Roth weighing out his options

A month ago, Matt Roth was almost finished with the recruiting process. The elite level shooter was down to a pair of schools. Then July came around. Now the 6-foot-3, 175-pound shooting guard from Washington (Ill.) High School has a lot to think about in August.

Roth shined with his Indiana Elite/Team Indiana squad in July and capped off the month strong in Los Angeles, where in one game he scored 24 points in the first half and sunk all seven of his three-point attempts. And that is why he's gone from a must-have mid-major prospect to a guy with a couple of regional high-majors in hot pursuit.

St. Louis and Bradley were the top two entering the summer and now the mid-majors are in it for the long haul with the likes of Indiana, Notre Dame and Purdue. All three high-majors have offered. Illinois is also looking at the in-state prospect.

"It's really blown up. A lot of bigger schools have come up and a lot of things have happened that I'll need to look into," Roth said on his way home from Los Angeles. "I haven't had a chance to sit down and talk yet with my family since I've been gone but that's what I'm going to do sometime in the couple of days.

"The main thing is trying to figure out if I want to take a couple of unofficial visits real quick and then wait to take some official visits when school gets started. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. It kind of blew up on me. I am glad it did because I think there are some good opportunities for me. It just took a while to come up. I want to take some time to look at it. It's all a good thing."

Perhaps one of the top overall shooters in the country, Roth has established himself as a player that can fill a specific role for college programs. Figuring out what level he'll best be suited in is the hard part, he said.

Bradley and St. Louis hosted the three-star prospect already for unofficial visits. Roth said he has been to Indiana in the past for an AAU tournament and visited Purdue as a sophomore. He said he has yet to be on Notre Dame's campus. Roth has been to a number of Illinois games with family members, he said.

Will getting in early play a factor in his decision? That is a question he's hoping to find an answer to this month.

"I think it really helps with the feeling you have and the trust level you have with the coaches," Roth said. "With the guys that come on a little later in the process, you have to try to see how you work with them. Sometimes it's a natural click. Sometimes you have to work at it and take a while. I think there are a lot of good coaches that are recruiting me."