Stanford Targets Tennessee Guard

Combo guard Justin Hare from Bradley Central in Cleveland, Tennessee was set to sign with Belmont of the Atlantic Sun until Stanford of the Pac-10 came calling.

The 6-foot-2, 192-pound Hare is a top priority for Stanford now that the guards they were after did not meet Stanford’s stringent academic requirements.

“The way their policy works is Justin cannot take an official visit until he applies for admission,” said Coach Kent Smith of Bradley Central. “Justin took the ACT as a sophomore and scored a 21. He needs at least a 22 before he can apply. I am sure he will get that. Then he can take an official.”

“It is nothing against Belmont, but he owes it to himself to look into this. Not too many times a school like Stanford comes calling. It looks like they are genuinely interested, but I am sure they are looking at a couple other players. They lost their top three perimeter recruits to academics, and now Justin is at the top of their list according to [Assistant] Coach Turner.”

Bradley Central, ranked No. 19 nationally by Street & Smith Magazine, is preparing to take on Denham Springs High School, ranked No. 18 in the same publication and led by Tasmin Mitchell, in the Forrest City Grocery Rumble on the Ridge. Other teams of note in the Thanksgiving tournament are Provine High School, from Jackson, Mississippi and led by Charles White, and John Carroll High School from Birmingham, Alabama and led by DeMarre Carroll.

Coach Smith is honored to have the ranking, but he is not sure it is deserved.

“I would not rank us number 19, maybe 119,” he said. “We will see how it goes. I am not so concerned about what happens in November and December.”

Even at No. 19 Bradley Central is not the highest ranked team in the state of Tennessee with White Station High School in Memphis ranked No. 11 in the nation.