After an ultra-successful high school career at New Albany, Sean East decided to go the prep school route for a fifth-year of preparatory basketball and the opportunity to hone his skillset while bolstering his college recruitment.
East, a 6-foot-2 guard, is now in the final weeks of a one-season stint at Combine Academy of Charlotte, an international boarding school and professional sports performance center, located in Lincolnton, N.C.
“Combine has been a good experience,” said East, who guided New Albany — alongside classmate Romeo Langford — to a state championship in 2016 and a 100-10 record over four seasons. “I’ve met lots of new faces from all around the world. This place really lets you know where your game is at, who you can play with and what you need to work on.”
Combine’s program in 2018-19 includes four teams — one traditional high school team and three postgraduate teams. East is a member of the national postgrad squad, which has played an aggressive schedule of nationally-ranked prep schools and junior-colleges.
Some of East’s biggest performances at Combine have come against top-tier competition, including versus Hargrave Military (33 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds), State College of Florida (24 points, seven assists, four steals) and IMG Academy (21 points, five assists, four rebounds) .
“(Sean) is a great leader vocally and his skills carry the team in these tough competitions,” said Combine’s associate head coach Mike Jagacki, who trains East nearly everyday at 6 a.m. “He’s a leader for our team. He has great natural instincts and the IQ and skillset of a high-major player. That’s why I think he’ll be a great fit for any (college) program.”
East, who is averaging 22.2 points, 8.7 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game, has recently heard from a number of Division I programs, including Butler, Chattanooga, Creighton, Evansville, Incarnate Word, Niagara, Southeast Missouri, Towson and others.
“I expect more schools to hit me up in early April when (their) seasons are over,” East said. “By the end of April, I want to be committed.”
East’s team will close the season March 16-17 at the Combine Classic in Lincolnton.
