Wednesday's Leftovers: Jabari Smith's leaders, Virginia targets, more
The flood of commitments has not slowed just yet and it doesn’t appear that it will anytime soon. In today’s Wednesday’s Leftovers, we look at Jabari Smith’s landing spot, Oklahoma and Virginia recruiting and the impact of no in-person recruiting until the new year.
TWITTER TUESDAY MAILBAG: UK's 2021 class, James Graham, Trey Kaufman
Your guess is as good as mine as far as if the G League will come calling for Jabari Smith. The G League did chase after the best in the 2020 class. With a full year before he would participate, and the NBA pedigree, it would be expected for the G League to look at Smith.
However, I just don’t see Smith going that route. He seems to be someone that would rather spend a year in college before making the leap into the professional ranks.
If that is the case, keep an eye on the in-state Georgia program. No head coach has prioritized Smith greater than Tom Crean and after not taking much of a push into the high school ranks in the 2020 class, instead, opting to go the more experience route with junior college and transfer candidates, Crean has Smith pegged as his top guy in 2021.
His commitment will not come easy and while Georgia should be seen as the favorite, don’t count out Auburn, LSU or Tennessee. Bruce Pearl has done his best work with those from Atlanta, LSU is where his father played, and UT is the only program that has hosted him on an official visit. North Carolina is another that remains on the periphery.
Georgia will have to defeat some of the best in its league and also the pro realm, but as of now, it is the one to beat.
The Sooners might be the leader for both, but I am not sold that Trey Alexander will pick Oklahoma whenever he gets to his commitment. They have invested a whole lot of work into his recruitment and while they have a scoring guard need in the 2021 class, my guess is that Alexander will wait a bit longer before deciding, which could allow any of the group that includes Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma State or TCU to gain ground on the four-star.
RANKING THE CONTENDERS: Trey Alexander
His travel teammate, Daimion Collins, is someone that I am more confident in landing in Norman. The Texas native was a fan of the Longhorns growing up but has taken to the idea of playing for the Sooners in college.
Collins is competing with the Team Griffin program that is sponsored by former OU star Blake Griffin, is teammates and good friends with Oklahoma recruit Bijan Cortes, and is a priority target for Lon Kruger and his staff. All that makes it much likelier for Collins to one day suit up for the Sooners. Texas is definitely one to watch and there has been even more talk of late that he could be closer towards making a decision than previously assumed with it being a sprint between OU and UT.
Listen, I get the anxiety on your part. Virginia has failed to secure a commitment in the 2021 class during a time that has seen a number of Rivals150 prospects come off the board at a record pace. However, this is Tony Bennett that we talking about; he is not someone that is just going to recruit someone because of the number of stars next to his name or because one of his ACC peers offered a respective prospect but rather, because the recruit is someone that fits the Virginia program.
With that being said, while it has missed on a select group, Virginia just has three scholarships to fill for next season and have been carefully targeting specific recruits that fit what it does, both on and off the floor. They just made the final three for Taine Murray from New Zealand, is a program to watch with Efton Reid and DaRon Holmes, and have picked up ground with Caleb Houstan and Trey Kaufman.
I don’t see it in the cards with Trevor Keels and Pat Baldwin, but don’t take their lack of commitments for inactivity with Bennett and his staff but rather carefully pin-pointing the right prospects. Don’t forget, too, that Trey Murphy is sitting out this season after his transfer commitment in the spring which should help once Sam Hauser graduates after the season.
My FutureCast prediction for Dug McDaniel was not, in any way, saying that he was close to committing, but I do believe Michigan is the team to beat for the four-star guard. Michigan still has more work to complete in the 2021 class as far as finding another ballhandler and a big man goes, but McDaniel is one of their early priorities in the 2022 class.
Juwan Howard and his staff have been fairly consistent with their contact with McDaniel in recent months but it does not hurt that their relationship began well before Howard was named the head coach in Ann Arbor. McDaniel played with Jett Howard, Juwan’s son, at various camps throughout the years, which allowed for him to develop strong in-roads with Howard during his pre-Michigan days.
Throw in the fact that he plays for the Team Takeover travel program, one that Hunter Dickinson and Terrance Williams played for, and the connections between the Big Ten program and McDaniel may be too difficult to overcome by whoever else tries to enter the mix.
ACC: Miami. They’re old, tough and experienced. They might not beat out Duke or Florida State, but they have the potential to be top-five in the ACC thanks to Chris Lykes, Kam McGusty and an incoming class led by Earl Timberlake. Don’t sleep on Harlond Beverly, either.
Big East: Providence. Why do we keep sleeping on Ed Cooley? He has bigs this year, has great bounce back candidates in Greg Gantt and AJ Reeves, while David Duke has the chance to be special.
Big Ten: Ohio State. No one is talking about the Buckeyes. Figuring out the center spot is a must, but their changeability at the 2-4 is special thanks to Justin Ahrens, Seth Towns, Musa Jallow, EJ Liddell, and Justice Sueing all in tow.
Big 12: Oklahoma. The Sooners return Austin Reaves and Brady Manek, Devion Harmon will take a step up and Kruger’s tactician abilities will have them a win two or three games that they shouldn’t.
Pac 12: Cal. Mark Fox did an amazing job with his guys last year and should take another leap this season. It won’t be easy due to the depth of its league, but whenever an alpha like Matt Bradley is on your side, anything is possible.
SEC: This will be Frank Martin’s best team in Columbia since his Final Four run. Older and more experienced, AJ Lawson will see the light turn entirely on, Seventh Woods will make up for lost time and Jermaine Couisnard will become a household name.
Don’t bet on in-person recruiting taking place in any form until at least Jan. 1. As of now, such a restriction is in place until Aug. 31 and while I heard whispers last week that it would be extended at least another month, it is only a matter of time before the NCAA and NABC come together and decide to ban such activity for the rest of the calendar year.
Even if, for some odd reason, Sept. 1 arrives and coaches can then go back onto the road and begin to recruit, and official visits are allowed, I can’t see many taking part. Over the past few weeks, the amount of coaches that I have talked to that have said they would feel comfortable going on the road to complete in-person evaluations of prospects, or bring recruits to campus and let them mingle with its staff and team, could be counted on one hand alone.
However, we have seen oodles of prospects not willing to wait until the spring to commit. I am not saying that is the right thing to do because I would have guessed that we would have seen the least number of commitments for this point on the calendar year. I just don’t get how one can come to an accurate college decision without actually seeing the campus and get the chance to visit with the coaches and personnel that one is going to spend at least a full year with and do so on a daily basis.
If I were a prospect and I wanted to commit early, okay, then do it, but tell the coaching staff that while you are willing to commit, you also will not sign until the spring and after you have the chance to visit the campus just to make sure everything checks out. Chances are, that will not be the route that the majority takes, which means we could see many mistakes and the transfer numbers only ramp up even further in the coming years even without the one-time transfer rule, while likely will to go into effect for next year and crowd the portal even more.