McDonald's Nuggets: Breaking down commits of the past week
In this week’s edition of McDonald’s Nuggets, Dan McDonald recaps likely the strongest week of commitments in the 2022 class to date, plus a significant commitment in the junior college ranks and the 2023 class.
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2022 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
2023 Rankings: Rivals150
2024 Rankings: Top 40
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STARTING FIVE: Top commitments of the week
It’s not often that five prospects inside the top 50 in one class announce commitments within a week, but that’s exactly what happened this week. Two of those five commitments went in favor of Alabama, Brandon Miller (1) and Noah Clowney (5), giving the Crimson Tide the No. 8 overall class in the 2022 team rankings. Miller turned down opportunities to play professionally along with scholarship offers to all the top schools to choose Alabama. Clowney gave Nate Oats and his staff the good news after also considering Indiana and Virginia Tech. Miller gives the Crimson Tide a versatile 6-foot-8 forward that could be one of the top players in the SEC next year, while Clowney has the type of skill, athleticism and upside to develop into one of the top post players in the league before long.
Kelvin Sampson and his staff have capitalized on last year’s Final Four run and recent news of Houston moving to the Big 12 to lock up one of the top classes in the country. Five-star forward Jarace Walker (2) committed to the Cougars on Thursday night after also considering Alabama and Auburn. He joins a pair of four-star prospects in Terrance Arceneaux and Emanuel Sharp in Houston’s class.
Auburn may have missed out on Walker, but Bruce Pearl’s staff locked up one of the top guards in the class this week with Chance Westry (3) choosing the Tigers. The 6-foot-6 point guard out of Hillcrest Prep in Arizona is currently the No. 26 overall prospect in the 2022 Rivals150. His size and versatility in the backcourt should make him one of the next in a long line of highly productive guards to play for Pearl on The Plains.
UCLA is another program capitalizing on its Final Four run last season with a terrific 2022 class. After already securing commitments from five-star guard Amari Bailey and four-star guard Dylan Andrews, Mick Cronin and his staff went head-to-head with Kentucky and won out to earn a commitment from Adem Bona (4) this week. The four-star center from Prolific Prep in California brings elite traits with him. He’s 6-foot-10 with elite athleticism, strong hands, a great motor and a college-ready body. He’ll fit in perfectly with the blue-collar approach Cronin loves in his players.
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JUCO COMMIT OF THE WEEK: Nick Pringle to Alabama
It wasn’t just Brandon Miller and Noah Clowney keeping the momentum rolling for the Crimson Tide. Alabama was also able to lock up a commitment from Nick Pringle, a 6-foot-10 center who many consider the top junior college prospect in the country. Pringle came up through the high school ranks as a guard until a late growth spurt pushed him into the frontcourt, where he still maintains those perimeter skills. Nate Oats and his staff beat out Georgia, Ole Miss, West Virginia and Wichita State to secure his services next season.
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2023 COMMIT OF THE WEEK: George Washington III to Ohio State
One of the luxuries of finishing up a recruiting class early is it gives a program the opportunity to start working toward the next class before its peers get around to it. With the No. 6 recruiting class locked up in the 2022 class that features four, four-star prospects, Ohio State now has its first commitment in the 2023 class with George Washington III choosing the Buckeyes this week. The four-star shooting guard out of Kentucky will be able to play both spots in the backcourt at the next level, and he’s a very reliable shooter from three-point range who can also create for his teammates.