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.
Aaron Gordon is back from his weekend official visit to Oregon and will head to Washington this coming weekend.
“[He said] he enjoyed it,” Tim Kennedy, head coach at San Jose (Calif.) Archbishop Mitty told SNY.tv Monday. “He was really impressed with the facilities and [said] they take care of their guys over there.”
Gordon knows Oregon point guard Dominic Artis from their time together on the Oakland Soldiers.
“So they have kind of a good connection,” Kennedy said.
The 6-foot-7 Gordon was at Oregon during a busy weekend when the No. 3-ranked football team trounced Pac-12 rival Arizona, 49-0, and the basketball team picked up a pair of commits in the Robinson brothers and also added Rice transfer Arsalan Kazemi.
Gordon has a home visit with Kansas head coach Bill Self on Tuesday and then heads to Washington this weekend.
He will take officials to Kansas (Oct. 11) and Arizona (Oct. 18) and still has to schedule his visit to Kentucky.
“Kentucky’s not finalized, but it might be that late October weekend, that 27th weekend,” Kennedy said.
As for Washington, Gordon has a longstanding relationship with head coach Lorenzo Romar.
“Coach Romar has known his dad since they were in high school,” Kennedy said. “He’s known him since he recruited Drew [Gordon] coming out of high school, so he’s known him for a while.”
Still, Kennedy says Gordon has no favorite as of now.
“I don’t think he has a top one [school] right now,” he said. “I think he’s still feeling them out.”
Kentucky wasn’t really on Gordon’s radar early this summer, but now they’ve become a factor.
“He’s pretty serious about them. they’ve already done their home visit and he’s impressed with Kentucky,” Kennedy said. “He always wants a challenge to go against the top competition around so they’re always going to be in the mix.”
As for Arizona, freshman forward Brandon Ashley is one of several Oakland Soldiers on the roster, “so he knows them,” Kennedy said.
“He’s done an unofficial out there before so he loves the facilities they have out there and the program they’re building up,” Kennedy said.
Gordon may be the least familiar with Kansas, but will meet with coach Self on Tuesday before the official next month.
“That’s one he kind of doesn’t know a lot about, just for the fact he’s never been out there,” Kennedy said. “But it’s Kansas, kind of like a Kentucky thing where it’s always a top program so he’s interested and he has a connection through knowing the assistant [Kurtis Townsend] for a little while.”
Gordon has always said he’ll wait until the spring to sign and that hasn’t changed.
“He’s been saying he’s not going to pick until April for a while,” Kennedy said. “I thought he might have switched it but he’s staying true to that.”
An explosive athlete who helped the Soldiers win the Peach Jam in July, Gordon has been compared to Blake Griffin and Kennedy seems some validity to the comparison.
“A lot of people say that just from an athleticism standpoint,” Kennedy said. “I don’t think he’s as explosive, but I think he shoots it a little better. I think he can handle it a little bit better, too, and pass it a little better. We play him at the point at times and he’s one of our best passers.
“I think he’s a little bit more versatile than Blake is right now.”
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.
Aaron Gordon is back from his weekend official visit to Oregon and will head to Washington this coming weekend.
“[He said] he enjoyed it,” Tim Kennedy, head coach at San Jose (Calif.) Archbishop Mitty told SNY.tv Monday. “He was really impressed with the facilities and [said] they take care of their guys over there.”
Gordon knows Oregon point guard Dominic Artis from their time together on the Oakland Soldiers.
“So they have kind of a good connection,” Kennedy said.
The 6-foot-7 Gordon was at Oregon during a busy weekend when the No. 3-ranked football team trounced Pac-12 rival Arizona, 49-0, and the basketball team picked up a pair of commits in the Robinson brothers and also added Rice transfer Arsalan Kazemi.
Gordon has a home visit with Kansas head coach Bill Self on Tuesday and then heads to Washington this weekend.
He will take officials to Kansas (Oct. 11) and Arizona (Oct. 18) and still has to schedule his visit to Kentucky.
“Kentucky’s not finalized, but it might be that late October weekend, that 27th weekend,” Kennedy said.
As for Washington, Gordon has a longstanding relationship with head coach Lorenzo Romar.
“Coach Romar has known his dad since they were in high school,” Kennedy said. “He’s known him since he recruited Drew [Gordon] coming out of high school, so he’s known him for a while.”
Still, Kennedy says Gordon has no favorite as of now.
“I don’t think he has a top one [school] right now,” he said. “I think he’s still feeling them out.”
Kentucky wasn’t really on Gordon’s radar early this summer, but now they’ve become a factor.
“He’s pretty serious about them. they’ve already done their home visit and he’s impressed with Kentucky,” Kennedy said. “He always wants a challenge to go against the top competition around so they’re always going to be in the mix.”
As for Arizona, freshman forward Brandon Ashley is one of several Oakland Soldiers on the roster, “so he knows them,” Kennedy said.
“He’s done an unofficial out there before so he loves the facilities they have out there and the program they’re building up,” Kennedy said.
Gordon may be the least familiar with Kansas, but will meet with coach Self on Tuesday before the official next month.
“That’s one he kind of doesn’t know a lot about, just for the fact he’s never been out there,” Kennedy said. “But it’s Kansas, kind of like a Kentucky thing where it’s always a top program so he’s interested and he has a connection through knowing the assistant [Kurtis Townsend] for a little while.”
Gordon has always said he’ll wait until the spring to sign and that hasn’t changed.
“He’s been saying he’s not going to pick until April for a while,” Kennedy said. “I thought he might have switched it but he’s staying true to that.”
An explosive athlete who helped the Soldiers win the Peach Jam in July, Gordon has been compared to Blake Griffin and Kennedy seems some validity to the comparison.
“A lot of people say that just from an athleticism standpoint,” Kennedy said. “I don’t think he’s as explosive, but I think he shoots it a little better. I think he can handle it a little bit better, too, and pass it a little better. We play him at the point at times and he’s one of our best passers.
“I think he’s a little bit more versatile than Blake is right now.”
