Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
Harry Giles to Alter UNC Visit Date; Coach Says He Remains Open in Recruitment
Harry Giles will likely shift the date of his North Carolina official visit and remains open in his recruitment, Oak Hill coach Steve Smith told The 4 Quarters Podcast.
“He’s supposed to go to Carolina next weekend but he’s got a conflict so I think he’s going to move that to the weekend of Oct. 2nd or Oct. 24th,” Smith said. “He’s going to visit Wake Forest this weekend and then have four straight weekends of visits in October.”
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The 6-foot-10 Giles, the top-ranked player in the Class of 2016 and the projected No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, will visit Wake Forest this weekend, Kansas on Oct. 10, Kentucky on Oct. 16 for Big Blue Madness and Duke on Oct. 31.
The head coaches of all five schools have been through Oak Hill in the last week to visit with Giles. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and Wake coach Danny Manning were in last Wednesday, the first day coaches could visit players, while Kentucky’s John Calipari, North Carolina’s Roy Williams and Kansas’ Bill Self were in this week.
“The five schools that are still involved with Harry have been in to see him and had home visits,” Smith said. “I think most of them have traveled down to Winston Salem to see his mother and his father.”
Giles’ father told me at the Peach Jam his son would likely commit in the fall, but Smith said that’s uncertain at this point.
“That’s the plan,” he said. “He’s also talked about possibly waiting and signing late, so I’m not sure. He’s not 100 percent sure what he wants to do yet.”
The expectation is that Giles will ultimately commit to Duke and join his close friend Jayson Tatum, who has already committed, but Smith said nothing is done yet.
“People think Duke is the leader, but I think from sitting in on parts of all of the visits, he told all the coaches he’s not sure when he’s going to sign and he’s told everybody that he’s wide open still,” Smith said. “So he keeps it pretty close to the vest and he doesn’t say much.
“I know they all want him to go early and I think he’s probably leaning to doing that but he could even extend it. Who knows?”
Giles wrote in his USA Today blog that he and his best friend Jayson Tatumwould be a “problem” should they team up at Duke.
“Of course everyone wants to know if we’re still planning to play together like we’ve been talking about and it’s definitely something that we still always talk about,” the 6-foot-10 Giles wrote. “He knows I’ve gotta do what’s best for me the same way he did, but Duke is a school that’s high on my list and if it works out like that it’s gonna be a problem!
“We’ll see what happens with everything.”
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
Harry Giles will likely shift the date of his North Carolina official visit and remains open in his recruitment, Oak Hill coach Steve Smith told The 4 Quarters Podcast.
“He’s supposed to go to Carolina next weekend but he’s got a conflict so I think he’s going to move that to the weekend of Oct. 2nd or Oct. 24th,” Smith said. “He’s going to visit Wake Forest this weekend and then have four straight weekends of visits in October.”
The 6-foot-10 Giles, the top-ranked player in the Class of 2016 and the projected No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, will visit Wake Forest this weekend, Kansas on Oct. 10, Kentucky on Oct. 16 for Big Blue Madness and Duke on Oct. 31.
The head coaches of all five schools have been through Oak Hill in the last week to visit with Giles. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and Wake coach Danny Manning were in last Wednesday, the first day coaches could visit players, while Kentucky’s John Calipari, North Carolina’s Roy Williams and Kansas’ Bill Self were in this week.
“The five schools that are still involved with Harry have been in to see him and had home visits,” Smith said. “I think most of them have traveled down to Winston Salem to see his mother and his father.”
Giles’ father told me at the Peach Jam his son would likely commit in the fall, but Smith said that’s uncertain at this point.
“That’s the plan,” he said. “He’s also talked about possibly waiting and signing late, so I’m not sure. He’s not 100 percent sure what he wants to do yet.”
The expectation is that Giles will ultimately commit to Duke and join his close friend Jayson Tatum, who has already committed, but Smith said nothing is done yet.
“People think Duke is the leader, but I think from sitting in on parts of all of the visits, he told all the coaches he’s not sure when he’s going to sign and he’s told everybody that he’s wide open still,” Smith said. “So he keeps it pretty close to the vest and he doesn’t say much.
“I know they all want him to go early and I think he’s probably leaning to doing that but he could even extend it. Who knows?”
Giles wrote in his USA Today blog that he and his best friend Jayson Tatum would be a “problem” should they team up at Duke.
“Of course everyone wants to know if we’re still planning to play together like we’ve been talking about and it’s definitely something that we still always talk about,” the 6-foot-10 Giles wrote. “He knows I’ve gotta do what’s best for me the same way he did, but Duke is a school that’s high on my list and if it works out like that it’s gonna be a problem!
“We’ll see what happens with everything.”
