Solomon Reaps Rewards Of Patience On Recruiting Trail

Bixby coach Scott Padek says he made a mistake early on in Mitchell Solomon high school career.

"For some reason we didn't move him up, which we probably should have, looking back at it," Padek said.

Once the big man played, he improved, and the Spartans improved.

"I kind of expect getting double teamed, tripled team on a regular basis," Solomon said. "To be able to pass it out, I want my teammates to have the confidence to shoot a good shot."

"I remember I told him one time, if you get to the point where you can hit a three pointer as a trail man on the break, colleges love that."

But there were bigger goals ahead. Despite dominating in Bixby's gym, Mitchell's size and height wasn't getting to much attention from big time college coaches. That is until the summer, he went to two tournaments and he made a big impression."

"Once I started going to the first tournament, there were coaches calling me; coaches calling coach," Solomon said.

"The phone just blew up," Mitchell's dad, Andy, said. "And after you get over 25, 30 schools, then it really gets crazy."

Like many players looking to get a name out, he stood out after tournaments in Indianapolis and Dallas. After the GASO, coaches were interested, which meant a decision to make.

"We had him sit down, make a matrix, put numbers to what he thought was most important to him. And it was Oklahoma State."

Coach Padek says when the beast is gone, teams take advantage. Solomon hopes when he's on the court, his team gets the W.