Markis McDuffie, a 6-foot-7 face-up four man from St. Anthony and Sports U, enjoyed his weekend official visit to VCU and then trimmed his list to four schools.
McDuffie is down to VCU, Wichita State, Boston College and SMU.
As for VCU, Markis said, “It was good. I really enjoyed it.”
“They run like a 10-man rotation,” Derek McDuffie, the player’s father, said before the visit. “They really like to have guys that play about 20 minutes a game, 15-20 minutes. Maybe the top-tier guys might play 25-30 minutes. Because of the offense they run and the defense they run, they push the ball up the floor and they play that pressure defense and they come right at you.
“But [coach Shaka Smart] said there’s opportunity, he said he’s started freshmen before, he has freshmen in his rotations and he believes in utilizing up to 10 players a game so he can play the pressure defense.”
This coming weekend, McDuffie takes an official to Wichita State.
“Gregg Marshall is a very good coach and he talked [in the home visit] about the things that Wichita State has done over the past few years,” Derek said. “All of the things that they have to offer. That town is really built for basketball, I don’t think they have a football team. He talked about Cleanthony Early and Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet, how they came into their program and developed. How Cleanthony Early came into their program as a Division 3 player and how he developed [and is now with the Knicks].
“The assistant coach Greg Heiar made a statement that out of all three of them [Early, VanVleet and McDuffie], Markis has the most upside as a freshman. They were pretty excited about adding someone of Markis’ talent to their organization. How he can play multiple positions and how he’s been coached by [Bob] Hurley.”
McDuffie also plans to visit SMU and BC after home visits with both schools. No dates are set yet.
“SMU and BC will be in October, we just haven’t solidified a date,” Derek said.
