Top-100 2017 wing Jamal Cain has a bright future

Detroit - It was a special night for Detroit Cornerstone Health and Tech 2017 wing Jamal Cain. The 6-7 junior poured in a light 40 points on 12-19 shooting, and pulled down 15 rebounds to go along with it, in a 72-63 win over Detroit Frederick Douglass. Cain was fresh off of a 30 and 11 game just a few nights ago, and has really elevated his game this season, putting up big numbers, as the No.70 ranked junior in the nation should.

"Well, we expect a lot from Jamal," said his head coach at Cornerstone, Derrick Edwards. "We expect Jamal to rebound, and of course he's going to score the ball, but we also expect Jamal to play a lot of defense. As you can see, he controlled the boards tonight, which is big for us, because when Jamal plays like that on the glass, it allows us to get out on our fast break, and it was the reason that we were able to open the game up."

Seeing Cain score 40 points was worth the price of admission, but I was more so impressed by how he did it. He was efficient shooting the ball, especially from behind the arch, going 6-9. Douglass played zone defense most of the night, trying to contain Cain, but elite players always find a way. He was patient with his shot selection, the jump-shot looked much improved, he scored from all three levels, and his confidence was through the roof. Of course there are things Cain does need to continue to work on, like his defense, and his body strength, but his potential is limitless.

"He's a heck of an offensive talent," Edwards added. "But my biggest challenge with Jamal is playing defense. He's starting to buy into it, and you can see that with how he played tonight. He's really buying into what we are teaching him, and his teammates follow behind his lead.

"The sky is the limit for him. He's a pro. I'm sure about that."

Cain is a top-100 player in his class in the nation, and still, not a lot of people in his own state even know about the Pontiac native. That is mainly do to the fact that he attends a small school, which also comes with the notion that he does not play against the top competition, and plays down to competition at times, which was a knock on him. But Cain has silenced all doubters early in his junior campaign, and has been on a recent tear. Cain should be able to go off for 30-40 every night with skill level, as well as do other things for the team, which his coach expects.

"We expect him to go off like this every night," said Edwards. "And when he's not playing up to his potential scoring the ball, we expect him to be able to contribute in other ways of the game. So, we expect this from him, but if he's not scoring, he will rebound, play defense, and get others the ball."

On the recruiting front, Cain has earned Division I offers from Oakland, Northern Kentucky, Detroit, and Kent State, and his most recent offer from Washington State last night, who was in the gym to watch him put up 40, signifies that Cain is on his way to the top. They have high interest in him, as well as other high-major schools like Xavier, Oregon, Georgia, and Memphis.