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.
Recruiting Roundup: Mizzou, Kansas, Texas A&M, Kentucky Have Big Weekends Ahead
Here’s your look-ahead to the weekend’s recruiting visits and other news. This list will be updated throughout the weekend:
Missouri, Kansas, Texas A&M and Kentucky all have big recruiting weekends on tap.
**Mizzou hosts Georgia in SEC football action on Saturday and will have a trio of bigtime recruits on campus for official visits in Isaiah Briscoe, Antonio Blakeney and Thomas Bryant.
They will also have Miles Bridges, Curtis Jones, Jayson Tatum, Tyler Cook, Michael Porter and Jontay Porter on unofficials.
The 6-foot-3 Briscoe has recently visited UConn, Kentucky and Seton Hall and is slated to visit St. John’s next weekend for their Midnight Madness. After decommitting from Louisville, the 6-4 Blakeney has been courted by Kentucky, LSU, North Carolina and others in addition to Mizzou. The 6-10 Bryant is considering Mizzou, Syracuse and Indiana, and has pushed his Indiana visit to next weekend.
**Kansas has a big group of studs coming for their Late Night in the Phog on Friday, including Jaylen Brown, Carlton Bragg, Brandon Ingram, Tyler Dorsey, Stephen Zimmerman, Malik Monk, Jayson Tatum, De’Aaron Fox, Schnider Herard, Trae Young, Mitch Ballock, Kobi Simmons, Tyler Cook, Marques Bolden, Troy Brown, Nick Rakocevic and DaMonte Williams
**Texas A&M hosts Ole Miss Saturday night in SEC football action and will hostElijah Thomas and Admon Gilder Jr. Malik Newman won’t make the trip following last week’s trip to Ole Miss in which he said he could “see himself there.” He will reportedly release a top five before the start of his high school season. The 6-9 Thomas has already visited SMU, LSU, Oklahoma State, and Illinois and is set to announce his college choice Oct. 21.The 6-2 Gilder is also considering Baylor, Oklahoma State and SMU.
**Kentucky hosts its NBA Combine on Friday and it will be televised on ESPNU from 3-5 EST. All 30 NBA teams are invited, and many are sending the maximum three scouts allowed. Kentucky coach John Calipari is shrewdly using this as a recruiting tool. Caleb Swanigan, a 6-8 power forward, is among those expected for Saturday’s practice.
**Syracuse, which hosts Florida State in football, will host 2016 guard Tyus Battle and 2015 commit Malachi Richardson, both of whom are from New Jersey. Battle will visit Kentucky and Duke across the next two weekends and is set to cut his list sometime in December.
**Justin Robinson, a 6-1 point guard from Manassas (VA) St. James, is set to announce at 2:30 on Sunday. He’s considering UNLV, Providence and Virginia Tech after Maryland pulled out, according to Evan Daniels of Scout.
**T.J. Leaf, a 6-9 forward from Foothills Christian (CA) visits Florida, along with commits KeVaughn Allen and Noah Dickerson, as first reported by Jeff Borzello.
**Skal Labissiere, the 6-foot-10 forward from Lausanne Collegiate School (TN), goes to Baylor and has also tripped to Georgetown, Kentucky and Tennessee.
**Tevin Mack, a 6-6 small forward from Columbia (SC) Dreher, visits UConn after last week’s trip to Clemson. He’s also considering Georgia, USC and VCU.
**Daytona (FL) State wing Tank Efianayi visits UCF this weekend after taking trips to Arizona State and St. John’s. Tacko Fall, the 7-5 giant from E1T1, also visits UCF, per Adam Finkelstein.
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.
Here’s your look-ahead to the weekend’s recruiting visits and other news. This list will be updated throughout the weekend:
Missouri, Kansas, Texas A&M and Kentucky all have big recruiting weekends on tap.
**Mizzou hosts Georgia in SEC football action on Saturday and will have a trio of bigtime recruits on campus for official visits in Isaiah Briscoe, Antonio Blakeney and Thomas Bryant.
They will also have Miles Bridges, Curtis Jones, Jayson Tatum, Tyler Cook, Michael Porter and Jontay Porter on unofficials.
The 6-foot-3 Briscoe has recently visited UConn, Kentucky and Seton Hall and is slated to visit St. John’s next weekend for their Midnight Madness. After decommitting from Louisville, the 6-4 Blakeney has been courted by Kentucky, LSU, North Carolina and others in addition to Mizzou. The 6-10 Bryant is considering Mizzou, Syracuse and Indiana, and has pushed his Indiana visit to next weekend.
**Kansas has a big group of studs coming for their Late Night in the Phog on Friday, including Jaylen Brown, Carlton Bragg, Brandon Ingram, Tyler Dorsey, Stephen Zimmerman, Malik Monk, Jayson Tatum, De’Aaron Fox, Schnider Herard, Trae Young, Mitch Ballock, Kobi Simmons, Tyler Cook, Marques Bolden, Troy Brown, Nick Rakocevic and DaMonte Williams
**Texas A&M hosts Ole Miss Saturday night in SEC football action and will host Elijah Thomas and Admon Gilder Jr. Malik Newman won’t make the trip following last week’s trip to Ole Miss in which he said he could “see himself there.” He will reportedly release a top five before the start of his high school season. The 6-9 Thomas has already visited SMU, LSU, Oklahoma State, and Illinois and is set to announce his college choice Oct. 21.The 6-2 Gilder is also considering Baylor, Oklahoma State and SMU.
**Kentucky hosts its NBA Combine on Friday and it will be televised on ESPNU from 3-5 EST. All 30 NBA teams are invited, and many are sending the maximum three scouts allowed. Kentucky coach John Calipari is shrewdly using this as a recruiting tool. Caleb Swanigan, a 6-8 power forward, is among those expected for Saturday’s practice.
**Syracuse, which hosts Florida State in football, will host 2016 guard Tyus Battle and 2015 commit Malachi Richardson, both of whom are from New Jersey. Battle will visit Kentucky and Duke across the next two weekends and is set to cut his list sometime in December.
**Justin Robinson, a 6-1 point guard from Manassas (VA) St. James, is set to announce at 2:30 on Sunday. He’s considering UNLV, Providence and Virginia Tech after Maryland pulled out, according to Evan Daniels of Scout.
**T.J. Leaf, a 6-9 forward from Foothills Christian (CA) visits Florida, along with commits KeVaughn Allen and Noah Dickerson, as first reported by Jeff Borzello.
**Skal Labissiere, the 6-foot-10 forward from Lausanne Collegiate School (TN), goes to Baylor and has also tripped to Georgetown, Kentucky and Tennessee.
**Tevin Mack, a 6-6 small forward from Columbia (SC) Dreher, visits UConn after last week’s trip to Clemson. He’s also considering Georgia, USC and VCU.
**Daytona (FL) State wing Tank Efianayi visits UCF this weekend after taking trips to Arizona State and St. John’s. Tacko Fall, the 7-5 giant from E1T1, also visits UCF, per Adam Finkelstein.
