McDonald's Nuggets: Lack of July recruiting periods, Walker Kessler
Dan McDonald is back with his weekend primer, McDonald's Nuggets. This week’s edition includes more thoughts (and criticism) of the new NCAA recruiting calendar, breaking news on Walker Kessler’s recruitment, and more.
THREE-POINT PLAY: Bronny James, Emoni Bates, Matt Cross, Kerwin Walton
2020 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
2021 Rankings: Rivals150
WHAT’S ON MY MIND: Lack of July recruiting periods is a problem
This new recruiting calendar put in place by the NCAA isn’t going to work. Anybody with even limited knowledge of how the recruiting process works knew this when the new recruiting calendar was announced, but it’s even more painfully obvious today.
Here we are on July 19 and college coaches basically need to know exactly which prospects to lock in on today because, aside from individual camps (a terrible place to evaluate, in my opinion), July recruiting is over. College coaches had four days in July to evaluate players with their travel teams, two weekends in June with their high school team or in an individual camp (did I mention these are bad settings to evaluate players?), and one in April to evaluate players this off-season. For top programs, there were also a few days for them to get out to USA Basketball and the NBA Top 100 camp, but if we’re being honest, those aren’t the players who need more exposure to coaches. If you add in that a lot of schools were hosting official visitors during the April weekend and maybe the June weekends as well because of the number transfers in the infamous transfer portal, this year’s calendar is a major problem.
This isn’t a tough deal to fix. The old calendar wasn’t perfect, but it also had nothing to do with the FBI getting involved in the sport, which is why we are in this mess to begin with. The NCAA should go back to two weekends in April (this year was tough because of the later Final Four and later Easter), keep the two weekends in June, and give the coaches back one weekend in July. This gives coaches plenty of chances to evaluate prospects with both their high school team and travel teams.
RECRUITING NOTE: Walker Kessler announces final six
Five-star center Walker Kessler has been one of the most highly recruited prospects in the 2020 class with schools all over the country fighting for his signature in November. Today, he’s announced a final list of six schools and discussed it exclusively with Rivals.com.
Auburn: “It’s very close to close, great coaching staff, great facilities and obviously a very well-coached basketball team after seeing what happened this year going to the Final Four.”
California: “Coach [Mark] Fox coached my brother, so obviously I know him really well. He’s a great coach and I am really interested in seeing what he has there. I believe in him and what he’s going to do with that program. It’s the top public school in the country too.”
Duke: “Duke has, out of the bluebloods, recruited me the hardest and Coach K has said he really believes in me. Coming from one of the top college basketball coaches, that means a lot. And with Duke, they always change their style of play depending on the players they have. I trust that they would find a way to make it work.”
Gonzaga: “Coach [Mark] Few and the whole coaching there are great. I developed a really good relationship with coach [Roger] Powell when he was recruiting me as an assistant at Vanderbilt. With their bigs, they have had a lot of guys like me that can shoot and dribble.”
Michigan: “Coach [Juwan] Howard obviously has the most experience of anybody on any of the coaching staffs at the professional level. He played 15 years or so in the NBA at my positions. He’s told me he wants to build it up big there and I can be the start of it. When I found out coach (John) Beilein was leaving, I thought I was done with Michigan. When Coach Howard got the job, I thought it was good for him but I wasn’t sure it would be for me. I started talking to him and I really liked what he was saying and how he was straightforward and honest about everything. I really like him.”
North Carolina: “It’s a little like Gonzaga where it’s a big man’s school. If you look at Luke Maye, he was undersized for the position but he still won ACC Player of the Year. He was just a great big and fun to watch. I like how they use their bigs in transition and run the floor and that’s what I do well, so I think I could fit into their system. They dropped off for a little bit because they said they were finishing their 2019 class, but they are back on me hard.”
The only visit that is set in stone right now is an official visit to Gonzaga on Oct. 5. He plans to take an unofficial visit to Auburn and official visits to California, Duke, Michigan and North Carolina.
PREDICTION: So where will Kessler end up?
I’m going to put this one as really, really tight between Auburn and Duke as we move into his last set of visits to the schools. The idea of getting Auburn over the hump of winning a national championship, potentially joining a top recruiting class, and staying about an hour from home has the Tigers right at the top. The history of Duke’s program, Coach K’s persistence in recruiting him, and the recent number of NBA players to come out of Duke will be tough for Auburn or any other school to overcome.
Coaching changes at Michigan and Vanderbilt shook up his recruitment over the past few months, but Howard’s hire at Michigan has kept the Wolverines firmly in the mix and former Vanderbilt assistant Powell joining Gonzaga’s staff has given the Bulldogs a real chance. Mark Fox’s connection to his family from coaching his brother Houston at Georgia is a big part of the reason for California joining the list, but don’t discount the academics in Berkeley either. The distance is the biggest battle for the Bears as it will be for Gonzaga.
North Carolina should be taken seriously as well because of Roy Williams and his history with post players, but I think the Tar Heels are fighting an uphill battle given that they haven’t been as committed to his recruitment as the other schools.
COMMITMENT(S) OF THE WEEK: Tyree Appleby to Florida
Mike White has been really hot on the recruiting trail the last couple years. The lone downside to recruiting at that level is the potential for early defections to the NBA Draft, which the Gators could have after this season whether it is Andrew Nembhard, Tre Mann or Scottie Lewis. That’s exactly why the addition of Tyree Appleby as a transfer from Cleveland State is so important. He’ll sit out this year and he’ll be ready to step in for Florida should any or all of those players leave after this season. Appleby averaged 17.2 points and 5.6 assists per game this year as a sophomore and will have two years of eligibility remaining starting in the 2020-21 season.