Adidas Nations: Five-star Turner to trim list soon
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. -- Sunday at Adidas Nations featured another two rounds of games. With a few players knocked out with injury, nobody had any playing time complaints. One of the class of 2014's top 10 prospects, Myles Turner, was among the day's standouts, and he'll soon be making another cut to his list.
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Next cut coming for Turner
A few weeks ago, Myles Turner cut his list to 25 schools. Very soon, the 6-foot-10 big man from Euless (Texas) Trinity will be making a much more significant cut to his school list.
The No. 6 player in the class of 2014 told Rivals.com that he plans to get his list cut down to at least eight programs shortly after returning home from Nations.
"I pretty much already have what I want," Turner told Rivals.com. "But we are really going to run it down once I get on the plane with my dad."
Though he'll be cutting his list down soon, Turner declined to name any programs that are sure to make his cut. However, given that he has set up an official visit to Kansas for their Late Night festivities in early October, it is pretty clear that Turner's list will at least include the Jayhawks.
Turner said that it was a combination of the Jayhawks asking for a visit early and him having watched them over the years.
"They told me about it in my AAU season, and I've always kind of been a fan of Kansas," said Turner when asked why Kansas was the first visit he set. "The way they put bigs into the league and all of that, I really want to go out there and see what they have to work with."
By now, most recruiting fans are familiar with Turner's rise from relative obscurity to be one of the top prospects in the country. A combination of being healthy, growing and improving has been key, and Turner has certainly become more certain of himself as a high-end prospect.
"My confidence has really risen this summer," said Turner. "To see the things that I can do and know when to do it has been good.
"I think I made the gain in my overall aggression just on offense knowing I can take anybody and being really comfortable attacking my defender. I still need to work on my strength and my back-to-the-basket game and posting up a bit more. I'm more of a face-up guy now."
Although Turner will soon cut his list and set some more visits, don't expect an early commitment. For now, the plan is to wait until the Spring to make a decision.
"I'm actually not going to sign this fall," said Turner. "I'm probably going to wait for the Spring and just get my high school season out of the way and deal with everything after that."
Another product of Indiana, top-five player Trey LylesClick While some guys were running on fumes, four-star small forward Trevon BluiettClick Class of 2016 big man De'Ron DavisClick Potential top-five player Stanley JohnsonClick Four-star point guard Kaleb JosephClick Class of 2016 point guard Derryck ThorntonClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link. can get where he wants to with the dribble. He also has some scoring pop. Headed to Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep next season, Thornton also has a tendency to look for the home run on each play, which can lead to some mistakes. However, that's the case with most young point guards, and Thornton will get stronger and learn from experience. The sophomore-to-be already has offers from ArizonaClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link., USCClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link., ConnecticutClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link., Florida StateClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link., New MexicoClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link., UTEPClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link. and "most of the Pac 12," save for UCLAClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link. and Arizona StateClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link..Here to view this Link. has taken the first step in cutting his list down to a final three of SyracuseClick Class of 2016 point guard Derryck ThorntonClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link. can get where he wants to with the dribble. He also has some scoring pop. Headed to Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep next season, Thornton also has a tendency to look for the home run on each play, which can lead to some mistakes. However, that's the case with most young point guards, and Thornton will get stronger and learn from experience. The sophomore-to-be already has offers from ArizonaClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link., USCClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link., ConnecticutClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link., Florida StateClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link., New MexicoClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link., UTEPClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link. and "most of the Pac 12," save for UCLAClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link. and Arizona StateClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link..Here to view this Link., Providence and West VirginiaClick Class of 2016 point guard Derryck ThorntonClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link. can get where he wants to with the dribble. He also has some scoring pop. Headed to Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep next season, Thornton also has a tendency to look for the home run on each play, which can lead to some mistakes. However, that's the case with most young point guards, and Thornton will get stronger and learn from experience. The sophomore-to-be already has offers from ArizonaClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link., USCClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link., ConnecticutClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link., Florida StateClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link., New MexicoClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link., UTEPClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link. and "most of the Pac 12," save for UCLAClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link. and Arizona StateClick More Sunday notes from Adidas NationsHere to view this Link..Here to view this Link.. Next, Joseph plans to set official visits, and he'll be looking to make a decision sometime during the fall.Here to view this Link. had been relatively quiet through most of the first three days of Nations. Spurred on a by a little bit of trash talk by members of the USA 2015 Red team, the powerful small forward took over and helped lead his USA 2014 Red team to a convincing victory. One of the most physical players in America, Johnson really seemed to be enjoying his bullying of the younger players as he took them to the rim and beasted them for buckets and rebounds. Johnson doesn't mind doing a little talking himself, and he wasn't shy about letting the 2015 guys know they need to get into the weight room.Here to view this Link. had by far his best outing of the Nations program on Sunday night. A burly 6-foot-8 power forward from Denver, Davis isn't a high flyer and relies on getting position and being able to make short to medium range jumpers. They were falling on Sunday night, and he also did a good job of hitting the glass and finding lanes to score. For the most part, the USA 2014 Red team totally dominated the USA 2015 Red team physically, but Davis was one of the few players on that 2015 team equipped to deal with the older and stronger players.Here to view this Link. was wrapping up a very strong weekend. The scorer from Indianapolis (Ind.) Park Tudor continued to shoot the cover off the ball and mix in some crafty scoring around the rim. Because of his overall size, strength and feel for the game, the fact that Blueitt can shoot like he can is likely going to allow him to make a smooth transition to college ball.Here to view this Link. had his best outing on Sunday night. His USA 2014 Blue team found itself getting a stiff test from Team Africa for a birth in Monday's championship, but Lyles was up to the task. Capable of playing ruggedly around the rim because of his strength, the Indianapolis (Ind.) Arsenal Tech power forward did his best Carlos Boozer impersonation. He picked up some key offensive rebounds and was very efficient scoring in the lane en route to a very solid 19-point and six-rebound outing.
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