Florida, Georgia in early pursuit of PF Ben Middlebrooks
Class of 2022 forward Ben Middlebrooks holds double-digit offers and seems to be on the verge of adding a few more. He’s in somewhat frequent contact with both Georgia and Florida, while Virginia may be on the verge of joining the fray. Below, the Ft. Lauderdale (Fla.) Westminster Christian star updates his recruitment and discusses the schools that currently have his attention.
ON SCHOOLS IN CONTACT
“Georgia and Florida. I’ve been talking to Virginia a little bit, too. Oh, and Stanford. I’ve been talking to them.”
ON GEORGIA
“I’ve just been talking with them. We’re still just keeping up a relationship. We’re actually trying to work out a zoom call coming up pretty soon. I think that should be happening pretty soon. Everything is kind of hard now when it comes to recruiting because everything is still shut down.”
ON PRE-COVID VISITS
“I had unofficial visits to Florida and Wake Forest before everything happened but that was a while ago obviously.”
ON FLORIDA
“I mean, I talk to Mike White and everyone knows he’s a great coach. He’s big-time, obviously. I talk most to Al Pinkins, the assistant. He’a a good coach and a good guy. Players love him.”
ON HOW HE’D FIT IN AT UF
“They see me fitting in perfectly because they want to run me at a stretch-three or even stretch-four type position. They like that I can play those spots, being able to shoot and being able to dribble.”
ON UVA
“I don’t have an offer from them yet, but I want one and I talk to them on the phone a couple times. Obviously, they’re a great program year in and year out and Coach Tony Bennett is a great coach. I think that would be a great school to go to.”
ON HOW CLOSE VIRGINIA MIGHT BE TO AN OFFER
“They’re just saying they want to get more video of me and get to know mne a little bit more. It’s been hard for them with everything being shut down and travel ball getting cancelled. It’s hard for anybody trying to see anything right now.”
RIVALS REACTION: It’s too early to make a prediction on how Middlebrooks' recruitment will end, as the three-star power forward will accumulate more offers in the year ahead. It’s probably not presumptuous to say he feels most comfortable with Florida at this early juncture, however. There’s no way of knowing if he’ll ultimately land in Gainesville, but expect the Gators to be involved until the end. The direction things take from here will depend largely on which schools get involved in the year ahead.