Forward/center Zane Ma of Harvard-Westlake in Los Angeles has announced he will be attending Princeton next year to play basketball. Ma is the third publicly-revealed member of Sydney Johnson's first recruiting class.
princetonbasketball.com editor Jon Solomon had a chance to speak with Ma's high school coach Greg Hilliard this afternoon.
Coach Hilliard described the 6'8" 225 lb Ma as "an accomplished three point shooter who has excellent footwork in the post." Ma is not incredibly overpowering down low, but "scores with his back to the basket and facing away." Playing behind Alex Stephenson (now at North Carolina) as an underclassmen, Ma quickly learned how to be more physical in practice.
Hilliard spoke highly of Ma's work ethic and how polished Ma is fundamentally, calling him someone who "does everything right the first time, [he knows how to be] very precise and productive." Hilliard described Ma as an "excellent passer out of the post" who now has worked in the weight room to develop a "very strong lower and upper body."
When asked about Ma's weaknesses, Hilliard observed Ma has extremely small hands for someone of his size, and needs to work on his control in crowds.
Academically, Ma is at the top of his senior class and recorded a "perfect score" on the SAT. He could easily be the Harvard-Westlake valedictorian and "manages to do both [academics and athletics] very well."
Because of a stacked roster full of Division I prospects, Hilliard expects Ma to play on the perimeter for his senior season, but thinks Ma can be either a "4" or "5" at Princeton.
Ma is ranked #147 in the West on espn.com's list of power forwards and came in at #412 on Hoop Scoop's hit parade of the nation's top juniors.
One of Ma's teammates is Renaldo Woolridge, brother of Princeton senior Zach Woolridge. The younger Woolridge recently verbally committed to Tennessee over Georgetown.
