Starting Five: Gabriel plays host
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The chase is on for five-star forward Wenyen Gabriel, who will be hosting several high-profile coaches this week leading into a weekend visit to Kentucky. That and more in this week's Starting Five.
Gabriel expecting visitors
Five-star forward Wenyen Gabriel's first official visit was to Maryland. He'll take his second trip this weekend when he heads to Kentucky.
In the meantime, the No. 17 player in the class of 2016 is going to be plenty busy.
This week, Gabriel is expecting to host coaches from Duke, Maryland, Kentucky and Connecticut before going to Lexington.
After the Kentucky visit, Gabriel will have three remaining official visits. He will see UConn and Providence on the first two weekends of October before closing things out with a trip to Duke.
Oklahoma State gets shooter
A few hours after his visit to Oklahoma State, Tampa Catholic (Fla) point guard Thomas Dziagwa made his commitment official after falling in love with the campus, staff and Stillwater.
Oklahoma State was Dziagwa's third official visit. He also visited his hometown school, South Florida and nearby Florida Gulf Coast. Dziagwa, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound three-star point guard, was scheduled to visit Butler and Stephen F. Austin, but those visits have now been canceled. In the end the situation at Oklahoma State was just too good to pass up.
"The players and coaches just acted as a family and all cared for one another," Dziagwa said. "They pushed each other to be the best they can be. Great atmosphere in Stillwater."
Dziagwa, who established himself as one of the top shooters in the class of 2016 by shooting 44.7 percent from the floor, including 47.6 percent beyond the arc, and 100 percent from the FT line for the Florida Sons on the Adidas Gauntlet circuit; has the size, skill package and basketball IQ to contribute at either guard position for Oklahoma State.
With his verbal commitment to the Cowboys Sunday night, Dziagwa becomes the first member of the Oklahoma State 2016 recruiting class.
-- Russ Wood
What to expect from Smith
During the weekend commitment frenzy, one that caught our attention was 6-foot-10 big man Mitchell Smith, who chose Missouri during an official visit.
Currently rated as an unranked three-star prospect from Van Buren (Ark.) High, Smith is one of those players who can elicit many different opinions.
Watch him play and it's easy to see that he runs the floor very well, has good touch and good feet. But, he's also quite skinny and never quite found his groove during the summer while playing with the Arkansas Wings.
Big guys like him can be tricky, because you have to weigh current inconsistency with future potential. In Smith, Missouri certainly sees a guy with a high ceiling and the Tigers staff is hoping to have stolen one.
Because he is rail thin, we wouldn't look for Smith to make an instant impact and it may take him a couple of years to adjust to the rugged play at the high-major level. However, once things click for Smith, he has the tools to be one of those players that everybody says, "how did they manage to land him?" The hope is that he can eventually be a player who can score around the basket and out of the high post while running the floor like a much smaller player.
Which way Smith will turn out at Missouri remains to be seen, but the tools are there for him to develop into a steal if he wants to put in the work.
Weekend commits
Rivals.com really likes the pickup of shooting guard Travis Atson for Tulsa. A 6-foot-4 off guard from New York who is prepping at South Kent (Conn.) Prep, Atson is tough on both ends of the floor. He's got a solid 190-pound frame to go along with his size and he has a very nice mid-range game and is physically and mentally tough.
At Rhode Island, Danny Hurley and his staff picked up an important commitment in center Michael Tertsea. Though Tertsea is rough around the edges on the offensive end, the three-star center has tremendous size at 6-foot-10 and he pairs that size with long arms and very good athleticism. Already strong, Tertsea has the frame to develop into a low-post masher who defends, runs the floor and hits the glass. Tertsea is the second big man to commit to the Rams, joining fellow three-star center Mike Layssard.
Finally, Pittsburgh hopes that they have landed its point guard of the future in 6-foot-2 floor general Justice Kithcart. A native of North Carolina who attends Lynchburg (Va.) Virginia Episcopal, Kithcart just missed the 2016 Rivals150 coming out of the summer and is definitely an ACC-level prospect despite not currently being in the rankings. He is very good off the dribble and does a particularly good job of changing directions in traffic without losing any explosiveness. A natural scorer, Kithcart can't be left alone from deep and he has the quickness and instinct to develop into a very good defender with time.
Decision day for Coffey
Four-star wing Amir Coffey will announce his college decision Monday afternoon during a 3:30 pm press conference at Hopkins (Minn.) High.
Ranked No. 54 in the class of 2016, Coffey is a smooth 6-foot-6 wing who has battled back from a torn ACL that he suffered during his junior season.
Coffey is also the primary target for Richard Pitino and Minnesota and heading into decision day, things are looking good for the Gophers.
Ever since landing the job at Minnesota, Pitino has been trying to make a splash on the local scene so Coffey would be a huge get for him. Not only because Coffey is a potential difference-maker right off the bat, but because him picking Minnesota would be a sign to other locals who have big-time offers that they can stay home and accomplish their goals playing for the hometown school.
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