Everywhere four-star forward Joey Hauser went during the months of April or July, Steve Wojciechowski was right there with him. It paid off. More on Hauser, what's up with Marvin Bagley and much more in this week's edition of the Starting Five.
WHAT WE LEARNED OVER THE WEEKEND: Atlanta | Summer Jam | Hardwood Classic
WOJO'S PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF
When I spoke to Joey Hauser on Saturday, he admitted that he was real close to making a decision. I asked him if rumors that he could decide before playing in the Adidas event in Las Vegas this week and he would only commit to saying on record that he could decide in the next few weeks. Clearly he was ready to go as he committed to Marquette on Sunday night.
Yes, Hauser's brother is there and has been a solid player. But, it wasn't just family ties that got him to say yes. It had a lot to do with the effort of Steve Wojciechowski and the time he took prioritizing Hauser. Wherever Hauser and the Iowa Barnstormers were in April or July, you could count on Wojo being right there and you could usually count on him having an assistant or two with him.
Hauser should be a terrific fit in Milwaukee. He's a tough and skilled player who can give minutes at the small or power forward and he should arrive on campus ready to produce from day one.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR BAGLEY?
Over the weekend, Marvin Bagley III, the No. 1 ranked player in the 2018 Rivals150, took his first official visit to Duke. Now the question is, what's next?
At the Peach Jam, Bagley III said that he would also visit at least Arizona and USC officially and that should still happen. Exactly when those visits take place is yet to be determined -- and Bagley III's family has not yet publicly released dates and may not even do so -- but it wouldn't be a surprise to see those visits happen sooner than later.
Kansas, Kentucky and UCLA remain in the mix and it wouldn't be a surprise to see some sort of visit happen for all of them as well. Additionally, whether or not Bagley III remains in 2018 or enrolls as a 2017 prospect is up in the air and Bagley's father Marvin Bagley II has said that no decision has been made.
So where does that leave us? Well, it leaves us speculating and guessing. That Duke got a first visit is probably something that they are happy with, but the Blue Devils probably also hoped to get a commitment from Bagley III before he took any other visits.
As has been the case for a while, most information on Bagley III is only available through the recruiting circuit rumor mill so that makes it murky at best.
So for now, best course of action is to expect for visits to Arizona and USC to take place and for a 2017 v. 2018 decision to take place once visits have been finished.
GARLAND CUTS LIST TO SIX
Five-star point guard Darius Garland officially cut his school list down to six over the weekend.
Via his Twitter account, the floor general from Nashville said that he's down to Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA and hometown Vanderbilt.
Currently, Duke, Indiana and Vanderbilt appear to be a little bit ahead of the field. Further, it looks like Vanderbilt has a legitimate chance to upset the bluebloods here but recent rumors that he was ready to end things ASAP have fizzled out.
We should be hearing about visit dates for Garland here in the near future.
COMBINE COLLABORATIONS THE NEXT WAVE?
On Sunday, the PSA Cardinals of Nike's EYBL and the New York Jayhawks of the Adidas Gauntlet came together to run a combine style recruiting event. It was interesting in that not a lot of teams have done something like this and because we have a case where two programs from the opposite sides of the grassroots basketball tracks have come together.
Per program directors Munch Williams and Jay David, there were some 55 college coaches on hand. Why not? The event was loaded with talent from among the two programs.
From the class of 2018, Rivals150 prospects such as Isaiah Mucius, Samba Diallo, Jake Forrester and Frankie Policelli were on hand and 2019 featured the top point guard in the class Cole Anthony, smooth wing Ismael Massoud and many others.
By Monday morning, the camp had produced 30 scholarship offers and this is the kind of thing that could catch on in the future.
FOUR-STAR EMBERY ADDS OFFERS
One of the top guards in middle America, four-star Keyshawn Embery has seen his recruitment take off. Word out of last week's Under Armour All-America camp was that Embery played very well and judging by the recent scholarship offers he must have made some noise.
Since the completion of camp Embery has picked up offers from Arizona State, Butler, Cincinnati and Texas A&M. He can add those to offers he already had from programs like Tulsa, Creighton, Houston and Purdue among others.