The parade of high-major Division 1 coaches coming through Gladstone (N.J.) Gill St. Bernard’s continues unabated.
After Louisville’s Rick Pitino, Villanova’s Jay Wright and Rutgers’ Eddie Jordan came through last week to see 2016 combo guard Tyus Battle, Michigan’s John Beilein, Ohio State’s Thad Matta and Florida’s Billy Donovan all visited on Monday. Each meeting Monday lasted about an hour.
On Tuesday, UConn’s Kevin Ollie will stop through before meeting with 2015 Roselle (N.J.) Catholic point guard Isaiah Briscoe later in the day, and Miami’s Jim Larranaga will also make an appearance at Gill.
On Wednesday, Virginia’s Tony Bennett will meet with Battle.
On Thursday, Kentucky’s John Calipari is expected on a day when he will also meet with Briscoe and 2015 Our Savior New American forward Cheick Diallo. (Kentucky assistant Barry “Slice” Rohrssen was in last week to see Battle.)
On Friday, Arizona assistant Book Richardson will get his audience with Battle.
Gary Battle, Tyus’s father, broke down Monday’s visits for SNY.tv:
Michigan had Beilein and assistants Jeff Meyer and LaVall Jordan: “They did a great job of laying out for Tyus what it would be like at Michigan for him and how they would develop him to reach his goals, and the campus life and stuff like that. They did a PowerPoint on the iPad and they were pretty thorough. They were really good. Really good.”
Ohio State had Matta and assistant Greg Paulus: “Coach Matta was excellent and so was Greg Paulus. They were just talking about how Tyus would be the focal point of what they’re trying to do going forward, i.e., Evan Turner and D’Angelo Russell now, be a scoring guard playing all over the court and making plays. Really good.”
Florida had Donovan and assistant Rashon Burno: “He talked a lot about Tyus’s development, compared him a lot to Bradley Beal in terms of his demeanor and his skillset. Said he would play all over the court. Loved his summer, how he had bounced back from a so-so spring. And said that he was at the top of his list in the 2016 class.”
Also on Saturday night, Tyus and Gary attended the Penn State-Rutgers football game and spoke with Jordan about the Rutgers basketball program.
“We sat down and watched the game,” Gary said. “He came over and talked to us about Rutgers and where they’re going with it and what the process has been trying to change the program from Mike Rice and to a new conference. He feels like it’s moving in the right direction. He has a pretty good recruit in 2015 [Corey Sanders]. They’re moving to the Big Ten, he knows it’s challenging but he has a good staff and he feels he’s on the right course.”
