Georgia, Temple, Memphis Eye Verdejo

One of the elite shooting guards still on the board this spring, 6-5 Jesus Verdejo of Miami Christian School in Miami, Fla., is in the process of taking a string of official visits.

In fact, RivalsHoops.com caught up with MCS Head Coach Ed Auricchio on Wednesday night, and he informed us that Verdejo is currently on the campus of Temple University taking an official visit. That visit began on Apr. 30 and ends later today.

Following his trip to the city of Brotherly Love, Verdejo has planned trips to Northeastern (May 9-11) and Memphis (May 16-18). Kentucky, which had come in late on Verdejo, backed out after using its final scholarship on New York City big man Shaghari Alleyne.

Marquette and Illinois also made late pitches for Verdejo, according to Auricchio, but both programs appear to be out of the mix with Jesus at this stage. Marquette signed Carlton Christian recently to fill its last slot, while the coaching change at Illinois appears to have thrown its pursuit of Verdejo into question.

One program making a strong late pitch for Verdejo is Georgia, which recently hired Dennis Felton to take over the reins of its program. Auricchio said that the Bulldog staff is angling to get an official visit out of Verdejo some time during the month of May.

Auricchio expects Verdejo, who recently achieved a qualifying test score, to make a decision by the end of the month. At the end of May, Verdejo will begin preparing for the World Games, where he will compete for the Puerto Rican squad at a number of events this summer.