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.
Kyle Cain to Visit West Virginia Sunday; Likes Arizona State, Kentucky Not so Much
One of the hottest names in recruiting right now is Kyle Cain.
The 6-foot-7 Cain is a multi-faceted forward who pulled out of his commitment to Rhode Island and is now considering West Virginia, Arizona State, Alabama and Illinois.
He’s headed on a visit to West Virginia this weekend.
“Yeah, I’m going to West Virginia this Sunday and Monday,” Cain said Friday by phone.
Cain likes West Virginia because head coach Bob Huggins has churned out a slew of NBA-caliber forwards, including Devin Ebanks and Da’Sean Butler from last year’s Final Four team.
While Ebanks and Butler are gone, the Mountaineers do bring back John Flowers and Mount Vernon, N.Y. native Kevin Jones. They also recently added 6-7 small forward Darrious Curry.
“Coach Huggins, he’s made a living off of guys like me, long athletic forwards that can play multiple [positions],” said Cain, who starred at T.F. North High School in Calumet City, Ill., before honing his game for a prep year at New Hampton (N.H.).
“One time, Coach Huggins had played all forwards and Da’Sean Butler was running the one, a 6-7 guy. So that’s pretty special to me. On top of that, Coach Huggins is a legendary coach.”
Cain said he no favorite right now, but seems high on Arizona State.
“I don’t have a favorite school right now, but the one that stands out the most is probably Arizona State because they need immediate help with the forward spot and the three spot,” he said.
“They don’t have that many forwards so it’s like if I go to Arizona State, there may be a chance of me starting there as a freshman.”
He has not visited the campus, but said “That’s something I’m looking forward to setting up.”
Cain said he will plan out his other visits once he returns from West Virginia.
One school Cain won’t be visiting is Kentucky.
Cain said head coach John Calipari was supposed to call him on Mother’s Day but “it never happened,” and then he subsequently heard from assistant Orlando Antigua.
“I was excited that Kentucky called me and I was like, ‘Yeah, wow, Kentucky,'” Cain said. “But Kentucky is a school that goes after All-Americans every year. They missed out on some guys so they’re coming for the best next thing. And I’m not an All-American, but they know that I can battle with All-Americans. So they called and wanted to try to get me on a visit.
“When Coach Huggins and them called me, I was like, OK I’m interested in them a lot. When Kentucky called me, I was excited, but at the same time, I’m like, Do I want to go to Kentucky and take a risk? It could be a good risk or a bad risk for me.
“I could go to Kentucky and I could play well for my first year and maybe have a chance of going to the NBA or I can go to Kentucky and have a bad year and be under the bus with the fans and the coaches, so it’s a risk that I have to take.”
Cain didn’t want to get into why he decommitted from Rhode Island, saying only, “There were some things that were supposed to happen that wasn’t going to happen so I was kind of unhappy and I asked for my letter of release. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach [Jim] Baron.”
Wherever Cain lands, he figures to be a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses.
“I’m known for having a high motor, known for being able to run the floor, block shots, rebound the ball, finish strong around the rim. But why I’m getting all this high-major attention right now is because I went to prep school and polished up my game a little bit more.
“I’m at the level where I’m becoming a matchup problem for players. I’m able to take players off the dribble now. I’m able to shoot wide-open mid-range jump shots. I’m working on my ball-handling, so I’m becoming a matchup problem for a lot of players. I’m a 6-7 guy, real athletic. It’s kind of hard to stick me because if you bring a bigger guy out on me, I’ll go past him and if you bring a smaller guy on me, I’ll take him in the post and post him up.”
(Photo courtesy RamReportCox-sports.com)
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.
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.
One of the hottest names in recruiting right now is Kyle Cain.
The 6-foot-7 Cain is a multi-faceted forward who pulled out of his commitment to Rhode Island and is now considering West Virginia, Arizona State, Alabama and Illinois.
He’s headed on a visit to West Virginia this weekend.
“Yeah, I’m going to West Virginia this Sunday and Monday,” Cain said Friday by phone.
Cain likes West Virginia because head coach Bob Huggins has churned out a slew of NBA-caliber forwards, including Devin Ebanks and Da’Sean Butler from last year’s Final Four team.
While Ebanks and Butler are gone, the Mountaineers do bring back John Flowers and Mount Vernon, N.Y. native Kevin Jones. They also recently added 6-7 small forward Darrious Curry.
“Coach Huggins, he’s made a living off of guys like me, long athletic forwards that can play multiple [positions],” said Cain, who starred at T.F. North High School in Calumet City, Ill., before honing his game for a prep year at New Hampton (N.H.).
“One time, Coach Huggins had played all forwards and Da’Sean Butler was running the one, a 6-7 guy. So that’s pretty special to me. On top of that, Coach Huggins is a legendary coach.”
Cain said he no favorite right now, but seems high on Arizona State.
“I don’t have a favorite school right now, but the one that stands out the most is probably Arizona State because they need immediate help with the forward spot and the three spot,” he said.
“They don’t have that many forwards so it’s like if I go to Arizona State, there may be a chance of me starting there as a freshman.”
He has not visited the campus, but said “That’s something I’m looking forward to setting up.”
Cain said he will plan out his other visits once he returns from West Virginia.
One school Cain won’t be visiting is Kentucky.
Cain said head coach John Calipari was supposed to call him on Mother’s Day but “it never happened,” and then he subsequently heard from assistant Orlando Antigua.
“I was excited that Kentucky called me and I was like, ‘Yeah, wow, Kentucky,'” Cain said. “But Kentucky is a school that goes after All-Americans every year. They missed out on some guys so they’re coming for the best next thing. And I’m not an All-American, but they know that I can battle with All-Americans. So they called and wanted to try to get me on a visit.
“When Coach Huggins and them called me, I was like, OK I’m interested in them a lot. When Kentucky called me, I was excited, but at the same time, I’m like, Do I want to go to Kentucky and take a risk? It could be a good risk or a bad risk for me.
“I could go to Kentucky and I could play well for my first year and maybe have a chance of going to the NBA or I can go to Kentucky and have a bad year and be under the bus with the fans and the coaches, so it’s a risk that I have to take.”
Cain didn’t want to get into why he decommitted from Rhode Island, saying only, “There were some things that were supposed to happen that wasn’t going to happen so I was kind of unhappy and I asked for my letter of release. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach [Jim] Baron.”
Wherever Cain lands, he figures to be a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses.
“I’m known for having a high motor, known for being able to run the floor, block shots, rebound the ball, finish strong around the rim. But why I’m getting all this high-major attention right now is because I went to prep school and polished up my game a little bit more.
“I’m at the level where I’m becoming a matchup problem for players. I’m able to take players off the dribble now. I’m able to shoot wide-open mid-range jump shots. I’m working on my ball-handling, so I’m becoming a matchup problem for a lot of players. I’m a 6-7 guy, real athletic. It’s kind of hard to stick me because if you bring a bigger guy out on me, I’ll go past him and if you bring a smaller guy on me, I’ll take him in the post and post him up.”
(Photo courtesy RamReportCox-sports.com)
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.
