[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLy_XHGhvaY]
By JACK LeGWIN
Special to ZAGSBLOG
Schools out West are making Josh Perkins a priority.
The 6-foot-3 Colorado point guard who recently transferred to Huntington (W.V.) Prep visited UCLA May 31 while out West for the Pangos All-American Camp, and plans on visiting Gonzaga this weekend.
“I went to UCLA [Friday],” Perkins told Fox Sports in the above video. “Beautiful campus and me and coach Alford really have a good relationship, so I like UCLA a lot.”
New UCLA coach Steve Alford — who also recently hosted 2014 Minnesota shooting guard Rashad Vaughn and 2014 Texas small forward Justise Winslow — has known Perkins since the coach’s time at New Mexico.
“My first official was to New Mexico while he was there,” Perkins said. “Him coming to UCLA just brought the relationship to California.”
Randy Perkins, his father and AAU coach, reflected on the UCLA visit in an interview with SNY.tv.
“UCLA is loaded with history, we all know that. With the players that played there, with (Bill) Walton, (Kareem) Abdul-Jabaar, there is some crazy history that has gone on at that school,” Perkins told SNY.tv.
“What we have to do though, is make the decision, not off of the past, but on the future.”
Perkins listed UCLA, USC, Gonzaga and Minnesota are recruiting him the hardest, and said Kentucky, Syracuse and UConn are newly in the mix.
“Style of play is huge and knowing the coaches isn’t going to go anywhere if I go there, and just caring for me on and off the court,” he said.
Most recently, he attended the Pangos All-American camp in Long Beach, CA, and squared off against the best, playing in a game where he had to defend one of the best PG’s in Emmanuel Mudiay.
“In my eyes, if it means anything, he’s the best point guard in the nation,” Perkins told CBSSports.com. “It’s tough to play against him, because he’s so much stronger than everybody. I gotta step my game up every time I play against him.
“I thought I played well, but he got the win.”
Many believe that if Perkins gets into the right system, he could turn out to be one of the best in the country at the college level.
The coach that might have made the biggest impact on Josh Perkins’ recruiting in the end might be Mark Few, coach of the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
“Coach Few has probably been the most involved in Josh’s recruiting,” Randy Perkins said. “They may not have the history at Gonzaga that UCLA does, but coach Few can coach, and I’ve always been impressed with the sincerity that he has about him.”
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