College basketball’s early signing period begins Wednesday and runs until Nov. 16. While many prospects may choose to wait, we wanted to take a look at where each of the top 24 remaining prospects stand in their recruitment, make a prediction on their final landing spot and indicate our confidence in the pick on a scale of one (a DeAndre Jordan free throw) to five (a LeBron James slam dunk). Here are our predictions for the top 10 uncommitted players.
Status: The top undecided player, Duval took an unofficial visit to Kansas for its Late Night at the Phog, but is nowhere near making a decision. Maryland, Baylor, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Villanova and many others are involved but it will be a while before he makes a decision or who is really serious shakes out.
Prediction: Maryland.
Confidence level: 0.8.
Status: The top unsigned big man, Bamba could choose early, but we’re betting he will hold off until sometime during the high school season. He’s been to Texas and Michigan officially and has also seen campuses at Kentucky and Harvard among others. Most talk centers around UK and Duke, but he’s a very tough call.
Prediction: Duke.
Confidence level: 2.4.
Status: The 6-foot-10 big man had planned to wait until the winter to announce, but he’s now planning to sign early. He took official visits to Duke, Georgia, Georgia Tech and Harvard.
Prediction: Duke.
Confidence level: 4.9.
Status: An explosive combo guard, Sexton is set to announce his decision on Nov. 10. Sexton took official visits to Alabama, Kansas, NC State and Oklahoma State while Georgia and Georgia Tech got unofficials. The Tide have been trending with him.
Prediction: Alabama.
Confidence level: 4.1.
Status: Originally, Preston planned to wait until the spring to make a decision, but after visiting Indiana, Kansas, Syracuse and USC, we are expecting an early decision. Preston is a native of the Los Angeles area but has been away from home for the last two years. This appears to be a very tight race between Kansas and USC.
Prediction: Kansas.
Confidence level: 2.8.
Status: The five-star small forward has made it quite clear that he will not announce until the spring. He’s down to Duke, Florida State, Kentucky and North Carolina and has only visited Duke officially so far. He has seen each school unofficially and has official visits set for the winter. Duke and Kentucky really look to be battling this one out.
Prediction: Duke.
Confidence level: 2.5.
Status: Because he graduated as a member of the 2016 class and is doing a year of prep school, Diallo is NBA Draft eligible in 2017 and NBA teams have already indicated to Rivals.com that they plan to watch him this winter. On the recruiting front, Diallo has a final six of Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky and Syracuse but appears to be wide open.
Prediction: Syracuse.
Confidence level: 1.0.
Status: McCoy could slide in an early decision even though he is still in the midst of his official visits. He has already seen Arizona and UNLV with a trip coming to Oregon this weekend and Michigan State the following weekend. San Diego State is also involved and it looks like he could end up staying out West.
Prediction: Oregon.
Confidence level: 3.0.
Status: Trent is scheduled to announce Thursday and is down to Duke, Michigan State and UCLA. He’s visited all three programs and Duke has been the heavy favorite for some time now.
Prediction: Duke.
Confidence level: 4.8.
Status: For now, we expect Young to wait until at least December or January to make a decision. He has visited Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech officially. Most talk has been that it’s either Oklahoma or Kentucky, but Kansas did help their cause some during Young’s official visit. Our best guess still has him staying home.
Prediction: Oklahoma.
Confidence level: 3.2.
