Teen Basketball Player and Weight Gain

Question:

I have just started training a 17 year old high school basketball athlete who is 6’ 3” and 143 pounds. He has an excellent vertical leap of 27 inches, but he is very weak, especially in the upper body. He can only complete eight proper push ups, zero pull ups, and he has the hand grip strength of an average female. As a Center, he will need to hold his position and get much tougher in order to become an outstanding player. I have four months before his tryouts. My main question is whether I should attempt a weight gain nutritional program and hypertrophy training. I tend not to be optimistic that he will gain in muscle mass at his age and with his ectomorphic body structure. If you think this attempt is prudent, can you recommend a nutritional program? Or do you think it would be more prudent to go from a general workout resistance program to a strength program? I tend to think I should simply have him eat six times a day with good foods and low glycemic index carbs and maybe supplement with bananas, rice, pasta and potatoes for the extra bulk effort.

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