By JACOB POLACHECK
Mark Mitchell hasn’t been receiving quite the attention you’d expect for a five-star prospect.
Before this week, Mitchell held two offers, Kansas and Arkansas.
However, things are starting to pick up.
Mitchell, the 6-foot-8, 205-pound small forward from Bishop Miege (KS) High School, picked up offers from Wake Forest and UCLA this week as well as receiving interest from a number of high-major schools.
Mitchell broke down his offers for ZAGSBLOG Thursday:
Wake Forest: “I know they have a new coaching staff coming in. I’m just trying to get know them a little better and build a relationship with them.”
UCLA: “I really like UCLA. I have some family that lives in California and I love the campus down there. It’s a really intriguing school to me.”
Arkansas: “They talk about how they like versatile players, talking about what they’ve done with the Martin twins because that coaching staff came from Nevada. They’re building something new over there, especially with the new recruiting class. They’re bringing in one of the top classes in the country. They just talked about how I could be a versatile player in their system and about how they could really use me all around the court.”
Kansas: “Obviously the tradition they have. It’s close to home also, so they’ve always been in my mind a little bit. The tradition and the way things are run over there are top notch. It’s a top notch program.”
Mitchell spoke with Kansas head coach Bill Self on Monday, as college coaches were permitted to reach out to Class of 2022 prospects.
“We just caught up,” Mitchell said. “I’ve been talking to KU for a while so I know the coaching staff over there a little bit more than everybody else. He was just saying what’s up and catching up on things.”
In total, Mitchell has heard from 15 schools since Monday, including a phone call with Duke assistant coach Jon Scheyer.
“I talked to coach Scheyer for about 15-20 minutes just getting to know each other. We’re starting to build a relationship,” Mitchell said. “He just talked to me a little bit about their program, how they do things and how they want to come see me play this summer when things open back up.”
North Carolina assistant coach Steve Robinson was another coach that contacted the five-star forward this week.
“I’ve talked to them before, a while ago,” Mitchell said on the Tar Heels. “We’ve talked a couple times on the phone about a couple of things, just life really, not really about basketball. I was just catching up on things with coach Robinson and all those guys.”
Mitchell, who is ranked by 247Sports.com as the No. 5 small forward and No. 19 overall player in the Class of 2022, was also contacted by Virginia, Villanova, Michigan, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Illinois, Texas, Missouri and Tulsa.
Now that coaches are able to contact him directly, Mitchell says he’s evaluating his ‘relationships with the staff and the people on board’.
“Just seeing how they can help me grow as a player,” he said. “Off the court too, how the school can improve other parts of my life.”
Mitchell is ranked by 247Sports.com as the No. 5 small forward and No. 19 overall player in the Class of 2022.
In terms of his game, Mitchell describes himself as a ‘very versatile player’ that can play the 1-4 positions.
“With my size and versatility, I love getting to the basket,” he said. “I really just do everything on the court. I mean I can definitely score but I can do everything from rebounding to passing. Anything you need me to do, I can do.”
This season at Bishop Miege, Mitchell was a First Team Class 4A selection in the state of Kansas as he helped lead the Stags to an 18-4 record.
Heading into next year, Mitchell says he has one goal.
“Definitely to try and go undefeated,” he said. “With the team we have, really returning almost the whole team we had from last year, on a team that only lost four games where we should’ve only lost one, I think we definitely have a chance to go undefeated.”
“We’re trying to bring some new pieces to help us do that and win a state championship,” he said. “I want to accomplish everything I can while I’m still here.”
Shortly after the season was postponed and gyms were closed, Mitchell spent his time working out at a park near his house, but now he’s getting back in the gym and working in the weight room.
“Our gyms have been opening back up,” Mitchell said. “We’ve been having practice here too, so we’re getting back to some normalcy, working out and getting after it.”
However, it hasn’t been all basketball for Mitchell.
“I got a job at Walmart since I had a lot of free time,” he said. I’ve been doing that, then I love listening to music. I’m not so big on video games. I’ve just been watching Netflix and stuff like that to pass the time.”
This story has been updated.
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