2017 SF Jamal Cain updates recruitment at Brawl for the Ball

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - He's Detroit's best kept secret, for now. Detroit Cornerstone Health and Tech junior small forward, Jamal Cain, who is having a solid weekend at the Brawl for the Ball AAU tournament with his Detroit Stars 17U team, in the beautiful Grand Rapids. The 6-6 Cain, who is super athletic, and can put the ball on the floor, put those skills to use in front of a number of college coaches who came to see him.

"The weekend had been going great, really great," said Cain. "There is a lot of good competition out here. A lot of names out here, and it's good playing against them.

"I didn't expect a lot of people to be my height, and the competition has just been really good out here. But I have just adjusted to kids being my height, by finding mismatches, and figuring out who really can check me.'

The Stars have lost one game to this point, and the playoffs begin today, so Cain and his team want to be able to play into Sunday, which is the final day of the event. He knows they have to play even better though.

"We need to work on transition defense," he said. "We have to get back, get out feet together, and set up our defense. That's been the main thing."

On the recruiting side of things, Cain has been gaining steam over the last few weeks or so, even landing his first two Division I offers. His hometown school, Oakland University offered him, as well as Kent State. Cain still might be a player that's flying under the radar, but more and more schools will know about him and his ability. His potential is through the roof.

"Recruiting has been going really good," Cain said. "I have been getting a lot more exposure, from Oakland, Oregon, Memphis, Marquette, Detroit, and that's all I can think of right now off the top of my head."

Cain's first offer, which came by way of Oakland at their camp, who was in the gym this weekend watching him play, came rather easy by the story he told.

"I was in the gym, and one of the coaches asked if I could rebound," said Cain. "So I said yeah. Then he said that if I could get ten rebounds, he would offer me a scholarship. I did that, and got the offer.

"Before I got the Kent State offer, I was a bit shaken up, and my back was hurting, but I had to push through it. But I played hard, dunked on a couple of people, and got the offer. It was fun."

Cain's game has come a long ways from where he was last year, and it steadily getting better. He's more athletic, and has added some things to his game, including blocking shots with those long arms he has. Now that he has earned his first two offers, he knows his work isn't done, as many more will be on their way.

"Getting these first two offers only makes me work harder," he said. "Now I have to work harder than I ever did before."