raves about Kamieniecki
Matt Kamieniecki, a 6-foot-7 forward from Clarkston, Mich., who visited Dayton this week, showed toughness and a soft shooting touch while playing pick-up games with the Flyers. And his high school coach, Dan Fife, believes Kamieniecki hasn’t come close yet to reaching his potential.
“He not only has to be our best defender and rebounder this year, but our best scorer,” said Fife, who’s led Clarkson High to a 70-8 record over the last three years. “We need him to play with his back to the basket, and I know at the next level he’s going to have to play outside. I’m trying to get him ready to play both.
“He’ll probably get up 30,000 to 40,000 shots this summer. It’s not something we have to make him do. … He wants to get better and wants to get good.”
Kamieniecki played with two other Division I players last season and averaged 13 points a game, but Fife said that’s deceptive.
“He’s almost two passes ahead of other players on the floor. It’s hard to teach that. Even though he may not score, he still has a strong impact on the game,” Fife said.
Clarkston reached the state semifinals last year and the state quarterfinals the two years before that. Along the way, Kamieniecki was pitted against Saginaw star Draymond Green, a Michigan State recruit.
“Honestly. … he out-played Green at both ends of the floor. It seems like the bigger the game, the harder he plays and the more focused he is,” Fife said.
Dayton has successfully recruited the state of Michigan the last few years, landing Paul Williams and Devin Searcy. And Fife has a long history with UD coach Brian Gregory and assistant Jon Borovich.
“They’re outstanding people, character people. I know Matt likes them both, and it’s hard not to like Dayton once you go down there and see it and realize what a strong community it is for basketball,” Fife said.
Kamieniecki will visit Michigan in a couple of weeks, and both schools are waiting to see how he develops this season before offering scholarships.
