Las Vegas Wednesday: Top 35 Cassius Stanley plans to commit in fall
LAS VEGAS – The spotlight has never bothered Cassius Stanley and now entering his final week of travel basketball play, the top-35 guard is about ready to take a deeper dive into his recruitment.
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Following a dominant showing Wednesday, Stanley discussed his intentions of his last go around on the travel circuit.
“All of the hard work that I have put in, I just want to play hard and put it all together,” he said. “This is the last time that I will be playing AAU and playing in Las Vegas for AAU so I just wanted to have fun with it.”
Following his team's win, Stanley said USC, UCLA, Kansas, Oregon, Texas and a newcomer into his recruitment, South Carolina, are the six that have stood out.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
USC: “Close to home and I am very familiar with their coaching staff, and vice versa as they are very familiar with me and my family. They have a great up-and-coming team and I think that they have the best recruiting class right now, so that is pretty enticing.”
UCLA: “Big basketball tradition there and I go up there and play pick-up with them whenever I can. It is just great with its basketball; great tradition.”
Oregon: “They really like my game. They are very interested and they really like the way that I play. Their up-and-down nature is something that would really fit me.”
Texas: “They are preaching up-and-down system and Coach (Shaka) Smart, he is just a great guy. I just like the way that he coaches.”
Kansas: “Blue blood; the tradition there is big and pretty much if you listen to what Coach (Bill) Self has to say, he will get you to the NBA.”
South Carolina: “They actually just started recruiting me and calling me a couple of days ago. Coach (Frank) Martin, he is a great guy and he is just getting to know me and I am just starting to get to know the little things about them.”
WHAT'S NEXT?
Stanley is hoping to finish his travel ball career on a high note before taking a deeper dive into his recruitment.
“After this week, I am going to begin to schedule my visits,” he said. “Nothing is set right now but I want to commit before December.”
Stanley is looking at several factors as he wades through his choices.
“How the coaches have done before with previous guards and how they have helped get them to the NBA, coaching style and personality, though I do think that I can get acclimated with all coaches and how many people are there at a certain position,” he said. “But the visits will be really big for me.”
RIVALS' REACTION
Stanley is a super-talented guard with tremendous abilities around the basket thanks to his athleticism. He can play practically all three positions on the perimeter, defend in a similar manner and is one of the best backcourt shot-blockers in high school basketball.
USC has been thought to be the leader for Stanley for the past few months, but there seems to be no rush to make a decision. A signing in the early period is more than likely, though, the Trojans will have to fend off UCLA, Oregon, Texas, Kansas, and South Carolina for his eventual commitment.