Cassidy's Takeaways: Day 1 from the Wootten Top 150 Camp
MANSFIELD, Texas – The annual Wootten Top 150 Camp got underway in the Dallas suburbs on Saturday morning and, as always, the event attracted marquee prospects from across the country. Rivals’ Rob Cassidy is on hand at the event, and provides some news and notes from the camp below.
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DENNIS PARKER’S FOCUS HAS NARROWED
Officially, Dennis Parker has narrowed his focus to include Missouri, NC State, Georgetown, Oklahoma State and USC. Of the five, however, the four-star wing has only visited the Wolfpack, Hoyas and Cowboys. So, on Friday, when Parker said he was likely finished taking visits, it made reading between the lines simple.
It stands to reason that Parker’s recruitment is actually a three-program race, as Georgetown, NC State and Oklahoma State now feel like the only serious options to land the Virginia-based star’s pledge.
Parker’s final visit was to NC State on Sept. 10, and Parker said he came away from that trip feeling comfortable. And while he’s not rushing into a decision and says he may wait until late November or even December to announce his choice, the Wolfpack should like where they stand for the time being.
“It’s a great school overall,” Parker said of NC State. “I have people I know that used to go there and people there now that I’m really familiar with. Coach Keatts has been big on me since my freshman year, so respect to them.”
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RON HOLLAND WRAPPING UP VISITS
All that stands between five-star wing Ron Holland and a commitment are an Oct. 10 official visit to UCLA and an Oct. 29 an unofficial visit to Texas for the Longhorns’ charity exhibition basketball game against Arkansas. Once Holland checks those two things off his to-do list, he intends to move quickly toward a decision.
“I don’t have a decision day yet, but I think I’ll have a good idea of where I'm going by the end of October and I’ll be ready to announce,” Holland said on Saturday.
Texas, Arkansas, UCLA, Kentucky and the NBA G League are thought to be the serious players in the battle for Holland’s letter of intent. And while the Longhorns and Razorbacks seem to hold an edge for now, UCLA and Kentucky both are taking the month of October to make late pushes.
“I’m excited to get back out to UCLA,” Holland said. “I liked the first visit a lot. This time, I’m going to get to watch practice and see what they’re really about. I need to see that so if I pick UCLA, I know i” in a good spot.
“I’m talking to Kentucky a lot lately. I’m not going to be able to make it to Big Blue Madness, so I probably won’t get to visit again before I decide.”
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KADEN COOPER NEARING DECISION
While he’s yet to set a specific announcement date, four-star wing Kaden Cooper said he plans to announce his decision “sometime in October.” Asked which schools he feels are in the thick of the hunt, Cooper rattled off a short list that will surprise nobody that has followed his recruitment, but will serve as a de facto list of finalists nevertheless.
“I’d say it’s Alabama, Gonzaga, Oklahoma and Kansas,” Cooper said on Saturday.
The No. 34 prospect 2023 Rivals150, Cooper has already visited each of the four schools still in the running. He toured Oklahoma and Gonzaga early in the summer and visited Alabama and Kansas in the past month. Cooper plans to take no additional visits and will simply reflect on his options before choosing a school later this month. Cooper's final official visit was to Tuscaloosa, which seems to have left an impression, as the Tide are now viewed as one of the heavy front-runners to land the Oklahoma-based standout’s pledge.
“I loved what I saw there at ‘Bama,” Cooper said, “They really have a lot of size and they play fast for their size. I like their development program and I like Coach [Nate] Oats’ play style. He plays really fast and runs a lot of pro action.”