Cassidy: The teams to beat for top uncommitted prospects
With the July live period in the books and fall official visits starting to fill up the calendar, commitment season is approaching quickly for the class of 2024. With that in mind, Rivals national analyst Rob Cassidy uses his weekly column to take a look at which school is the team to beat as we speed into the home stretch of five high-profile recruitments.
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Team to beat: Indiana
McNeeley’s recruitment has felt like a Texas vs. Indiana battle for some time, but the Hoosiers are starting to seem like the steady force in what has been a volatile process at times. Texas felt like the early favorite before the dismissal of former head coach Chris Beard, who had forged a strong relationship with the five-star forward. The period of uncertainty in Austin allowed Mike Woodson and his staff to seize the lead in the race to land McNeeley.
So while new UT head coach Rodney Terry has helped the Longhorns claw back into the thick of things, the fact that McNeeley is planning a second official visit to Bloomington in early September suggests the stalwart Hoosiers may be out in front as summer gives way to fall. McNeeley has set no timetable for an announcement, but, at least for the time being, he feels like IU’s to lose.
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Team to beat: UConn
Nowell’s recruitment is near its conclusion, as the four-star point guard will announce his commitment on July 23. A handful of different programs have looked like legitimate options for the Philly-based guard over the last six months, as both Tennessee and Georgia Tech have made pushes at different times this spring.
It’s UConn, however, that feels like the leader as we speed toward decision day. Things aren’t particularly likely to change between now and Sunday, but stranger things have happened in recruiting. Still, Dan Hurley and his staff should be optimistic to say the least.
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Team to beat: Georgia
This isn’t to say Newell will definitely land in Athens for college, but it’s no secret that, as things stand, the five-star forward and his family feel most comfortable with the Georgia staff, a group that has poured an enormous amount of resources into his recruitment.
Assistant coach Eric Pastrana’s first stop during the July period was to see Newell, who plays for independent grassroots powerhouse 1Family, and the fact that Pastrana was the first coach to offer Newell years back is well documented.
Indiana feels like less of a threat than it once was, but Alabama, Gonzaga and Texas are in the mix to get Newell on campus for visits this fall. It will be up to them to find a way to quickly topple front-running UGA, which has a long head start when it comes to forming a bond with the five-star and his family.
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Teams to beat: Duke or possibly Kansas
Michigan and Auburn are technically finalists to land Bidunga, but, truth be told, he isn’t going to land in the Big Ten or SEC unless both Durham and Lawrence are wiped off the map by an extraterrestrial laser of some sort. Duke received the final visit and is widely thought to be the favorite to land the five-star center, but Kansas should not be ruled out and is starting to feel like a legitimate threat to swipe Bidunga’s pledge at the last moment.
Duke should be viewed as the front-runner, but I’m not quite as ready to call this a done deal as others seem to be at this point. The allure of Bill Self and adidas’ connection to Bidunga’s 3SSB grassroots squad is too strong to be cast aside entirely.