Class of 2018 wing Talen Horton-Tucker planning fall visits
LAS VEGAS - Talen Horton-Tucker has had a very strong summer and college coaches are taking notice. After playing well during the first live period in April, The 6-foot-5 four-star small forward took the momentum into July.
"I’m just focused on getting better and just trying to show everyone nationally what I can do because I feel like my ranking’s a little low and I’m trying to show I’m better then that," Horton-Tucker said.
Michigan State offered a couple weeks ago and other schools outside the Midwest region like UNLV, Florida State and Georgia Tech have also started getting involved and the 2018 wing is keeping all options open.
"I’m still open to any other schools that are showing interest. I want everyone to know that. There’s no rush to make any sort of decision for me."
IN HIS OWN WORDS
Illinois, Iowa State, Xavier, and Michigan State were all present at Horton-Tucker's games during the July live period and he's noticed those four schools have made him a priority.
ILLINOIS: "I would say Illinois has been at every single one of my games this summer, so I know they're making me a priority. They're the hometown school and I'm getting to know Coach (Brad) Underwood and his staff there pretty well."
MICHIGAN STATE: "They offered a couple weeks ago at the adidas tournament in Spartanburg and it was good to finally get that offer since they’ve been showing some interest for a little bit. Coach just told me to keep getting better and he thinks I would fit in well there."
IOWA STATE: "I don't have any visits set yet but Iowa State is definitely a school that I want to get to in the fall. I like their style of play and they're a competitive team year after year."
XAVIER: "They did big things in the tournament last year and I always see Coach (Chris) Mack or Coach (Luke) Murray at my games. Xavier's in the Big East and it's nice to have another school outside the Big10 to look at."
WHAT'S NEXT?
Horton-Tucker is focused on finishing out the summer season and wants to settle in at school for his senior season before he schedules any visits. "I’m definitely going to take some visits, but I don’t have any visits set yet," Horton-Tucker said.
"I’ve just been focused on finishing out the July period strong and then looking towards my senior year starting. I’ll probably start looking at visits around September."
Horton-Tucker said that out of his five official visits, he definitely wants to get to Iowa State at some point and said Michigan State and Ohio State might be on the list too but nothing is official.
RIVALS REACTION
Look for this to be a Big Ten showdown between Michigan State and Illinois, with Iowa State from the Big 12 also heavily in the mix. Underwood has proven himself to be a great recruiter but at the end of the day, Izzo and MSU could win out on the talented wing from Chicago.