Three-star Lindsey close to trimming list
For Jake Lindsey, his last time through the rigorous July recruiting periods was fairly eventful. It started by having the chance to compete at the LeBron James camp and finished with him having to fight through sickness in his last tournament with his AAU team. Overall though, it was a productive month for Lindsey.
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"I had my ups and downs," Lindsey said. "I did well at the LeBron camp. The second period I played pretty well. I was battling a sinus infection and a 103-degree temperature during the first couple days of the third period, but I felt better the last couple days and played much better against the better teams. I didn't have much of a choice but to play through the fever because it was my last tournament."
Recruiting picked up for Lindsey following July as he's collected a couple high-major offers along with interest from others.
"Baylor, Utah, Harvard, St. Mary's, Columbia, Louisiana-Lafayette and Tulsa are the schools I've been talking to lately. They all offered. N.C. State called last week, but they haven't offered."
With some new schools now involved with him, Lindsey's next move is to begin visiting some of the schools now recruiting. He just completed an unofficial visit to Baylor and has set dates for a pair of official visits in the coming months.
"I'm just coming off a visit to Baylor. I was with some family in Fort Worth and Coach [Scott] Drew offered me after the LeBron camp, so I stopped by there, toured the campus, and met the coaches on an unofficial visit. The only official visits I know sure are Harvard on Sept. 17th through the 19th and Baylor around Oct. 11."
Lindsey spoke highly of his short stay in Waco, Texas.
"The visit to Baylor went really well. Coach Drew and his staff do a really good job. They are very coordinated and pretty consistent in how much they talk to me. On the visit, Coach Drew is as energetic as anybody you will ever meet. He and his staff did an awesome job."
Lindsey has some serious connections to Baylor. His father, Dennis Lindsey, played at Baylor and he has a cousin already committed to play for women's team.
"The Baylor coaches made sure to point out to me that they aren't recruiting me because of my dad. They are recruiting me because they think I can play at that level, which is important to me. My cousin is committed there to play for their women's team in my class too. As far as making a decision, the family connections are something that I will keep in mind, but it's not going to be the deciding factor."
Dennis Lindsey had spent several years working in the front office for the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs before becoming the general ganager of the Utah Jazz in 2012. When he took the Jazz job, the family moved to Utah and Jake has attended Olympus High School in Salt Lake City ever since.
Under head coach Larry Krystkowiak, Utah has made it a priority to keep the top in-state players home and have had some success doing so. They have made keeping Lindsey home a priority in the 2015 class.
"They have done a great job recruiting me. I didn't grow up rooting for them because I'm not from Utah. Since Coach Krystkowiak has gotten there, they have locked down in-state recruits and have two already in my class. They recruit good guys. They have established a culture there."
Tulsa assistant coach Dennis Felton worked with Dennis Lindsey while both were in the San Antonio Spurs front office, so there is a connection between Felton and the Lindsey family. Jake Lindsey thinks very highly of Felton.
"I love Coach Felton and [head] coach [Frank] Haith. They are a new staff there. They have done a great job recruiting me. They were like my second offer. I've known Coach Felton for a while because he was with the Spurs when my dad was there. He's a really nice guy."
Academics are important to Lindsey, but winning is too. So naturally, Harvard is a school that has caught his attention after the success they have experienced in recent years.
"Harvard, they have done about as great of a job as an Ivy League school can do these past couple years. They have won the league the past four years and been to the NCAA Tournament. I watched them beat New Mexico in the tournament a couple years ago. Coach [Tommy] Amaker has done a great job recruiting me. He's made it clear how badly he wants me there. He was a point guard himself, so he can relate to me. I think that relationship with his point guard means a lot to him. And obviously they have great academics there too."
The next step for Lindsey in the recruiting process is to trim down his list.
"I'm getting pretty close to cutting my list. I told myself I would give coaches two or three weeks after July to call and we're coming up on three weeks soon. I'm grateful for everyone that is recruiting, but at the same time, they have jobs to do and I don't want to waste their time. I'm thinking I'll get it down to five."
Look for Lindsey to sign with the school of his choice in November.
"I definitely want to have a decision done before my senior season. My ideal last date to have it done would be by middle of October, if not sooner. The track record of the program is important to me. I'm really competitive and hate to lose. I want to go some place where I'm surrounded by winners and a team that values hard work. Style of play is important too because I'm a bigger guard and like playing in the pick and roll. My relationship with the coaches and players is important and academics are too because I'm a pretty good student."
Dan McDonald is a contributing national basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. You can click here to follow him on Twitter.
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