Bennett looking in other directions

He was destined for Cincinnati, but with the sudden firing of Coach Bob Huggins, five-star center prospect Jason Bennett is no longer considering the Bearcats. Now that Cincinnati has been eliminated from consideration, Bennett, 7-foot-2, 240-pounds, from Arlington Country Day in Jacksonville, Fla., is reevaluating his recruitment.

"Cincinnati is off my list," said Bennett. "I was going to go there, but they fired Coach Huggins. I'm glad it happened now before I signed to play there. Now I am pretty much open."

Bennett named Miami, Wake Forest, Ohio State, Georgia and Clemson as schools that have officially offered scholarships. Clemson, in fact, recently hosted Bennett on an unofficial visit.

"The visit went well," he said. "I really liked the campus and the coaches."

As of now, Bennett does not have any official visits scheduled, but he did list three schools that he is particularly interested in right now.

"I like North Carolina, Kentucky and Connecticut," he said. "North Carolina is recruiting me pretty hard, but I'm not hearing a whole lot from Kentucky and Connecticut."

Earlier in his high school career, Bennett consistently referred to Florida as his leader, but there seems to be little involvement between Bennett and the Gators.

"I was really interested in Florida, but they already have some big guys," he said. "Florida State and Miami also have a bunch of big guys."

Jason Bennett scouting report:

With his defense certainly ahead of his offense, Bennett does run the floor well and is active on the offensive boards. His back to the basket game is still a work in progress. His ability to hold onto rebounds and tough passes is the area of his game that has the biggest room for improvement along with his free throw shooting. His strongest attribute is his shot blocking ability.