Five remain for four-star Texan

The degree and depth to which a player and his family investigate the programs recruiting them often varies. When it comes to Jordan Mickey and his family, there is no question that they've looked at just about everything that they possibly can when it comes to making a college choice.

The 6-foot-8 forward at Dallas (Texas) Prime Prep and his family haven't just looked at his options, they've also completed a round of unofficial visits during the spring and summer and the four-star prospect has now cut things down to a final five of Arkansas, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and SMU.

Now, with in-home visits beginning next Sunday, Mickey and his family want to host his final five and give them an opportunity to make a final pitch.

"We want to give these schools and opportunity to come to Dallas," Mickey's father James Wright told Rivals.com. "Give them a chance to express their case and why they like Jordan for their school and also so they can talk to my wife.

"We are trying to be as fair as possible to all of these schools."

An athletic forward who has long been known for his shot blocking and rebounding, Mickey has shown tremendous growth on the offensive end of the floor. He can take bigger players off the dribble with quick, decisive drives and he's become pretty adept at knocking home 12 to 15 foot jumpers in pick and pop situations.

The chance to keep expanding the game of the No. 38 player in the Rivals150 will definitely be important in making a decision.

"Ideally we would love for him to be primarily a three slash four," said Mickey's father. " Realistically being that he didn't get a lot of opportunity to play the three in high school we're looking at him when he gets to the collegiate level to develop into a three. So realistically he's going to be a four slash three to start off with."

The remaining schools present an interesting mix and have their own qualities in the eyes of Mickey and his family. With Arkansas, Mickey is attracted to being part of rebuilding a program. At LSU, Mickey's step-brother -- with whom he has a close relationship with -- is a wide receiver for the football team and there is a high level of familiarity with the school and coaches. Ohio State and Oklahoma State offer nice campus environments, great facilities and situations that would be easy to plug Mickey into. Finally, SMU is close to home, has a legendary coach in Larry Brown and an energetic young staff.

When it comes to official visits, not everybody is going to get one and there may only be two.

"We're not going to visit everybody because we've pretty much have made all of rounds," said Wright. "We will probably visit LSU next weekend because it fits into our plans and we might do an official to SMU."

According to Wright, he and the family have been "brutally honest" with each program during the recruiting process and now it's pretty much about making a decision. Campus life, academic support, depth charts and facilities will all factor into the decision process. At the end of the day, though, it's going to be about showing Mickey and his family that there is also a plan in place to help him grow individually as a player within the framework of a team.

"The most important thing for us right now is individual growth," said Wright. "Right now we are going through a process of making him stronger and increasing his skills so that when he gets to the collegiate level he's ready.

"When it comes to the collegiate level, something we've really emphasized to all five schools is what type of system do you have in place to make him get better?"

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