Florida Man: A warning shot from Michigan; FutureCast for Kentucky
Each week, Rivals national basketball analyst and very own Florida Man, Rob Cassidy, takes readers around the hoops recruiting world, touching on news, notes and developments that relate to prospects from coast to coast.
This week, he takes a look at what could be a warning shot from Michigan, makes a FutureCast for Kentucky and explores the language surrounding a reaching coaching move.
FUTURECAST OF THE WEEK: Hunter Sallis to Kentucky
I know it’s a bit early to be making this pick, seeing as Hunter Sallis is officially still considering 12 schools. Nevertheless, my confidence that he’ll land in Kentucky increases by the day.
North Carolina seems to be the only real threat, save for an unlikely late push by one of the schools Sallis visited pre-COVID (Iowa State, Kansas and Creighton). But, at this juncture, it would take a lot to pry the five-star guard away from John Calipari. Sallis has no timetable for a commitment and seems unlikely to sign during the upcoming early period, but that, like most things in recruiting, could change in a hurry.
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COMMITMENT OF THE WEEK: Caleb Houstan to Michigan
A flurry of Halloween-week commitments makes determining which was most important a bit of a task. Kentucky landing five-star Daimion Collins is certainly a contender, but we’ll touch on that later. Instead, I’ll make the case for five-star Caleb Houstan to Michigan.
One of my long-standing theories about high-level prospects is that if all things are equal -- which they rarely are -- NBA-level recruits prefer coaches that have been where they’re trying to go. Of course coaches like Mike Krzyzewski, John Calipari and Roy Williams are going to beat out former NBA players with regularity. Things there aren’t equal -- not by a long shot. Those three guys have proven track records of sliding their players to the league by the bushel. They are the exception. They aren’t the rule.
Anyway, back to Houstan and his choice of Juwan Howard’s Michigan program. The Wolverines had a pedestrian 19-12 (10-10) record a year ago but still boast the No. 1 recruiting class in the country. There’s enthusiasm here, and if Howard manages to contend for a Big Ten title in the next two seasons, it’s going to compound in a hurry. When you combine an NBA past, a large budget and any semblance of high-level success, you become nearly impossible to beat on the trail, and Howard and company may well be headed in that direction.
Houstan’s commitment is obviously massive for the immediate future of the program, sure, but it also may well be a warning shot of things to come. We’ll see. Stars certainly seem to be aligning in Ann Arbor.
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MISCONCEPTION OF THE WEEK: Jai Lucas' new role
Kentucky assistant Jai Lucas’ quick promotion from recruiting coordinator to on-court assistant is being painted as a move to bolster recruiting. And while it’s certainly true that recruiting had something to do with it, painting the situation with such a broad brush seems a bit unfair to Lucas.
Let’s not forget that Lucas spent seven seasons on staff at Texas, four of which as an on-court assistant, before leaving Austin for Lexington this summer. Is he an elite recruiter? Yes, but It’s not as though there’s not a coaching pedigree here. That makes some of the language being used to describe his quick move from support staff to on-floor assistant sort of dismissive and, to be honest, coded.
Pigeonholing Lucas as “a recruiter” is presumptuous at best. There’s a coaching pedigree at work here that shouldn’t be glossed over because he helped a blueblood program land a five-star.
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PODCAST OF THE WEEK: Florida Man and Friends
Ready for some shameless cross-promotion? Good. It’s happening either way. The powers that be at Rivals have given me a podcast, the first episode of which can be found here. This week features Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber. New episiodes will release weekly until I say something stupid enough to cause my bosses to take the show away like a parent with a child that is misusing a bb-gun.
Anyway, the podcast will likely be in your wheelhouse if you’re reading this column, so please go subscribe. I’ll have a new guest from the world of basketball (and probably beyond) each week.
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PARTING THOUGHT: Keep an eye on Jayden Lemond
One of the youngest players in the 2022 class, 6-foot-4 guard Jayden Lemond, has started to pick up steam on the recruiting front late in the cycle. He holds a handful of offers, and a number of other high-major schools kicking the tires on the situation.
Lemond is said to be mulling a reclassification into 2023. And while nothing on that front has been decided, it’s certainly a situation to monitor. A member of the PSA Cardinals grassroots organization, Lemond is high on Connecticut, Auburn and others but could see a number of other schools jump in the offer boat should a reclassification come to fruition.