Comments on: Who is John Riek?

By: Austin Burton

Austin Burton — Sat, 31 May 2008 00:07:13 +0000

@Zach — I think when he got to America no one was quite sure what his academic status was, so he played a season of high school ball before the graduation from his African school was confirmed. And I would guess kind of like if you were trying to transfer colleges, they had to make sure the school you came from was “legit.”

By: andre

andre — Fri, 30 May 2008 23:24:57 +0000

I’m worried though, cuz I’ve heard a lot of comparisons to Manute Bol. Never a good comparison, haha. This dude could definitely benefit from a couple years in college, like Hasheem Thabeet did

By: AY

AY — Fri, 30 May 2008 21:50:57 +0000

can i please see his birth certificate. An 18 year old versus a 21 year old is going to make a big difference.

By: zach

zach — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:52:06 +0000

What I want to know is if he “graduated” in Sudan how in the hell was he allowed to play ball for a HIGHSCHOOL team in America (I get why he can go into the draft) seems like that would make him ineligeble in american HS

By: dagwaller

dagwaller — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:04:54 +0000

Thanks kobeef/Austin.

By: Big Freeze

Big Freeze — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:29:04 +0000

Kobeef

That’s a great point on post 8. His agent or manager or PR team is doin a decent job of gettin his name out there. Shit, I never heard of him till i saw this release. He is a poor man’s DeSagana Diop

By: Austin Burton

Austin Burton — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:26:10 +0000

Riek came to America in ’07 and was originally classified as a senior in the ’08 class. He went to the LeBron camp and the Nike Hoop Summit and other camps for high schoolers, but then later on it was discovered that his high school class in Africa had actually graduated in ’06, which changed him to a post-grad in America. That made him eligible for the NBA. I’ve seen Riek in person and I liked him. He’s a defensive-minded center who I was hoping would be a great recruiting catch for Georgetown (they were on his list), but I wouldn’t have said he was pro material yet. But anyone who’s 7-2, 18/19 years old and can block shots will always get a chance in the League.

By: Kobeef

Kobeef — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:18:53 +0000

@Dag

Don’t apologize – it’s complicated. On top of that, most people think that his handlers are lying about his age and that he is actually more like 25.

By: dagwaller

dagwaller — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:07:37 +0000

this is kind of embarrassing, but i don’t understand how he can be going straight from school to the nba? again, sorry if i’m being ignorant.

By: Kobeef

Kobeef — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:06:03 +0000

Remember Saer Sene? This guy wishes he could be that good.

Apparently he’s been “injured” and has not participated in a few camps.

You need to keep in mind that everything you hear about this kid has been crafted by his team of “investors” and PR people who spent a lot of money training him and banked on making a buck off him when he gets drafted. It is actually a pretty sad situation.