Advertisement
basketball Edit

Rising Petrusev setting up four official visits

MORE: Williamson & Kentucky | Rivals150 | 2018 team rankings

One of the emerging names of the fall evaluation period is Filip Petrusev. A 6-foot-11 power forward by way of Serbia, Petrusev will play out his final year of high school ball at the famed Montverde Academy program this winter as a number of colleges have begun to pursue.

Formerly committed to Hartford, Petrusev backed off of his pledge to the American East program in July and ever since, has seen his stock skyrocket. A member of Serbian under-18 team this summer, Petrusev comes in your skilled-and-versatile mold as he can shoot the perimeter jumper, score in the post and also rebound the ball within traffic.

After transferring to Montverde last month, college interest has not been in short supply.

“The last couple of weeks since my recruitment opened, it has been kind of crazy,” Petrusev said. “A lot of schools have come through, between 20 to 25 schools. Arizona, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Charlotte, Stanford, Maryland and a lot of others have been talking to me. I just need to get more information on those schools and cut my list, take my visits and then make my decision.”

Advertisement

IN HIS OWN WORDS

Petrusev spoke on three schools in the mix for a visit.

Tennessee: “It has been great from their side. Coach (Rick) Barnes being there with his tradition with big guys is good. It is a great opportunity and it is also a nice place. It is the SEC and a Power Five program. I am definitely going to take a look at them.”

Vanderbilt: “They started recruiting me recently. They are a nice school in the SEC with a good tradition. They are losing most of their team next year so they would have a lot of opportunities there.”

Arizona: “They were here last week. Coach (Mark) Phelps and coach (Sean) Miller, we really went through a lot of stuff and information. I am probably going to take a visit there sooner or later. Having Dusan Ristic there means a lot. He says it is one of the top five schools in the country and a wonderful place. It is a basketball town and a basketball school; it is all about basketball there and it is just a great spot.”

WHAT'S NEXT

Petrusev will finish out his senior year at Montverde Academy this winter.

This weekend, he will head to Tennessee on Friday and will then take another official visit to Vanderbilt beginning on Sunday.

“I will try and get to those two since I have four visits left," he said. "I want to visit as many schools as possible and then maybe visit Arizona on the West Coast, along with UCLA or Colorado.”

RIVALS' REACTION

Having already taken an official visit to Charlotte this summer, Petrusev will likely use his remaining official visits over the next several weeks before coming to a decision. Tennessee has invested a good amount of time and energy with the Serbian forward, as has Arizona. Expect for many others to jump into the mix and attempt to line up their own official visits as a number of name-brand programs have become highly intrigued this fall.

Advertisement