Lawrence Central High School senior center fielder Ahmaad Duff might be small but his talent is huge.
“He has all the tools you want in a player — the speed, the average hitting, the glove, the arm and baseball IQ,” Lawrence Central’s first-year coach Tim Bragg said. “He does everything valuable to make a team go offensively and defensively.”
In his first three prep years, the 5-foot-5, 150-pound Duff, who has signed a National Letter of Intent with the University of Alabama, has a three-year batting average of .399 with 10 doubles, six triples, six home runs, 41 stolen bases and 36 runs batted in.
“His No. 1 strength is his plate discipline,” Bragg said. “He does not swing at pitches that are not in the strike zone. It’s hard to find a high school kid with that type of plate discipline, so he has a great eye at the plate.”
Bragg said Duff has good power despite his smaller frame.
“I kind of liken him to Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros,” Bragg said. “He’s a very strong kid. He’s well-built. He uses his speed to his advantage. He can beat out ground balls and turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples.”
Bragg said Lawrence Central’s new baseball field will be beneficial to his speed with the larger field dimensions with 375 feet in the gap and 395 feet to center field.
Duff said he is hoping the team can turn it around after winning just one game last season.
“This being our last season with me playing with my boys I’ve grown up with, I want to enjoy a lot of the moments for myself and my team,” Duff said. “I want to have fun with it. I have some personal numbers I have in the back of my head.”
Duff played wide receiver for the Bears football team, becoming a starter at the end of his freshman year.
“Football is my No. 1, but not what my future holds for me,” he said. “So, I had to accept that and understand it. But baseball is not far from it. I’d go with 1A for football and 1B for baseball. I just have a different passion for football.”
Duff committed to Alabama before his sophomore season. He drew scouts’ attention with his speed during that summer playing for the Indiana Bulls. He said he began to build a good rapport with the Crimson Tide coaching staff.
“It really felt like that place became home and I can’t wait to get down there to Tuscaloosa,” he said.
Duff will report to Alabama’s campus two weeks after graduation in June.
Favorite athlete: Russell Westbrook
Favorite subject: Digital marketing
Favorite movie: “Avatar: The Last Airbender”
Favorite musical artist: Rod Wave
