McDonald's Nuggets: Extended dead period, Arkansas, more
In this week’s edition of McDonald’s Nuggets, Dan McDonald discusses the impact of the extended dead period and names his Team of the Week and Commits of the Week for the 2021 and 2022 classes.
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FACT OR FICTION: NCAA investigation is costing Kansas recruits
MORE: Five-star Amari Bailey re-commits to UCLA
2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
2022 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
2023 Rankings: Top 30
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QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What does the extended dead period mean?
On Wednesday afternoon, the NCAA announced an extension of the current dead period for Division I schools that will last through the end of May. The dead period started last March when the pandemic took over the country and has been in place since then. So, what does the extended dead period mean for college basketball?
Let’s start with the immediate recruiting impact. The current dead period cut out a whole travel season for college coaches hoping to evaluate prospects all over the country with their travel teams. Instead, they were forced to evaluate prospects via livestreams at events all over the country. In many cases, coaches were never able to see these prospects in person to get an accurate assessment of height or other characteristics that are important in the evaluation process. The dead period getting extended essentially means many schools will be signing a class of prospects they never watched or even met in person.
What that means is many schools are being tighter on offering scholarships to prospects in the 2021 class. The likelihood of a one-time transfer rule going into place, along with the NCAA granting a free year of eligibility for all athletes, means schools are less likely to sign prospects from the high school ranks and more likely to take a transfer this off-season.
At the highest level of the sport, don’t expect to see much change for the rest of this recruiting cycle. With prospects that would typically sign at mid-major or low-major Division I schools, you will likely see more of those prospects either do a post-grad year at a prep school or just go start their college career at a junior college.
That ultimately means the impact of the dead period will bleed into the 2022 class. Aside from the majority of the class having no experience of playing in front of college coaches, they will be competing against a bigger pool of prospects for those scholarships, especially when you factor in that schools can retain their current players for the extra year.
It does appear the NCAA is working toward hopefully ending the dead period at the end of May. What it looks like beyond that is anyone’s guess, but for the sake of the class of 2022 I certainly hope there is some sense of normalcy, with college coaches back in gyms to evaluate.
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TEAM OF THE WEEK: Arkansas
The Razorbacks have quietly been one of the hottest teams in the country in recent weeks and they worked their way into being ranked 24th in this week’s poll. A big win over SEC rival Missouri, followed by a win over Florida, should only help that ranking.
Not only is Arkansas winning lately, the Razorbacks are usually scoring in the 80s and 90s and playing a fun brand of basketball. Eric Musselman’s squad is certainly trending in the right direction as Selection Sunday approaches in a few weeks.
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2021 COMMIT OF THE WEEK: Lynn Greer to Dayton
Coming off the best season in recent memory for the Flyers, Anthony Grant’s staff has put together one of the best recruiting classes in the school’s history. Already with two four-star commitments and two additional quality three-star commitments, Dayton added three-star point guard Lynn Greer earlier this week over offers from several high-major programs. The 6-foot-3 lead guard is a more-than-capable scorer that provides some versatility in the backcourt with his versatility, size and feel.
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2022 COMMIT OF THE WEEK: Amari Bailey to UCLA
For the second time, five-star shooting guard Amari Bailey has committed to play at UCLA. The No. 5 overall prospect is one of the best scorers in the country in the 2022 class, and he has good size and athleticism for the position. He’s also capable of playing some point guard if needed.
Coming off a really strong 2021 class, it would have been hard for Mick Cronin to start off the 2022 class with a bigger splash than keeping Bailey in California. DePaul, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan and many others were also involved with Bailey.