EYBL season brings offers for R150 forward
Virginia Beach Cape Henry small forward Chris Clarke isn't a household name nationally in basketball recruiting circles, but he's slowly beginning to see his recruitment take off. Through eight games in the Nike EYBL, Clarke is averaging 10.1 points and 6.2 rebounds on a 6-2 Boo Williams team.
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"I've had more schools showing interest since the open weekend in April," Clarke said. "I picked up offers from Minnesota and George Washington. North Carolina, Syracuse, Michigan and Indiana are recruiting me now too. Before all that, I had offers from Creighton, Iowa State, East Carolina, Virginia Tech, Maryland and Old Dominion. I probably talk Indiana, Creighton, ECU, Old Dominion, Maryland and Virginia Tech the most."
Just days after leaving Marquette to take the Virginia Tech head coaching job, Buzz Williams made his way to Clarke's house for an in-home visit.
"Coach Buzz came to my house the first day of the open recruiting period last month. He's a great guy. I've seen him coach at Marquette and they were always good, so I know he'll do great things at Virginia Tech, too."
Creighton's been in the mix for Clarke as long as any school. Having the national player of the year in college basketball certainly caught Clarke's attention.
"I loved watching Doug McDermott play. I love their playing style. All around they look like a team that is unselfish and just wants to win. I like that about them."
Maryland offered Clarke late in his junior season. The Terps hosted the three-star small forward for an unofficial visit not long after extending the scholarship offer.
"I like Maryland. I went on an unofficial for a game a couple months ago. It was a great game. I feel like they are up and coming. Coach [Mark] Turgeon is a great guy."
Clarke's recruitment is just now starting to take off, so he's in no rush to make any cuts or a verbal commitment. Once he's done with travel season, he'll evaluate his options and go from there.
"I'm going to start trimming down my list after the EYBL season is over. I'm going to try to commit before the high school season starts if I can."
Dan McDonald is a contributing national basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. You can click here to follow him on Twitter.
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