And then there were four.
Monday night, four-star point guard Zaon Collins a standout at Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gormand and with Las Vegas Elite cut his of potential finalists to a list of Arizona, Arizona State, UNLV and USC he told Rivals.com.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
Collins briefly discussed what he likes about each school.
Arizona: "They stand out because they are always big in the Pac 12. They produce a lot of pros and I have good gut feel for (Sean Miller) and the coaching staff. I feel like that the stage they are on is really big time and that they could help me produce."
Arizona State: "My favorite thing is that they are all guards. I like to play with a bunch of guards that run the floor and score. I love Bobby Hurley, he was one of the best college point guards to ever play and me and my parents love the coaching staff. They have been the only school we've had a zoom meeting with during quarantine."
UNLV: "(T.J. Otzelberger) his mentality, he just wants to win. That's what I like. I'm a winner and I hate to lose more than anything on the planet. He just won't give up and me and my parents love that plus UNLV is the hometown school and me and my family love the coaches there."
USC: "I like everything about USC. The coaching staff, where it is in California. California has the best weather, you can't beat that. USC is the only official visit that I took an they surprised me with everything they have there. I watched practice and it was really intense. Coach Enfield is a good guy and my family connected with all the coaches and feel comfortable that they would look out for me."
WHAT'S NEXT?
A proven winner on the high school and grassroots level, Collins excels at controlling tempo, getting into the paint and making those around him better. He's truly an extension of any coach he plays for and is a high energy player who is also a committed defender.
Given how he's discussed programs in the past, the final four of the Rebels, Sun Devils, Trojans and Wildcats shouldn't come as a surprise.
Though Collins has only seen USC officially, he's been to the other campuses for visits. He says he won't decide until school gets going again and he'd prefer to take final official visits if at all possible.
"I would love to take officials to places I haven't," said Collins. "But I think I could make a decision without official visits. I would like to take officials, just meeting with everybody and seeing things in person one more time would make the decision a lot easier."
