Who’s Got Next? is a weekly column by Josh Paunil, the RTC recruiting guru. We encourage you to check out his website dedicated solely to college basketball recruiting, National Recruiting Spotlight, for more detailed recruiting information. Once a week he will bring you an overview of what’s going on in the complex world of recruiting, from who is signing where among the seniors to who the hot prospects are at the lower levels of the sport. If you have any suggestions as to areas we’re missing or different things you’d like to see, please let us know at rushthecourt@yahoo.com.
Lead Story: Jarnell Stokes Going To College In January ‘Definitely An Option’
Jarnell Stokes Has A Lot On His Mind. (Nation of Blue)
Stokes Exploring His Options. Class of 2012 power forward Jarnell Stokes saw his chances of playing high school basketball for Southwind High School (TN) disappear last week, and this week he’s strongly considering graduating high school early and enrolling in college in January. Remember, Stokes has yet to commit and has a top six of Kentucky, Memphis, Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida and Connecticut so he’d have to commit very soon. The 6’8″, 250-pounder says he’s been preparing to attend college next semester and that he has other options available to him that he doesn’t want to reveal just yet. Four of the schools Stokes is considering — Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida and Tennessee — have athletic scholarships available for Stokes if he were to enroll in January and he could also qualify for an academic scholarship at Memphis, leaving Kentucky as the only school that he’d have to pay for. Stokes says he has no timetable right now and doesn’t know when he’s going to commit, but he’s going to have to make a decision in the next few weeks regardless of what he wants to do.
What They’re Saying
- Senior Andrew White on committing to Kansas: “I think it was a huge opportunity there to play. I have a great relationship with the staff. They’ve been good to me.”
Andrew White Talked His Commitment To Kansas. (Kelly Kline)
- Senior Jarnell Stokes on his plans after being ruled ineligible for the high school season: “I’ve set myself up to go to college mid-year. I really don’t know yet, but that’s definitely an option. I have other options that me and my dad don’t want to reveal. I walk by faith and not by sight, so I’m just waiting on God to give me the word on what’s my next option.”
- Junior Julius Randle on how Duke compares to his other schools: “They have one of the best coaches ever… there is a high chance I might go to Duke. I’m looking everywhere, I’m wide open.”
- Junior Nerlens Noel on how the Bernie Fine incident affects his thoughts on Syracuse: “Well, if it was Coach [Jim] Boeheim it’d be a different story, but I wouldn’t stop looking at them based off of what an assistant coach may have done years ago. I don’t think that’s fair.”
- Junior Troy Williams on what he’s looking for in a school and his timetable: “High graduation percentage of the players that went there, great relationship with the coach and a school that can shape me into an NBA player. I probably won’t commit until next summer.”
- Junior Chris Walker on Kentucky: “UK [is] not interested in me so I’ll do the same; when they get interested, I will also.”
- Junior Travon Landry on committing to Tennessee: “Tennessee fits my style of play, I love the coaches there and on my first visit, I loved my feel there. I have a chance for a lot of playing time as a freshman. So Tennessee met all the criteria I had set out for picking a school.”
- Sophomore Xavier Rathan-Mayes on his Kentucky visit: “It was great! I had a great time. I loved everything. The fans, the coaching, everything was awesome.”
What You Missed
Andrew White Selects Kansas. Jayhawks head coach Bill Self received his third commitment in the Class of 2012 Friday when Class of 2012 shooting guard Andrew White selected Kansas. White joins shooting guard Anrio Adams, power forwards Perry Ellis and Zach Peters and center Landen Lucas to give Self a top 15 recruiting class. White is a great athlete who is always getting better and has tremendous range beyond the three-point line. He is good in transition and is a consistent shooter. The interesting thing about this commitment is the fact that he said Georgetown was his dream school a year ago. Now that the Jayhawks have five pledges, they’re most likely done for the Class of 2012 but guys like point guard Nino Jackson and power forward Wannah Bail are still considering Kansas.
This Kansas Class Could Help Head Coach Bill Self To Another Conference Championship
Floor General Volunteers for Tennessee. Class of 2013 point guard Travon Landry committed to Tennessee this weekend while on his third unofficial visit, giving head coach Cuonzo Martin his only commit in the junior class. Landry is a pass-first point guard who is intelligent and puts winning above all else. The Volunteers are also going after many highly rated prospects in the Class of 2013 such as Memphis natives small forward Nick King and power forward Johnathan Williams, III. Some other notable junior targets include centers Moses Kingsley, Kennedy Meeks and Jimmie Taylor. Tennessee also isn’t finished yet with the Class of 2012 as some of their biggest targets include points guard Nino Jackson and Ray Lee as well as power forwards Jarnell Stokes and Charles Mitchell. Martin and his staff already have received commitments from small forwards Derek Reese and D’Montre Edwards.
What We Learned
Junior Star Likes Kansas. RTC got the chance to catch up with Class of 2013 power forward Chris Walker recently and he had a lot of interesting things to say. Among the most prominent, Walker said if he had to commit now, he would currently choose Kansas. Walker says he’s developed a great relationship with head coach Bill Self and is impressed by the support of the fans. He also likes Florida’s coaching staff the most because of how often they keep in contact with him and the fact that they’re recruiting him the hardest. Among the schools he would like to take a closer look at, Baylor is the number one school he would like to visit but doesn’t know when he would be able to make a trip to Waco, Texas. Walker currently has no timetable regarding when he plans on making his decision and now that Kentucky has recently made contact with him that looks to prolong the process even more. It will be interesting to see how serious Kentucky’s involvement in his recruitment will get and what the effect will be of the Wildcats showing late interest.
Walker Says He Would Commit To Kansas If He Had To Commit Right Now (Daryl Paunil/NRS)
Randle Discusses Recruitment In ESPN Blog. Class of 2013 power forward Julius Randle discussed his recruitment in his player blog for ESPN yesterday including the interaction he’s had with coaches recently and how two commitments from last week affect his decision. Randle talks about his relationship with Class of 2013 shooting guard Matt Jones (who committed to Duke last week) and how that changes [or doesn’t change] how he feels about Duke. He also mentions Class of 2013 point guard Nate Britt‘s commitment to North Carolina and a pattern he sees in the type of floor generals North Carolina head coach Roy Williams recruits. However, despite all this recruiting information Randle included in his blog, the most important thing he mentioned is the Team Connor Childhood Cancer Foundation. We’re happy to help Randle in his mission and spread the word about Team Connor and hope you visit teamconnor.org to learn more about the foundation. Quoting the website, this is their mission:
The mission of Team Connor since its inception is to be fully dedicated to raising awareness, supporting families, and funding research and patient programs across the country to find a cure for all childhood cancers.
Video of the Week
This is Class of 2013 point guard Kasey Hill, and he’s pretty good.