Minnesota coach Richard Pitino sat courtside in Las Vegas on Sunday when Matthew Hurt and his D1 Minnesota team beat Team Loaded, 88-76, in a game shown on ESPNU.
But Pitino will have his hands full trying to keep the 6-foot-9 Class of 2019 forward at home.
Hurt’s stock has exploded in recent days, as he’s added offers from Louisville, North Carolina, Marquette, Ohio State, UCLA and Oregon since the beginning of July.
“I’m really excited seeing my hard work pay off,” Hurt told Scout.com. “I’m really excited.”
Louisville’s entry into the race means Rick and Richard Pitino will go head-to-head in this recruiting battle.
Richard Pitino was relatively new on the job at the Big Ten school when studs like Tyus Jones (Duke), Rashad Vaughn (UNLV) and Reid Travis (Stanford) were going through the recruitment process. This time around he’s got more time to put into recruiting guys like Hurt, but the competition will be just as stiff.
Elsewhere around the recruiting world:
**Arizona State is the latest to offer Hamidou Diallo, the 6-6 two guard from the NY Rens and Putnam Science Academy (CT). Diallo also holds offers from Kentucky, Duke and Syracuse, among others.
**Cal is the latest to offer Jordan Nwora, Diallo’s Ren’s teammate and a 6-8 forward at Vermont Academy, his dad told SNY.tv.
**Arizona offered Tyler Herro, a 6-5 Class of 2018 shooting guard from the Wisconsin Playground Warriors who also held offers from Arizona State, Oregon and UNLV, among others.
**Clifton Moore Jr, the 6-10 forward from Hatboro-Horsham Senior High School, has added offers from Ole Miss, Drexel, Richmond and Temple, his father told SNY.tv.
**Louisville offered Immanuel Quickley, the Class of 2018 point guard from Baltimore Elite and John Carroll, per Evan Daniels. He’s also recently added offers from Wake Forest, Villanova and Arizona, among others.
**St. Bonaventure offered 6-6 forward Walter Whyte of the PSA Cardinals and St. Luke’s (CT).
**After cutting his list to five schools earlier this month, Christian David, a Class of 2017 wing from Vermont Academy, has set official visits to Butler (Aug. 6), Pittsburgh (Sept. 3), Oregon (Sept. 10) and Miami (TBD), per Evan Daniels.
