Preston looking to stick

Already one of the top 10 prospects in the class of 2017, combo forward Billy Preston has been on move throughout the first half of his high school career. The California native is looking to show the basketball world what he's all about.

Pushing 6-foot-9, Preston landed at Dallas (Texas) Prime U a few months ago. The No. 9 player in the sophomore class, he can score, rebounds well and has all of the tools that are needed to be a big time prospect. He has a smooth way about him which makes the game looks like it comes easy to him and because of that and early transfers, there have been questions about him.

Preston feels like he's settled in well at Prime, where he plays for coach Ray Forsett.

"So far the move to Prime has been cool," Preston said. "Coach Ray has helped me with my game and getting me to play harder every possession. I've jumped around to a lot of schools, but I feel getting out of California and to Texas is the best thing for me.

"We've been good as a team. We have good chemistry and all of that."

Preston is also aware of the questions that many have about him. He doesn't seem angry about it. Instead, he wants to show what he's capable of.

"I don't really worry about it and I try not to buy into it," said Preston. "I've tried to go where my coach sees my potential and has the most interest in me. I feel like coach Forsett has that and I try not to feed into the negative things people say about me jumping around. People are going to say this or that but you have to do what you have to for your future."

Since his arrival at Prime from Redondo Beach (Calif.) Union -- where he played for one of California's best coaches in Reggie Morris and was part of a team that beat Prime U earlier this season -- Preston has been learning to compete and be consistent.

"When he beat us at Redondo, he played hard and the knock had always been that he doesn't play hard," said Forsett. "It's really on him what type of player he can be. If he plays hard, I think he can be mentioned in the top three of the class. Since he's been here, he's been proving that he can play harder and he's done it and it shows in his results. He's been competing and he's been competing at a top level."

There's no question Preston is capable of beating opponents in a number of ways.

"I think my biggest strength right now is my size and my versatility," said Preston. "Being in that 6-foot-8, 6-foot-9 range and having the skill-set that I have is my strength.

"I think where my game has evolved has been my work ethic. Coach Ray is pushing me to the full player I can be. The first couple of weeks, he was taking it easy on me because I was new, but then he told me that if I want to be the player I want to be that it had to stop and he had to let the real coach out on me."

According to Preston, he holds offers from programs like Baylor, Kansas, USC, UNLV, UCLA, Connecticut, Texas A&M, Oregon, Fresno State, Arizona State, Utah and New Mexico State. Since arriving at Prime, Preston has visited the Jayhawks, Bears and Aggies.

"It was great," said Preston of his Kansas trip. "Out of all my visits I've been on, I think the Kansas one was probably the best. The game was live. There was nowhere for anybody to sit. Coach (Bill) Self was cool, the assistants were cool, the whole team. It was great."

Preston also had positive feelings about his visit to Waco.

"Baylor was probably the second best besides Kansas," said Preston. "The head coach is really was cool and he was collected and the team played hard. I really enjoyed being there for a visit."

The most recent visit was to A&M and they left an impression as well.

"Texas A&M offered me and the visit was cool," said Preston. "I talked to the coach a little. He was cool and he told me that Coach Ray was going to have me right. Their assistants told me the same thing because they are cool with my coach. It was live too. It was a good game."

Having first earned his reputation on the summer circuit with the Compton Magic, Preston is looking forward to getting out on the road again this spring and summer. Just in the infancy stages of his recruitment, Preston also says that he's in no rush to make a decision and that he's glad he still has two more years of high school left to show people what he's really about.

"I love that I have time," said Preston. "I think that all of the people who are talking about me not having a motor or being lazy, by the time I get to college, they will see that I have it. I think could be the No. 1 player in my class."

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