Starting Five: Fox sets visits
One of the nation's top five players, De'Aaron Fox, has started to set up his visits and the Labor Day weekend produced plenty of recruiting action. We take a look at Fox's upcoming visits and back on some of the weekend's news in this week's Starting Five.
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1. Fox sets visit dates
De'Aaron Fox confirmed to Rivals.com that he has taken some big steps toward making his college choice.
Just a few weeks after cutting his list down to Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, N.C. State and North Carolina, the 6-foot-3 point guard from Katy (Texas) Cypress Lakes has set four official and five in-home visits.
The No. 5 player in the class of 2016, Fox will host LSU (9/9), Kansas (9/11), Arizona (9/14), N.C. State (9/16) and Kentucky (9/21) for in home visits. In addition to those visits, Fox will travel to LSU (9/19), Louisville (9/26), Kansas (10/9) and Kentucky (10/16) for official visits.
For a while now, the two most prominent schools mentioned with Fox have been Kansas and Kentucky, so it's no surprise to see both the Jayhawks and Wildcats on the agenda for both in-home and official visits. However, there has been a little bit of noise building that LSU is in the mix as well and that would seem to be backed up by the fact that they are the only other program to get both an in-home and official visit scheduled.
Fox has yet to set a firm timetable for making a decision, but given the timing of his visits it would appear he is on track to decide during the early signing period.
2. Decision coming for Simpson
Four-star point guard Xavier Simpson has already been pretty busy on the official visit front. Now, after seeing Illinois, Iowa State and Wisconsin officially, Simpson has announced that he is ready to make his college decision.
Officially, the No. 87 player in the class of 2016 from Lima (Ohio) Senior is down to those three schools and Miami and he'll reveal his choice on Wednesday at 2:30 pm at his high school.
Behind the scenes sources have indicated to Rivals that this is really a two-way battle between the Illini and Badgers to land the 5-foot-11 point guard. Wisconsin had the most recent visit, hosting him over Labor Day weekend, and when prospects set commitment times immediately following a visit it usually bodes well for the program they just visited. However, Illinois has targeted Simpson for a much longer amount of time and has been building the relationship for quite some time while Wisconsin's Bo Ryan will be retiring after this season.
3. Weekend catchup
From now until first day of the early signing period on November 11th, the commitments will be flying. There was certainly a flurry of activity over the holiday, and here's a quick look at the three Rivals150 players who popped and some others that stand out.
The highest ranked player to come off the board was No. 80 in the Rivals150, Kevin Huerter, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Clinton Park (N.Y.) Shenendehowa who pulled the trigger for Maryland after an official visit. A skilled guard with good athleticism, Huerter can strip the nets from deep and has enough ball skills to help out for short stretches at the point. He needs to add significant muscle before he'll be ready to be a contributor in the Big Ten, but Maryland has good depth on the wings. He joins four-star point guard Anthony Cowan as early commits to the Terps.
Out on the West Coast, Jordan Ford saw what he needed to see during an official visit to St. Mary's and made a commitment to Randy Bennett's WCC power program. The No. 138 player in the class of 2016, Ford is a six-foot tall point guard from Folsom (Calif.) High who can really score the ball.
Utah State has put themselves into the conversation for program that has pulled off the biggest recruiting coup of 2016. The Aggies landed a commitment from four-star shooting guard Koby McEwen after his official visit. A 6-foot-3 native of Canada who plays his high school ball in Utah, McEwen ranks No. 104 overall and projects as an instant impact player on both sides of the ball.
Currently unranked, 6-foot-9 Floridian John Mooney called it for Notre Dame after his weekend official visit. A three-star prospect who was formerly committed to Florida, Mooney should arrive in South Bend with college ready strength and a high level of skill. One of the best passing big men in 2016, he fell out of the Rivals150 not because he wasn't good enough but because Rivals hasn't had a recent chance for an in person evaluation. Seeing him during the 2015-16 season will be a priority.
Two programs in the city of Houston picked up key three-star backcourt additions as Rice bagged Ako Adams and Houston scooped up Armoni Brooks. A hard charging 6-foot-2 combo guard from the Washington D.C. area, Adams loves to attack the rim and plays physical defense. A Texan, Brooks has 6-foot-4 size and is one of the best jump shooters in Texas to go with bouncy athleticism in the open floor.
Finally, Vermont looks like they have landed a potential difference maker in three-star power forward Anthony Lamb. Slightly undersized as a four man at 6-foot-5 or maybe 6-foot-6, the product of Rochester (N.Y.) Greece Athena is athletic, productive and efficient around the rim. He pounds the glass, runs the floor and plays with a non-stop motor.
4. Moore takes surprise visit
Ranked the No. 58 player in the country, 5-foot-11 point guard Charlie Moore of Chicago (Ill.) Morgan Park is scheduled to take his first official visit to California next weekend.
Over the weekend, the four-star made a bit of a surprise unofficial visit to home state Illinois.
Moore is also scheduled to visit Illinois officially on the weekend of September 25th but Jon Groce and his staff were surely happy to get an extra visit from the exciting playmaker. Moore also has official visits planned for Pittsburgh and Memphis (10/2).
Also stopping by Illinois unofficially over the weekend were 2017 four-star combo guard Jordan Poole and soon to be 2017 four-star point guard Da'Monte Williams. Both Poole and Williams hold Illini offers.
5. Memphis guard in the middle of visits
Three-star combo guard Shawn Williams hasn't had the most highly publicized recruitment. Still, the 6-foot-1 scorer from Little Rock (Ark,) Southwestern Christian Academy is going to make somebody a good player in the right situation.
A lights out shooter from deep with length and creativity off the bounce, Williams took a weekend official visit to East Carolina. Eric "Cowboy" Robinson the program director for Williams' summer team the Memphis Magic Elite told Rivals.com that the visit was quite successful.
Williams may need to take another visit or two before making a decision and if he does then Louisiana Tech and Rhode Island have offered and positioned themselves well for visits.
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