"Some people already have him in the NBA," said Aaron McGlawn Sr. of Cheltenham, one of many impressed fans. "That boy is good."
No matter how good he is, Gilchrist won't grace an NBA roster for at least five seasons. Nor will his fans be able to spot him in a major-college game any time soon.
This fall, Gilchrist will be one of the youngest ninth graders at St. Patrick High School in Elizabeth, N.J. At 13, the resident of Somerdale, Camden County, who started school a year early, recently graduated from Somerdale Park School.
The projected 7-footer has three-point range and is a dominant defensive presence.
"Based on watching high major-[college players] and NBA kids, Michael fits the same profile as O.J. Mayo, Greg Oden and Kevin Durant" as rising ninth graders, said Spencer Pulliam, founder and publisher of the Generation Next Basketball recruiting service. "He has everything you want in a prospect."
Time will tell whether Gilchrist can become an NBA lottery pick like Oden (taken first in the draft last week by Portland) and Durant (chosen second by Seattle), or recognized as the top incoming college freshman like Mayo at Southern California.
But Gilchrist said he did not aspire to be just as good as Oden, Durant and Mayo.
"My goal is to the best [swingman]" on his high school team, he said. "Then I want to play [college basketball] at Memphis for two or three years. I don't want to do only one year in college, because I want to get an education. And after two or three years, hopefully, I can go to the NBA."
For now, he is one of the nation's top incoming high school freshmen. Make that a quiet and assuming freshman. Even with his superior skills, Gilchrist doesn't like receiving extra attention and is prone to shy away from discussions about his talent.
But he might have to get used to the extra attention.
