Blueblood programs in pursuit of 2019 five-star James Wiseman
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. – It's easy to see why a bunch of top programs are getting in early with the 2019 power forward James Wiseman. At 6-foot-10 he's already a polished player who moves well around the basket, and gets up and down the court quickly. Wiseman is already planning a few visits for the fall and seems to be ahead in the recruiting process for a player in the 2019 class with plenty of time.
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IN HIS OWN WORDS
Indiana, North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Texas and Alabama are some of the schools talking to Wiseman right now. The No. 4 player in 2019 is already planning unofficial fall visits to Indiana, Duke, Kentucky and Kansas.
INDIANA: "I know it's a new coaching staff there but they've been talking to me a lot and just trying to build a good relationship with me. I definitely plan on getting there sometime to check it out."
DUKE: "First thing I’m looking at in a school is the academics because without that first you can’t do anything in life. I know Duke is a good school and they have a great program as well. I haven't really talked to coach K (Mike Krzyzweski) that much but it's coach K. I know what he's about"
KANSAS: "I just want to experience the atmosphere there and the community as a whole when everyone’s back on campus. I talk mostly to the assistant coaches and I'll be watching their bigs closely this year."
KENTUCKY: "Kentucky texts me like every day. One of the coaches is always staying in contact. They think I fit well in the system and I’m just talking to them to see if I agree with them."
NORTH CAROLINA: "North Carolina called me about three weeks ago and told me they wanted to come by for a visit sometime. I mean, they won the national championship last year so of course there’s interest."
RIVALS' REACTION
The fact that Wiseman said he definitely wants to get to Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and Indiana is showing that he's serious about playing for a top program. His favorite players to watch and emulate are Joel Embiid from Kansas and Anthony Davis from Kentucky.
"I watched both those players a lot in college and I like how both coaches just let them kind of play their game. Inside and outside the paint," Wiseman said.
PREDICTION
It's still way too early to call anything for 2019 players but Kentucky has impressed him early and right now it is leading the pack. There's still plenty of time for the other schools to get involved and Wiseman has said he wants to wait until his senior year to make a decision.