Laurie Schedules Visits
Spencer Laurie, a sharp-shooting 6-1, 160 pound point/combo guard from Kickapoo H.S. in Springfield, Mo., has a pair of official visits planned this fall.
Laurie told Rivalshoops.com that he will visit Minnesota from Sept. 13-15, and then trip to Missouri from Oct. 3-5. He is also hoping to visit N.C. State this fall, although no date has been scheduled for that trip.
Advertisement
"Right now, I like Missouri, Minnesota and N.C. State," Laurie admitted. "I also like SMS [Southwest Missouri State] a lot, too."
Of course, SMS is located in his hometown of Springfield. Throw in the fact that the Bears are in the hunt for several of Laurie's high school and traveling squad teammates, and he has some compelling reasons to consider a Missouri Valley Conference program among the major powers.
Three other schools are also showing interest -- DePaul, Oklahoma and Arizona. Oklahoma is planning to visit Springfield later this month to evaluate Laurie, while Arizona has explained to Spencer that he is a secondary target in case they should strike out on top PG target Mustafa Shakur.
"I'd be interested in what Oklahoma and Arizona have to say," Laurie said. "They haven't see me play much before, so I think that they want to get a closer look at me."
In addition to the campus trips, Laurie will be utilizing the in-home visit process to help him differentiate between the schools. With that in mind, he's scheduled five in-homes.
Missouri is the first one in on Sept. 9. Minnesota comes the next night on the 10th. DePaul is slated for the 13th, SMS the 16th and N.C. State the 19th.
Depending on how the process unfolds, both Arizona and Oklahoma may also be making in-home presentations at some point. Right now, those schools' involvement is more preliminary than serious, but that could change over time.
Laurie impressed Rivalshoops.com this past summer with his shooting stroke and leadership skills while playing for the Springfield Heat traveling team. The team features several of his Kickapoo high school teammates as well as other top players from the Show Me State.
Last season at Kickapoo, Laurie averaged 20 points, three rebounds, seven assists and five steals per game. He said he has a 3.0 GPA, but fell just short of a qualifying ACT score on his first attempt. He's signed up for the test again in October.
Kickapoo will tackle a taxing schedule this winter, including appearances at the KMOX Shootout in St. Louis and the Bass Pro Shop Tournament in Springfield.