Small forward Kimani Lawrence (New Hampton, NH/New Hampton Prep) had a great travel season with Expressions Elite and now finds himself ranked as the 48th-best prospect in the 2017 Rivals150. The four-star prospect had scholarship offers from programs all over the country, but his list currently only includes four schools with Arizona State, Florida, Pittsburgh and USC remaining.
Lawrence already took his official visits to Arizona State, Pittsburgh and USC, and will take his final visit to Florida this weekend.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
Lawrence recapped what stands out about each of the visits he’s taken so far and what he likes about Florida going into his visit with the Gators.
Arizona State: “That visit went really well. They were just telling me how they are in the rebuilding stage of trying to turn the program around. They are trying to bring in some good players and they said I’d be one of the key pieces to their program.”
Florida: “I like how they are a young staff and Coach [Mike] White has been doing most of the recruiting. He came up to see me and we had a good talk. They got some good players coming in that are already committed in my class.”
Pittsburgh: “They just showed me how I would fit into their program and how important the 2017 class is for the program. I mostly talk to Coach [Jeremy] Ballard, but I talk to Coach [Kevin] Stallings a good bit too.”
USC: “It went pretty well. I went during the week, so I didn’t get a chance to spend a lot of time with the players, but I did spend a lot of time with the coaches. I think they are a really good group of guys. They got something special going at USC.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Lawrence said he doesn’t expect to drag out the recruiting process once he returns from Gainesville this weekend. Look for him to make a commitment to a school relatively quickly after the weekend as he said it shouldn’t be more than two weeks from the time he returns from Florida.
RIVALS’ REACTION
Lawrence made it clear he’s going into his visit this weekend with an open mind and with all the schools still jockeying for position with him. From talking to him, he does appear to be up in the air on which way he’s leaning. Arizona State, Pittsburgh and USC all gave him a lot to think about during his visit, and he seems to have a strong bond with Mike White at Florida.
