Thomas Bryant has postponed his weekend visit to Indiana because of a school project and will now visit the Big Ten school Oct. 17-19, Huntington (W.V.) Prep coach Arkell Bruce told SNY.tv.
Bryant recently visited Syracuse and will visit Missouri the weekend of Oct. 10, when guards Isaiah Briscoe and Antonio Blakeney are also expected.
Bruce said the Rochester (N.Y.) big man is basically working with those three schools — Missouri, Indiana and Syracuse — as of now, and will commit “whenever he’s ready.”
“Yes, I don’t know if he’s going to let anybody else in or that’s it,” Bruce said. “I know a few others reached out and mom said they weren’t interested.”
He added: “There’s no favorites right now. He just rescheduled his Indiana visit to Oct. 17th to the 19th.”
The 6-foot-10, 235-pound Bryant recently told SNY.tv that “Missouri has been recruiting me real hard the latest.”
Missouri hired former Huntington coach Rob Fulford as an assistant coach, and Fulford already helped the program bring in former Huntington Prep star Montaque “Teki” Gill-Caesar, who reclassed to 2014 and will be a freshman this season.
“It’s extremely attractive, [Bryant] has a great relationship with [Fulford], had one when he was here,” Bruce said. “Respects him a lot. That’s the only reason he’s considering Missouri.”
If Missouri were able to land some combination of Bryant, Briscoe and Blakeney, Bruce said, “It would be one of the top recruiting classes….Teki, that’s my guy. I know Antonio, I know Isaiah.”
Wherever Bryant goes, he has a huge upside going forward.
“His best days are ahead of him,” Bruce said. “He just turned 17 a couple months ago, so he’s a young pup. Still figuring it out. Long, 7-foot-6 wingspan so he has the potential to make money at basketball one day. But he’s not going to rely on that because he’s a very smart kid.”
He added: “He needs to work on his core strength which we do with him. But he also needs to refine his post skills like all young big men. He’s shooting the ball way better, out to 23 feet. He’s shooting the 3 easy, mid-range, he’s really shooting the ball great. Finishing with both hands. But strength is the main thing [he has to work on], being able to absorb contact and finish.”
