Kansas missed out on Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones, but secured a pledge from Cliff Alexander on Friday.
The 6-foot-9 Chicago Curie power forward angered a lot of Illinois fans by reaching for a blue Illinois hat before picking up a Kansas cap. He also considered DePaul and Memphis.
“I feel that they’re going to develop me, get me where I want to be and expand my game to the next level,” Alexander said of Kansas on ESPNU.
After months and months of speculation about their future landing spot, Tyus Jones and Jahlil Okafor ultimately ended up where just about everybody expected.
Duke.
The dynamic duo announced for the Blue Devils at separate press conferences on Friday afternoon, choosing Duke over Kansas and Baylor. Each had also considered other schools, but had long said they would attend college together.
And they made good on their promise, becoming the rare duo to successfully pull off a “package deal.” ESPN now has Duke ranked No. 2 in their 2014 class rankings, behind Kentucky.
Take a look at the ESPN rankings for the top basketball classes in 2014 and you will see some familiar names.
Kentucky tops the list (again) and Seton Hall, after peaking at No. 4, is now No. 11.
Yes, coach Kevin Willard’s Seton Hall program has one of the top recruiting classes in the nation, anchored by Brooklyn Lincoln guard Isaiah Whitehead, who signed his Letter of Intent Friday morning at the high school.
The four-man class also includes Huntington (W.V.) Prep power forward Angel Delgado, Brooklyn Bishop Loughlin guard Khadeen Carrington and Newark East Side forward Ismael Sanogo, who was the first recruit of the group back in July.
“We are excited to officially welcome Isaiah, Angel, Khadeen and Ismael to the Seton Hall basketball family,” said Willard. “The future for Pirate basketball looks bright with this talented group headed to South Orange next season. This class has an opportunity to elevate Seton Hall basketball to new heights and leave their mark on this program.”
“With this recruiting class, they certainly can move from the lower half of the [Big East] league to at least the middle of the pack, if not higher,” longtime New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski told SNY.tv.
While Seton Hall and Rutgers are expected to sign a combined seven recruits during this early signing period, St. John’s won’t sign a single prospect.
Instead, Johnnies coach Steve Lavin is focusing on the Classes of 2015 and ’16.
“Because of our present roster depth the 2015 and 2016 recruiting classes are the priority,” Lavin told SNY.tv Friday. “With that said we continue to evaluate and monitor prospects in all classes. If a natural fit were to present itself we’d be open to signing a prospect come spring but the 2015 and 2016 classes will be our greater focus.”
Quentin Snider reversed course and signed with Louisville on Friday.
“Since sixth grade, we felt Quentin would be a Louisville Cardinal someday,” said head coach Rick Pitino in announcing his four-man class. “We’re very happy that he will become the point guard of the future for the University of Louisville. He’s well-rounded, shoots it well, gets in the lane and has good size. He makes people better and knows how to run a team.”
The 6-foot-2, 170-pound Snider initially committed to Louisville and then decommitted before choosing Illinois over UCLA last month.
The Louisville press release made no mention of Illinois, instead pointing out that Snider also considered UCLA, Michigan State and UConn.
Snider is part of a four-man Louisville class that includes guard Shaqquan Aaron, power forward Jaylen Johnson and big man Chinanu Onuaku.
Count Kevin Durant among those highly impressed with Kansas superstar frosh Andrew Wiggins.
“He’s raw, but his ceiling is high. He can be like a Hall of Famer, All-Star, for sure. He’s good,” Durant told Yahoo! Sports.
Durant watched on TV Tuesday night as Wiggins and Kansas held on to beat fellow frosh Jabari Parker and Duke in the Champions Classic. And like the nearly 80 NBA personnel in attendance, he came away impressed with both.
“That [Parker] kid is amazing,” Durant said. “I think he is the best player in the country. Him and Wiggins are like ‘1A’ and ‘1B.’ Those guys are going to do the one-and-done thing, do it early. They are going to do really well in college and lead their teams to, I think, the Final Four. That’s kind of like, ‘Close your eyes and pick one.’ You’re good with either one of those guys.
If we are to believe Twitter, the
