Several standing out to Blackshear
Orlando (Fla.) Evans power forward Kerry Blackshear had a highly
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productive start to his last travel season before going off to play college
basketball. He went from being a little-known prospect to now holding
scholarship offers from programs in the top conferences around the country.
Blackshear thinks he has a pretty good idea of why college coaches started
making him a priority this spring by extending scholarship offers.
"Everything has been going pretty well," Blackshear told Rivals.com. "Recruiting
has picked up this spring. I think it's because I showed them 6-foot-9 and
pretty versatile."
Blackshear, who will likely make his debut in the Rivals150 later this week, has
a long list of schools he talks to on a pretty regular basis.
Georgia Tech and Alabama
have called, but haven't offered."
With all the attention he's now receiving, Blackshear is still sorting out his
options in hopes of trimming down his last at the conclusion of July.
"I'm still trying to figure out which schools I'm going to visit. I'm working my
way through it. I'll definitely be ready to cut it down at the end of July. I'll
take my visits, commit after I'm done with them, and then sign in November."
One of the schools that has a pretty good shot of making Blackshear's next cut
is Texas A&M. Assistant coach Amir Abdur-Rahim has built a strong
relationship with the Orlando native.
"I think it's a pretty good school. It's a good program. Coach Amir is the coach
I talk to from there. He's a cool guy. I like him."
Clemson was one of the first high-major schools to extend a scholarship offer to
Blackshear.
"Clemson is a good school. It's right there in South Carolina where I have some
family. I watched them a little bit this season. It's very appealing how it
looks like they have it going in the right direction because it shows they can
go out and compete against the best conference in the country and still win."
Tennessee surprised a lot of people by making a deep run to the Elite Eight this
season. Blackshear certainly took notice of the Volunteers' success on the
court.
"Tennessee has a good program. I saw them make that run during the NCAA
tournament. I like the way they play and how tough and hard they play. I've been
talking to the head coach from there. I like their new staff and the school."
Florida State routinely does a great job keeping top in-state prospects home
under Leonard Hamilton. They are hoping that success continues in the
2015 class with Blackshear leading the way.
"I like Florida State. They preach being tough on defense there. They are also
in the ACC, so that's big. They go out and compete every year."
One school that could shake up Blackshear's recruitment if they decide to offer
a scholarship is the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech is known for
having one of the top engineering programs around, which just happens to be the
major Blackshear is looking for.
"Georgia Tech just started talking to me and they were telling me about their
engineering program and how they have one of the best engineering program in not
only the country but the whole world. I really liked that."
Despite not being close to making a verbal commitment, Blackshear seems to be
pretty locked in on what he's looking for when the time comes for him to make
one of the biggest decisions of his life.
"I want to go to a school that has both a good engineering and architecture
program because I want ot get into one of those fields. I also want the school
to be in a pretty good league where we're going to be able to compete every
year. I want to go somewhere I can grow as a basketball player and as an
individual."
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