Livingston Starts His Visits This Weekend

Shaun Livingston holds the key to several high major programs recruiting classes. In an intense battle between Arizona, Duke, Illinois and North Carolina, the 6-foot-6, 170 pound point guard will make a decision after visiting each school and contemplating all of his options.

With his visit to Chapel Hill this weekend and three other officials spread out over the next two months, the number one point guard in the country is playing his cards very close to his vest. He said he would take all of his visits before making a decision. For now he is looking for several things on each trip.

“I’m just looking for that gut feeling. I want to interact with the players, coaches and fans. That will have an affect (on my decision). I want to be comfortable with the facilities too,” Livingston said.

Playing time is something that most players look for, whether they admit it or not. For the Peoria, IL native he wants to earn every minute he gets.

“I want to be able to be in a situation where I can play a nice amount of minutes. Hopefully they need me in the game a lot. Not starting wouldn’t bother me but getting able to prove that I need to be out there is something that I want to do.”

He gave RivalsHoops his opinion on the four schools that he will visit. The dates in parenthesis indicate his visit date.

On UNC (this coming weekend): “They have a nice tradition, good facilities and Coach Williams is a great coach. He gets the best out of his players. What you see is what you get with him. I’m pretty cool with some of their players too.”

On Duke (Sept. 19th): “I love Coach K, he’s a great coach. He gets the best out of his players too. Players mature there and it’s a system that allows guards to thrive and plays around their strengths. So that’s an attraction.”

On Arizona (Oct. 17th): “I love the way their guards play. I like their style of play in the conference they are in. Their guards extend on to the NBA and excel. Mike Bibby, Jason Terry, Richard Jefferon and Gilbert Arenas. So that is an attraction.”

On Illinois (Oct. 25th): “I have two friends that play there in Brian Randle and Richard McBride. I’m pretty cool with them. Plus I know the assistant Wayne McClain, he’s from my hometown Peoria. I’ve been watching them since I was a little kid.”

As the NBA gets younger and younger, it becomes the nature of the beast to discuss the possibilities of making the jump to the big leagues straight out of high school with the nation’s top prep players. Livingston is currently ranked third overall on the Rivals150 list.

“I’m a college type of player right now. My physical presence isn’t where it needs to be. I need to get stronger,” Livingston explained. “I want to play a season (at college) out and then if the NBA is an option, I’ll look into it. But for now, I just want to play my senior year. Right now, I’m a college player.”

Stay tuned to RivalsHoops as we update his recruitment in the coming weeks.