LA HABRA, Calif. - Sophomore Josh Christopher already holds a handful of early Pac-12 offers and might be adding a couple more schools to his growing list.
"Kansas and Texas reached out recently. They haven't offered yet but they both said they like my game and things like that," Christopher told Rivals.com.
The 6-foot-4 guard had a pretty good week scoring 42 points with UCLA watching on Wednesday, 37 points on Friday and leading his team to a championship in the North Orange County Tournament.
"Whenever I get on the floor, I’m a leader regardless of my age. I know I have to do whatever I can to lead my team to a win," Christopher said.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
It's hard to believe Christopher is only a sophomore when you watch him play. He's strong, quick in the lane and a great shooter. A lot of Pac-12 schools have offered early including UCLA, USC, Arizona and Cal. It's still early in his recruitment but he's keeping tabs on all the schools that have offered plus a couple other programs.
UCLA: "With UCLA, I love the city and the campus. And I mean, (Russell) Westbrook, Kevin Love, Lonzo Ball, etc. They’ve had great players come through that program. Coach (David) Grace was at my game earlier this week, so they’re showing some love."
USC: "I took a visit to USC during the fall and went to a football game. Since their a local school I’m going to see if I can get to a basketball game sometime this season and check out more of that team and program."
ARIZONA: "I’ve seen a few Arizona games and have a lot of friends on that team. I’ve talked to a few of them and they just tell me how great the city is and the fan base is ridiculous."
CAL: "My brother played at Cal, so I know a little bit about that program and what’s going up there. I know they have a new coaching staff and I’ll be watching them along with the other teams in the Pac-12."
KENTUCKY: "I’ve always paid attention to Kentucky and what their doing over there since it’s a lot of one-and-done players and it’s interesting to see how that coaching staff brings a new team together every year and they compete."
ALABAMA: "I love watching Collin Sexton play, so Alabama is another team I’ll be keeping an eye on this year."
KANSAS: "Kansas is Kansas so it was great to hear from them. Coach (Bill) Self has done good things with guards in that program."
TEXAS: "I don't know a lot about them but I'm just riding the recruitment wave right now and taking every offer or potential offer as it comes."
WHAT'S NEXT?
Christopher is in the middle of his high school season and doesn't have any visits set for the winter.
"I'm just focused on playing right now and if we can fit a visit here and there within my schedule, then fine but I'm not too concerned with it right now," Christopher said.
The sophomore guard already has an idea of what he's looking for in a program and playing time is one of his top priorities. "The most important thing to me in finding a school with a good coaching staff and the ability where I can be on the floor more then 75 percent of the game."
RIVALS REACTION
It's way too early to make any sort of prediction for the talented guard and expect more bluebloods to get involved as his recruitment progresses. Christopher has improved immensely since the summer and it's scary to think he's only a sophomore with two years left of high school ball. In the event the NBA changes their one-and-done rule in the next three years, Christopher could be one of those players that goes straight to the league when all is said and done.