Wednesday Leftovers: Arizona, Virginia Tech, Auburn, Kentucky
There were a few more pertinent questions to get to in this week’s Wednesday’s Leftovers, including how Arizona adds onto its 2020 class, Virginia Tech’s four-star pursuit, landing spots for Makur Maker, if Sharife Cooper ends up anywhere but Auburn and how next summer’s evaluation calendar might look.
MORE: Twitter Tuesday mailbag | The latest on three five-stars
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Arizona won’t go far with Chibuzo Agbo. Marquette and Texas Tech are the two others that have the best shot at his commitment but Arizona has really made up ground in recent weeks with the versatile shot-making forward and I believe that he ultimately selects the Wildcats, joining his fellow travel teammate, Dalen Terry, in Tucson next year.
From there, Puff Johnson would be the ideal small forward prospect alongside Terry who can make shots and also defend different positions. The Pittsburgh native just released his final seven on Saturday and while Notre Dame, Pitt and North Carolina will put up a fight, I see Johnson landing at Arizona.
That is a strong three-man group that can complete a variety of tasks. Ziaire Williams, Nimari Burnett and Caleb Love are three others that the Wildcats have their eyes on, but I see each committing elsewhere. However, Adam Miller has favored Arizona and is one to keep tabs on, as is Dawson Garcia, a former travel teammate of now freshman big man Zeke Nnanji, though he will likely not sign until the spring.
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Virginia Tech flipped Joe Bamisile’s Northwestern commitment last month. The four-star guard is a great start and the Hokies are hoping to add another shot-making prospect with size in the backcourt in Darius Maddox. Georgetown is one to watch but the Hokies have a great chance.
In the frontcourt, Virginia Tech would love nothing more than to secure the commitment of top-50 forward Henry Coleman. He just released his final seven on Sunday and while I don’t see him selecting then Hokies, they should not be discounted. Don’t forget, Keve Aluma, a productive big man, is sitting out after transferring in from Wofford.
Further in the frontcourt, Myles Stute is one forward that the Hokies remain in a great spot with even through the coaching change. He just visited Texas A&M and Vanderbilt last week in the unofficial variety and will take official visits to both programs, along with Florida, Marquette and Virginia Tech this fall. I see him ending up in Blacksburg, though his recruitment has become more muddled than I had anticipated.
Others to keep tabs on include Zed Key, PJ Hall, whose father was coached by Mike Young at Wofford, and Jaden Seymour, the latter a prospect that has sat out all summer thanks to an ACL injury but could become a trending prospect this fall and winter.
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Talk continues to revolve around Makur Maker and his next landing spot being the professional realm, whether that is overseas or here domestically. If Maker does decide to play a year in college before entering his name into the NBA Draft, Oregon remains the most discussed destination for him. The bluebloods have continued to keep tabs, but the Ducks remain out in front with the professional ball not a far-fetched avenue, either.
Regarding Kentucky’s guard pursuit, I don’t see the Wildcats landing Jalen Green or Daishen Nix. Of the two, I would have to side with Nix, but even that is a reach. The native of Alaska has been rather close to vest with his recruitment but one can easily surmise that bluebloods Kansas and Kentucky are heavily in the mix, but so is UCLA, the place where I see him ending at.
For Green, Kentucky is definitely not out of it, but overcoming Memphis may be difficult. The Tigers have developed the best relationship with him and his family and were the first to host Green for an official visit last September. Josh Christopher is a much likelier outcome for the Wildcats, though how they fill their point guard hole remains unclear.
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I mean, there is always a chance but it is very remote. No one has recruited Sharife Cooper with more time and invested as much into him than Bruce Pearl. Practically wherever he has been this summer, Pearl has been, too. He locked in on the five-star before he ever was a five-star, which Cooper repaid by taking numerous trips to Auburn's campus.
He did just visit Georgia and Georgia Tech last week, and has remained a top target for Kansas and Kentucky. However, I look at Cooper’s visits as the final leg of his recruitment in assuring himself that Auburn is the place that he is meant to be. That would give the Tigers one of the most polished guards in the game and would allot him the chance to team up with former travel teammates Isaac Okoro and Desmond Cambridge next fall.
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That is only a question that the NCAA can answer. From speaking with the powers that be and a few of the coaches that might have a say at NABC meetings, along with a handful of those that worked the NCAA Regional Camps, I am told that such camps will be run at a different time compared with the USA Basketball Mini-Camp that may have taken some of the talent that would have competed at the NCAA-sponsored events. However, I don’t actually think that the USA Basketball event made that much of a dent into the talent that would have been drawn to places like Houston, or Storrs, Conn.
What I hope happens? That the NCAA invests more time in cultivating relationships with travel and high school coaches, and also include the appropriate powers within meetings on how to better their camps and planning processes. Moving the NCAA Regional Camps to sometime in June, giving back another week of travel basketball in July and developing a more concise, well-thought out plan for how to run a camp during an evaluation period, would definitely be a step in the right direction.