Just a rising Sophomore at Upper Room Christian Academy in Raleigh, NC, 6'2" SG Rodney Purvis has a lot on his plate. Juggling AAU responsibilities while playing at the NC Pro-Am in Durham, he took a few minutes out of his busy day today to speak with Duke Hoop Blog.
Only a few hours removed from a battle in the Orlando AAU Super Showcase Semi-Finals versus fellow Super Sophomore Julius Randle and the Texas Titans where he scored 23 points while shooting 11-15 from the Free Throw line, Rodney said "I just helped my team win today. We were down 16 heading into the 4th quarter, and we ended up winning by 6."
The Championship Game versus the NY Gauchos is tonight at 8 PM and can be found online at ESPN3.com streaming live. Be sure to watch Rodney and the rest of his CP3 All-Stars compete for the AAU U-15 Division crown. Rodney is 16, but all of his classmates and peers play for the U-15 team, so he does as well. "Playing with the 15s helps me become a better leader," Rodney says.
Before you think less of Rodney because he's playing down a division, he'll be playing up a division with the 17s next. After playing two games a day for the last 3 days, he'll take one day off and go right back at it again on Sunday at 1:20. "Playing with the 17s helps me become a better player and I get to compete against the best players." Watch him in action on ESPN3.com, as most of his games will be broadcast live.
Before this Super Showcase, Rodney was on a whirlwind tour of camps, tournaments, and events. One of those camps was the NBA Players Camp where he was the youngest camper invited to the event. It made quite an impression on him evidently "At first it was tough because we were in the gym from 6 in the morning to 10 at night. After the first couple of days my body got adjusted and it started to get a lot easier." While at the camp, Rodney had a chance to work out with noted strength and conditioning coach Alan Stein of StrongerTeam.com. Rodney had very kind words for Alan. "Yeah, he's pretty tough. He had me feeling like I've never felt before. After stretching with him I felt like I could jump out the gym and could move faster than I ever had. I didn't really understand why were doing some of the stretches we did, but now I stretch like that every day."
This Fall, Purvis will be playing at Upper Room Christian Academy. He wants to help get the word out about his fellow teammates Tyrek Coger, Waymond Wright, and Willie Gaston. He says they are a few of a small group of players committed to playing for the school this season. In between games, Rodney has quite a few visits lined up. He says "I'll definitely visit Duke and Carolina this Fall but I haven't set a date yet." Already scheduled are trips to "Miami, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Florida, and Alabama" for football games.
Purvis says he's hearing from "Xavier, UNC, Duke, Louisville, UK, Syracuse, Miami, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, NC State, and NC Central the most." While many of the bigger programs in college basketball will certainly get involved with the ultra-talented Shooting Guard, his Mom wants him to stay close to home. He says "She wants me close to home. At the end of the day she wants what's best for me. I want to be close to her too so I can go and see her whenever I can."
If he wants to stay close to home, Rodney will have no shortage of options. Expect UNC, Duke, and NC State to stay very involved with this rising star.
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