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.
Recruiting Roundup: Calipari, Self, Pitino on the Move as Recruiting Period Begins
Beginning Tuesday, college coaches can watch high school prospects work out and can have in-home visits with them.
Here’s a quick rundown on some happenings:
**Kentucky coach John Calipari will be busy in the next few days. On Tuesday, he visits 6-6 Marietta (GA) Wheeler small forward Jaylen Brown and 6-4 Calloway (MS) point guard Malik Newman. On Thursday, Calipari gets an in-home with 6-9 Kinston (N.C.) forward Brandon Ingram. Calipari will also see 2016 guard Tyus Battle of Gladstone (N.J.) Gill St. Bernard’s on Friday, and could also see 2015 forward Cheick Diallo of Our Savior New American, as Ben Roberts of NextCats reported.
**Kansas coach Bill Self also meets with Newman Tuesday and gets his visits with Brown and Ingram on Wednesday. (Newman also meets with UConn’s Kevin Ollie and N.C. State’s Mark Gottfried on Wednesday; Ingram meets with UCLA’s David Grace on Friday.)
**Battle, the 6-foot-6 combo guard from Gladstone (N.J.) Gill St. Bernard’s, will host Louisville coach Rick Pitino and Seton Hall’s Kevin Willard on Tuesday. Villanova and Virginia are expected in Thursday, while Kentucky’s Calipari comes in on Friday. Ohio State and Michigan are expected next week.
**Kentucky, Michigan, Louisville, UNLV, USC, Cal, Arizona, UCLA, Duke, Oklahoma and Miami will see 2016 Findlay Prep point guard Derryck Thornton, who plans to cut his list soon. Battle and Thornton have talked about possibly playing at the same school if it’s mutually beneficial.
**Kansas, Louisville, Indiana, N.C. State, Miami, Cincinnati, Seton Hall and Villanova are expected in for 2016 Christ the King guard Rawle Alkins.
**UConn & Auburn will both be in this week to see 2015 Radnor (PA) Archbishop Carroll wing Derrick Jones. The 6-7 Jones, who won the Dunk Contest at the Under Armour Elite 24 game, recently listed a top nine of UConn, Kansas, Kentucky, Florida, Louisville, North Carolina, Arizona, Auburn and UNLV.
**Maryland, Georgetown, Northwestern & Stanford are coming to see 6-6 2016 Boys Latin SF Kodye Pugh this week.
**2016 Huntington (W.V.) Prep SF Miles Bridges enjoyed his Iowa State visit this past weekend and trips to Louisville this weekend. “I liked their campus and their fan base and their coaches,” he told SNY.tv of Iowa State. “They said they’ll play me at anywhere they needed from 1-5.” Bridges may trip to Kentucky or Michigan State for Midnight Madness and said N.C. State, Pittsburgh, Michigan, Ohio State and Florida State are also involved.
**Former Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter’s Prep 2016 forward Veer Singh is now at Cardinal Hayes in The Bronx. Villanova, Cincinnati and Seton Hall were among those recruiting him.
**Seton Hall, Hofstra and Manhattan will be in this week to see 2015 Wings Academy point guard Desure Buie. Creighton is expected the following week.
**Rutgers coach Eddie Jordan and assistant Greg Vetrone will watch new point guard commit Corey Sanders on Tuesday.
**West Virginia coach Bob Huggins and assistant Larry Harrison will watch 2015 forward Esa Ahmad, who took an official to campus this past weekend. On Wednesday, they will see Westchester (N.Y.) Community College forward Luis Montero; on Friday, they see 2016 forward Omari Spellman; and on Saturday, they see Levi Cook, Curt Jones and Miles Bridges.
**Coaches from Kentucky, Oregon, Michigan State, Michigan, Syracuse, Stanford, Rhode Island, Ohio State, Old Dominion and St. Bonaventure are expected into Athlete Institute in Ontario to see a team that features 2016s Thon Maker and Jamal Murray and 2015s Jalen Poyser and Kyle Alexander.
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.
Beginning Tuesday, college coaches can watch high school prospects work out and can have in-home visits with them.
Here’s a quick rundown on some happenings:
**Kentucky coach John Calipari will be busy in the next few days. On Tuesday, he visits 6-6 Marietta (GA) Wheeler small forward Jaylen Brown and 6-4 Calloway (MS) point guard Malik Newman. On Thursday, Calipari gets an in-home with 6-9 Kinston (N.C.) forward Brandon Ingram. Calipari will also see 2016 guard Tyus Battle of Gladstone (N.J.) Gill St. Bernard’s on Friday, and could also see 2015 forward Cheick Diallo of Our Savior New American, as Ben Roberts of NextCats reported.
**Kansas coach Bill Self also meets with Newman Tuesday and gets his visits with Brown and Ingram on Wednesday. (Newman also meets with UConn’s Kevin Ollie and N.C. State’s Mark Gottfried on Wednesday; Ingram meets with UCLA’s David Grace on Friday.)
**Battle, the 6-foot-6 combo guard from Gladstone (N.J.) Gill St. Bernard’s, will host Louisville coach Rick Pitino and Seton Hall’s Kevin Willard on Tuesday. Villanova and Virginia are expected in Thursday, while Kentucky’s Calipari comes in on Friday. Ohio State and Michigan are expected next week.
**Kentucky, Michigan, Louisville, UNLV, USC, Cal, Arizona, UCLA, Duke, Oklahoma and Miami will see 2016 Findlay Prep point guard Derryck Thornton, who plans to cut his list soon. Battle and Thornton have talked about possibly playing at the same school if it’s mutually beneficial.
**Kansas, Louisville, Indiana, N.C. State, Miami, Cincinnati, Seton Hall and Villanova are expected in for 2016 Christ the King guard Rawle Alkins.
**UConn & Auburn will both be in this week to see 2015 Radnor (PA) Archbishop Carroll wing Derrick Jones. The 6-7 Jones, who won the Dunk Contest at the Under Armour Elite 24 game, recently listed a top nine of UConn, Kansas, Kentucky, Florida, Louisville, North Carolina, Arizona, Auburn and UNLV.
**Maryland, Georgetown, Northwestern & Stanford are coming to see 6-6 2016 Boys Latin SF Kodye Pugh this week.
**2016 Huntington (W.V.) Prep SF Miles Bridges enjoyed his Iowa State visit this past weekend and trips to Louisville this weekend. “I liked their campus and their fan base and their coaches,” he told SNY.tv of Iowa State. “They said they’ll play me at anywhere they needed from 1-5.” Bridges may trip to Kentucky or Michigan State for Midnight Madness and said N.C. State, Pittsburgh, Michigan, Ohio State and Florida State are also involved.
**Former Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter’s Prep 2016 forward Veer Singh is now at Cardinal Hayes in The Bronx. Villanova, Cincinnati and Seton Hall were among those recruiting him.
**Seton Hall, Hofstra and Manhattan will be in this week to see 2015 Wings Academy point guard Desure Buie. Creighton is expected the following week.
**Rutgers coach Eddie Jordan and assistant Greg Vetrone will watch new point guard commit Corey Sanders on Tuesday.
**West Virginia coach Bob Huggins and assistant Larry Harrison will watch 2015 forward Esa Ahmad, who took an official to campus this past weekend. On Wednesday, they will see Westchester (N.Y.) Community College forward Luis Montero; on Friday, they see 2016 forward Omari Spellman; and on Saturday, they see Levi Cook, Curt Jones and Miles Bridges.
**Coaches from Kentucky, Oregon, Michigan State, Michigan, Syracuse, Stanford, Rhode Island, Ohio State, Old Dominion and St. Bonaventure are expected into Athlete Institute in Ontario to see a team that features 2016s Thon Maker and Jamal Murray and 2015s Jalen Poyser and Kyle Alexander.
