Meyers Mailbag: Big finish for Kansas
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Is Kansas on the verge of landing a pair of five-star prospects?
Where will recent UNLV commitment Nigel Williams-Goss likely land in the Rivals150 for the class of 2013?
And when will the Rivals150 for the class of 2011 be updated?
National Recruiting Analyst Jerry Meyer addresses these questions and more in this week's mailbag.
Waiting it out
Any word on which direction late signees Ben McLemore and DeAndre Daniels are leaning, and a timetable for their decisions?
- Tim from Topeka
Daniels and McLemore are presently the two major recruiting newsmakers as the highest ranked unsigned prospects in the 2011 class. Daniels is scheduled to visit Texas December 19 for his fourth official visit. My gut feeling is that will be his last visit. He has already visited Kansas, Kentucky and Oregon.
At this point I think Kansas is the team to beat and Texas has significant ground to make up to bring back Daniels, who was once committed to the Longhorns.
Kansas has a need for a small forward with Daniels' abilities, and Mario Little's recent legal troubles may very well open up a scholarship for Daniels to enroll over the semester break. Word out of Daniels' camp, however, is that he will wait till next year to start playing.
McLemore has stated his desire to settle on a school after meeting with his family over the Christmas break. It is down to Kansas and Missouri. Kansas has been his leader, but Missouri is trying to pull an upset and land the talented St. Louis, Missouri native.
Big get for UNLV
Nigel Williams-Goss' verbal was a big step for UNLV. Do you think he will be a top 50 player in 2013?
- Jimmy from Mt. Laurel
Landing Williams-Goss was a great get for UNLV. He has an extremely high basketball IQ and is a tremendous passer. His all-around game is solid as well. The knock on his game is that he is not the quickest of guards, but his strength, IQ and skill level make up for that deficiency.
It is tough to pinpoint where he will end up in the 2013 Rivals150, but he will likely be around the No. 50 range. He has a game that is quite comparable to 2011 Vanderbilt signee Kedren Johnson. Both are tall, big-bodied point guards with high-level basketball IQs and passing abilities. Johnson is currently ranked No. 75 in the 2011 Rivals150.
Only the strong thrive
Frank Martin seems to recruit players that go under the radar. Is there a certain type of player that he tries to recruit, kind of like Bob Huggins?
- Shane from Mahattan
Coach Martin is certainly doing an outstanding job with the Kansas State program and has put together a roster with a nice mix of prospects. Yes, he does have under-the-radar prospects who are performing well, but at the same time Curtis Kelly, Rodney McGruder and Wally Judge were highly ranked prospects.
The common thread between Martin and Huggins' recruiting is that both coaches place a high premium on toughness. Both are demanding coaches who are tough to play for, so it takes a certain mentality to thrive in their system. Developing players with mental and physical toughness has produced success on the court.
Mike Anderson and his Missouri program also comes to mind as a program that operates along similar lines as the Kansas State and West Virginia programs.
Western's class
Where does the incoming class of Western Kentucky rank, and how much impact will they have in moving Western in the right direction?
- Carlos from Morgantown
Western Kentucky actually had a nationally ranked recruiting class for 2011 prior to the decommitment of four-star prospect Cezar Guerrero. The Hilltoppers still have a strong class which easily falls into the top 10 of mid-major recruiting classes.
The top recruit in the class is Rivals150 prospect Derrick Gordon, who is a powerful combo guard. Forwards Vinny Zollo, Nigel Snipes and George Fant are three-star prospects who have had success on the travel circuit and should be productive players in the Sun Belt Conference.
Western Kentucky has traditionally had a strong program, and this recruiting class will help continue that tradition.
Final 150
When will your new Rivals 150 come out for the class of 2011?
- Matt from Flint
The final 2011 Rivals150 will come out after the spring all-star games in April. The McDonald's All-American Game, The Jordan Brand Game and the Nike Hoop Summit provide a platform to evaluate the top prospects one last time.
The major adjustment which will have to be made is deciding where reclassified Pittsburgh commitment Khem Birch fits in with the five-star prospects in the 2011 class.
Jerry Meyer is a national basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. Click here to send him a question or comment for his mailbag.
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