Sweet Seven Scoops: California’s Big Win, Blakeney Heating Up, & More…
Posted by Sean Moran on November 21st, 2014
Seven Sweet Scoops is a weekly column by Sean Moran, the RTC recruiting guru. Once a week he will bring you seven notes from the high-stakes world of college basketball recruiting. We also encourage you to check out his contributions at The Intentional Foul, dedicated to recruiting coverage and analysis. You can also follow Sean at his Twitter account @Seanmohoops for up-to-date news from the high school and college hoops scene. If you have any suggestions as to areas we are missing or different things you would like to see, please let us know at rushthecourt@yahoo.com.
Note: Scout.com used for all player rankings.
1. California’s Win On The Big Stage
California rolled over Syracuse in a nightcap upset of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in Madison Square Garden last night. After the win, ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla tweeted out the following:
Huge win tonight for @CuonzoMartin and his Cal Bears. Happy for my man, @yhufnagel. He'll be texting 800 recruits tonight! #sorethumbs
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) November 21, 2014
Assistant coach Yanni Hufnagel is well-respected for his recruiting abilities on the west coast and was retained by head coach Cuonzo Martin when he got to the Bay Area this past spring. One of those first texts was most likely sent to senior five-star power forward Ivan Rabb (No. 5 – 2015), who is currently the biggest target for the Bears. Rabb hails from the Bay Area and plays his high school ball at Bishop O’ Dowd in Oakland (CA). Recently the senior cut his list of college suitors down to five and Cal was included along with two other Pac-12 schools in Arizona and UCLA in addition to national powerhouses Kansas and Kentucky. Upon accepting the job at Cal, Martin’s first visit was to Rabb’s high school. Now a prominent win on a big stage makes selling California a little easier for Hufnagel and Martin.
2. Antonio Blakeney Scoring at a High Clip
Five-star shooting guard Antonio Blakeney is one of the hottest names on the market right now after his de-commitment from Louisville in addition to his high scoring outputs of 65 and 42 points in recent high school games. Initially, Blakeney, a senior from Florida and the No. 22 ranked recruit made national news with his de-commitment ,which then turned into a Nike vs. Adidas battle du jour. Now, Blakeney is back to taking official visits while drawing head coaches down to his games. In past weeks, Blakeney has taken official visits to Kentucky and LSU and on Wednesday night he had Roy Williams at his game. With players in the 2015 class coming off the board left and right expect the battle for Blakeney to continue to heat up.
3. National Prep Showcase
The first big high school hoops tournament kicks off in New Haven, CT at Albertus Magnus College this weekend with the top prep schools from New England and throughout the U.S. competing against each other and in front of a plethora of college coaches. Two years ago, current Louisville point guard Terry Rozier stood out and last year a pair of seven footers from Spain made headlines. This year’s field is strong with perennial power Brewster Academy playing which includes players such as Connecticut bound and four-star point guard Jalen Adams, Louisville bound and five-star guard Donovan Mitchell (No, 21) to go along with a host of other high major D1 talent. Also, in attendance will be former five-star recruit Jaquan Lyle who at one time or another had committed to Indiana, Louisville, and Oregon before ending up at IMG Academy in Florida.
4. Arizona Continues Five-Star Run
Life is good in Tucson, AZ right now. The Wildcats are ranked in the top five of every college basketball poll and they have the top rated recruiting class in 2015. Now they have their first five-star in the 2016 class with California forward TJ Leaf who is currently 6’10” and ranked No. 11 in his class. Last year Leaf averaged 26 points and 13 rebounds and had a strong showing at the USA U17 tryouts this past summer. Leaf told Evan Daniels of Scout.com, “One of the things that is really appealing is they sell out of every game, which most schools on the west coast don’t.” With the early commitment Leaf can now begin to help the Arizona staff with other recruits in the 2016 class to ensure a constant spot in the top of the rankings. They won’t be recruiting more guys in my position and I’ll be able to recruit guys to go play with me there.”
5. Brandon Ingram Waiting Until Spring
6’8” five-star small forward Brandon Ingram plans to hold off on making a decision until the spring of 2015. Initially, the No. 26 ranked player from Kingston (NC) was set to make a fall decision but after taking his official visits in the fall he decided to hold off for another few months. Recently, Ingram took visits to Kansas, Kentucky, and UCLA. He had previously visited UNC, Duke, and N.C. State and was seen in the Research Triangle Park area at early season games for both the Blue Devils and Tar Heels. Ingram put together an impressive summer using his length and shooting to gain newfound interest from schools outside of his home state. After seeing schools from all parts of the country, Ingram will focus on his high school season and let the chips fall where they may.
6. Kentucky’s “Reinforcements”
With an abundance of five-star talent and potential first round draft picks on his team, John Calipari has gotten creative in order to keep his players happy. So far he has held a NBA draft combine while referring to his two units as platoons while also referring to subs as “reinforcements.” A master marketer, Calipari had his program shining on Tuesday night with a blowout win of Kansas. One of the main questions facing Kentucky and their recruiting was what would happen once players started staying in school for more than one year. So far Calipari has answered that question and is trying hard to bring in a new wave of “reinforcements.” He already has three players signed in the class of 2015 in Skal Labissiere (No. 4), Isaiah Briscoe (No. 15), and Charles Matthews (No. 62), but he is also in the mix for players such as Ivan Rabb, Stephen Zimmerman (No. 14), Carlton Bragg (No. 11), Malik Newman (No. 10), and Jaylen Brown (No. 1).Traci
7. Carter Drawing National Interest
A fringe Top 100 player is starting to draw interest from high majors as the high school basketball season kicks off. 6’0” point guard Traci Carter is from Burlington (NJ) and was forced to miss the prime recruiting months in the spring and summer due to a torn meniscus. Now healthy, schools such as California, Louisville, and Memphis have all ramped up the interest in the guard who is ranked No. 92 in the country.
