Westtown School’s Reddish signs NLI to attend Duke University

WESTTOWN >> It was always Cam Reddish’s dream to play in the National Basketball Association.

Sometime last year, he realized his dream is going to become a reality. He was the last one to realize it.

His father, Bob, realized it when Cam was four and doing things with a basketball that eight-year-olds couldn’t do. Westtown basketball coach Seth Berger realized it the first time he saw Cam play as a sixth grader.

The 6-foot-7 200-pound senior took another step toward his dream at Westtown School Wednesday afternoon when he signed his National Letter of Intent to attend Duke University next fall.

“It feels great,” Reddish said. “It’s a blessing. All I can do is thank God.”

He’s lived in Norristown his entire life. He played basketball for Plymouth Jr. ABA, Montgomery County Basketball and Team Final. He started playing for Team Final in seventh grade and said that’s when his career blew up.

The lengthy wing played his freshman year of high school at The Haverford School before transferring to Westtown, where he’s won back-to-back Friends Schools League and Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association state championships as a sophomore and junior.

The 18-year-old Reddish played on the USA Men’s under-19 World Cup Team over the summer and won a bronze medal at the 2017 FIBA under-19 World Cup in Egypt. In seven games, Reddish averaged 10.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists. He shot 51.9% from the field and 54.2% from three-point range.

Reddish is the No. 3 overall rated player in the 2018 class according to ESPN. He’s ranked No. 1 in the state and the East region and No. 2 at the small forward position. He verbally committed to Duke on Sept. 1, choosing the Blue Devils after narrowing his options down to Duke, Kentucky, Villanova, UConn and UCLA.

“What separated Duke was the fact that the coaches were so honest,” Reddish said. “They told me what I need to work on. A lot of the other schools were just, ‘You’re great, we’d love you here,’ but Duke said you have to do this, you have to do that in order to improve. That really stuck with me because at the end of the day I’m trying to get better and better so I can be one of the greatest.”

“It was a family decision,” Cam’s mother, Zanthia, said. “We visited all the schools together. We had countless conversations about the schools. Ultimately, the decisions was his to make. We told him we would support his decision but we always made sure it was thoughtful. We had lots of conversations and lots of prayer. When he decided it was Duke, we said Duke it is.”

Cam’s work ethic is what got him to this point. He’s looked at as a top five draft pick in nearly every 2019 mock draft.

“It feels great,” he said of the high praise, “but at the same time you have to continue to improve. At the end of the day you won’t make it if you don’t improve. You see (the draft projections) and you’re like, ‘OK, cool,’ but in the back of your mind, you’re like this is my life, this is my job. You have to keep working so you can be great.”

“The hard work he put in really paid off,” his father, who coached him until high school, said. “I’m so excited for him. The good thing about it is he made this decision. It could be a decision that you make and say, ‘I finally made it.’ He’s still grinding. Very proud of him.”

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Westtown’s Jake Forrester also signed his National Letter of Intent Wednesday. The 6-foot-8, 200-pound center from Harrisburg will attend Indiana University.

Forrester is No. 81 on ESPN’s Top 100 list, placing third in the state, 19th at his position and 29th in the East Region.