Widely regarded as a clone of current Gael Schadrac "Sed" Casimir, Iona-commit C.J. Seaforth is actually more of a pure passer.
While more adept at creating, Seaforth is seeking the assassin's instinct which flows naturally through the 5-foot-11 Casimir's veins.
The 6-foot Seaforth, now a senior at Hamden High, chose Iona over Fairfield and hometown Quinnipiac earlier this summer.
Seaforth averaged 21.5 points to lead Hamden, en route to a New Haven Register All-Area Selection.
Thriving with the speedball concept, the blurrish guard has become Hamden High's most promising prospect since the days of Craig Benson (Quinnipiac) and Scott Burrell, the UConn product and professional who won an NBA championship with the 1998 Chicago Bulls.
Iona, the reigning MAAC tournament champion, has been a steady presence in the NCAA tournament.
The Gaels have churned out a wealth of high-caliber guards, Scottie Machado, Sean Armand, and A.J. English, to name a few.
Seaforth and Casimir played together on the AAU circuit with Stamford-based United Suns and Daughters.
"CJ might be a better passer than Sed, but Sed's probably got a little more killer in him than CJ," said Troy Bradford, who coached both on the AAU circuit.
"(Sed's) a quiet killer too, you won't even know it. At the end of the game he'll end up with about 35 or 36."
Using motivational maxims to illustrate his
point this past season, Bradford has reminded Seaforth that scoring at will gives his team the best chance to win.
"C.J. is almost unselfish to a fault," Bradford said.
"I've been on him and on him and on him to take games over. I've told him, 'at this point in the game, you being unselfish is not going to help us.' He's starting to get it. The last month, actually probably from May of the AAU season on, he got it. But, he would have games where he would have 30 and 40 and he would have 10 assists."