After Summer,Texas PF Has Final 5
One player who saw his recruiting take off this summer was Trent Plaisted, a
6-foot-10, 215-pound power forward from Clark High School in San Antonio, Tex.
Advertisement
After some impressive performances in various events, his phone wouldn't stop
ringing as coaches from all over started pouring in with offers. But Plaisted
has narrowed his choices down and is sorting out his fall schedule.
"I'm starting to take visits pretty soon," said Plaisted. "Right now my top
five are Washington State, Stanford, Brigham Young, Florida State, and Kansas.
All but Kansas have offered."
Before narrowing down his list, Plaisted had also entertained offers from the
likes of Utah, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and several others.
It's been a whirlwind of attention for the still-developing power forward, but
Plaisted has kept his mind focused and is ready to make a fall decision after
his visits.
We asked Plaisted to comment on his top four that have offered (Kansas is
interested but has gotten into the game late).
On Stanford (currently the only school with a concrete visit date of 9/25):
"I like Stanford a lot," said Plaisted. "Just the fact it's in California, I
lived there all my life. It'd be nice to go back. All my family is there and
if I went there, my parents would move there too."
"I like the coaches too," he added. "I wouldn't have to wait long to play,
which is a factor. Plus, the great academics there of course."
On Washington State:
"They weren't very good the past few years," said Plaisted. "But now they have
the new coaching staff - I love those guys. They said I could come in and play
right away and even start."
On BYU:
"I'm LDS so that's pretty self-explanatory," said Plaisted. "My parents both
graduated from there too. I know they used to be awful, but in the past few
years they've been better."
On Florida State:
"They're going to be good; they just got the #1 recruiting class in the
nation," said Plaisted. "The name 'Florida State' just does something for you
too."
Since Plaisted is a member of the LDS church, there has been talk that BYU
would be the clear leader in the process. Not so, said Plaisted, who gave
other reasons for how his decision will be made.
"Basically it's going to come down to playing time or the system I'm going to
go to, if I like that or not," said Plaisted.
Another concern related to his LDS church membership is the common practice of
going on a two-year church mission. While Plaisted understands this, he has
not set in stone a decision about when he will take a mission - if he goes on
one at all.
"The mission is a possibility," said Plaisted. "But I'm only 16 years old.
Usually you don't go on your mission until you're 19. So I may have one or two
years of playing already by then. If I'm playing and I'm doing well it will be
tough to leave. So there's no final decision yes or no if I'll do it or not."
Plaisted oozes potential. Blessed with solid size, he also has a good amount
of basketball skill. His high school coach, Kevin Hamilton, describes his
talented forward.
"He's a left-hander, a legit 6-9, with his basketball shoes on he's 6-10," said
Hamilton. "He's an athletic kid who runs the floor well. He can score in a
variety of ways, and not just with his back to the basket. He can score 15
feet away facing or taking the ball to the basket."
"Defensively, he's very flexible," he added. "He's good guarding people inside
or guarding people outside."
Hamilton would like to see Plaisted get hungrier on the offensive glass and
work on developing his off-hand to get better. Plaisted himself would also
like to improve his perimeter shooting.
"I'd like to get more range on my shot I can shoot threes," said Plaisted.
"But I need to work on a lot of little things."
Hamilton puts it best when talking about why schools are so enamored with
Plaisted's potential.
"He's 16-years old, he's got size and strong legs - he's not a skinny kid,"
said Hamilton. "He's not a project but a prospect. He's made tremendous
progress the last two years. If the past is any indication of the future, the
sky's the limit for him."
In addition to his basketball prowess, Plaisted's success academically has made
him attractive to colleges as well. Plaisted is an excellent student who
maintains a 3.9 GPA and has already scored a 1170 on the SAT and a 35 on the
ACT. He hopes to major in Business, and has visions of one day being a
basketball coach.
Jed Tai is a senior writer with Hoopville.com