This Thursday brought a mail call along with it, as Rivals national analyst Rob Cassidy turned to the web in order to solicit and answer wide-ranging questions related to college basketball recruiting and the sport as a whole.
Below, Cassidy dives into queries about UConn’s search for a lead guard, the state of Indiana recruiting, the effect the transfer portal is having on high school prospects and more.
MORE CASSIDY: Five programs that have elevated their recruiting profiles
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2026 Rankings: Rivals150
Transfer Portal: Full coverage | Player ranking | Transfer tracker | Player search
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The 2024 cycle obviously didn’t end the way Indiana fans wanted, but I know a lot of programs that would take the “embarrassing” haul Mike Woodson managed to collect this offseason. That said, the answer to your question depends almost entirely on how this season shakes out.
Losing five-star commit Liam McNeeley to UConn late in the cycle last year was a direct result of the hit Mike Woodson’s public perception and job security took by his limp to the finish last year. It was also a microcosm of the biggest issue that faces Indiana recruiting today. In talking to prospects, it’s clear they are impressed by Woodson’s NBA pedigree and ability to put players in the draft. They also seem to enjoy being around him.
The catch these days is his short leash at IU. Everyone that has paid even a shred of attention to Indiana basketball knows how hot Woodson’s seat will become if he manages to miss the NCAA tournament for a second consecutive year.
Conversely, Woodson starts to look pretty good if this season goes as planned and the Hoosiers qualify for the NCAA tournament for the third time in four seasons, a feat the program has accomplished just once since 2008.
I truly believe Indiana has a legitimate shot to land Braylon Mullins, Jalen Haralson and Bryson Tiller if the ship appears to be righting itself this season. If not, the conversation about what’s next will become difficult to say the least. It certainly feels like the next year of Indiana recruiting is all about the program staying out of its own way. Nobody is expecting a national title in 2025. Instead, simple marked improvement could yield major spoils on the trail.
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First of all, Providence will need to get Jalen Reece back on campus if it hopes to land his pledge. The good news is that I was recently told by somebody that would know that Providence, Cincinnati and Ohio State were the three most likely landing spots for the four-star guard, with LSU running in a close fourth.
With that in mind, I think Jake West would be a remarkable backup option should the Friars exit the Reece sweepstakes. The three-star point guard is perhaps a bit undervalued because of his size, but his summer spoke for itself.
Will West have an NBA career? Of course not, but his skill set and consistency are extremely translatable to the college game. A world exists where West outperforms a number of prospects ranked in front of him at the college level. I don’t see the Friars having to go much further down their list of point guard options, as they seem like a nice fit for West if they decide to push for his commitment. An early August unofficial visit has positioned Kim English and company well should they begin to feel Reece slipping away for good.
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Judging by everything I’ve heard of late, I’d be shocked if UConn didn’t finish the cycle with either Meleek Thomas or Acaden Lewis in the fold. Which prospect they are pursuing hardest at the time being depends on who you ask, but the tea leaves suggest the defending champs walk away with one of the two hyper-talented guards when all is said and done.
Should UConn land Lewis instead of Thomas, it would mean good news for Arkansas, which is trying to kick down the door to Thomas’ top group, among others. If it’s Thomas that lands in Storrs, programs such as Syracuse, Duke or Auburn stand to see a confidence boost when it comes to Lewis. Either way, It’s exceedingly difficult for me to imagine Dan Hurley coming up empty when it comes to his pursuit of a top-flight point guard.
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Syracuse and UConn are two programs I’ve heard linked most closely to Lewis through the rumor mill recently. Of course the fact that he took an unofficial visit to Duke, and there’s no telling where things may go from there. Should Duke bring Lewis back in for an official and really begin to push, all bets are off. That said, most of the buzz around Lewis at the recent Under Armour Elite 24 Event, a setting in which he shined, concerned the Huskies and Orange.
As noted above, how UConn figures into this situation may depend largely on how things shake out with Meleek Thomas. Thomas landing in Storrs would certainly help Syracuse (and others) in the Lewis sweepstakes, as the Huskies are unlikely to land two lead guards of that stature this cycle.
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I don’t think “slipping through the cracks” is the exact phrase I’d use, but it’s clear that the portal is already impacting high school prospects in a major way. There are players that would have been no-doubt high-major prospects slipping to mid-major programs in recent classes, as players at the bottom of the high-major heap are now essentially being forced to play a “prove-it season” at the mid-major level before being “called up.”
Is it fair or ideal? Probably not, but the game is the game. In last year’s class alone, I’m quite confident that players such as Luke Bamgboye (VCU), Makhan Diouf (Fresno State) and Tyrone Riley (San Francisco) would have landed at high-major programs if the old transfer rules were still in place. Whether the shift has been a net positive or net negative for college hoops depends on your perspective, but it’s been unequivocally bad for high school prospects. That much is not debatable.
