With fall semesters beginning at colleges, many members of the Rivals150 have started to cement their official visit schedules which should lead to fall commitments. In this week’s #TwitterTuesday, we take a deeper look Caleb Love’s school list, Purdue’s center options, Florida’s four-star hunt, landing spots for Posh Alexander and PJ Hall, and what Moussa Cisse’s move to Memphis might mean.
MORE: Another top 5 class for Oregon and summer tour takeaways
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I do. We broke the news on Saturday that Love will take five official visits before November, which might equate to an early signing. Upon releasing his final six, the thought was that Love would not take an official visit to Missouri thanks to his close proximity to it, but rather use his allotted official visits on Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, Louisville and North Carolina. Ultimately, Arizona was unable to secure such a visit, which Missouri took and while he could take an unofficial visit to Tucson, the likelihood of that being his college landing spot is minimal.
Love is in no rush to end his recruitment, though. He has a little bit of leverage on his side thanks to his talent level, the dearth of available prospects in his mold, and that a few of the programs recruiting him need more than one guard commitment this fall, so don’t expect for a rush decision.
Could Missouri, which has some momentum in its favor, keep things going and win out with Love? I am not willing to bet on it just yet. While Indiana and Kansas are fighting their way into the picture, Louisville and North Carolina might be the two leaders heading into September, a month that he will visit four of his finalists before completing things at KU on Oct. 13.
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Yes, they do still have a chance with Hunter Dickinson and I don’t take Purdue recruiting someone in the mold of Ryan Kalkbrenner or Ben Carlson as a reflection that they have lost ground with the top-30 center. Rather, the Boilermakers want to make sure that if they do miss on Dickinson, that they have a capable talent to fill its center need. Furthermore, Matt Painter and his staff can tell Dickinson that they have one scholarship left to give, that it is his if he wants it, but also that if Kalkbrenner or Carlson take it first, that their scholarship for Dickinson will be no more. Therefore, it gives the Boilermakers some leverage.
I do think that Purdue lands one of the three. It has been the trendy name of late with Kalkbrenner while Illinois had been the thought-to-be leader this summer. Missouri and Stanford are also heavily in the mix. Carlson is just beginning to take a greater look at his recruitment and with Dickinson seemingly in no rush to come to a decision, it does look as if it is more of a first-come, first-serve situation for Purdue’s 5-man pursuit.
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I like them much more with Niels Lane compared to Micah Peavy. Lane was one of the summer’s top breakthrough performers, but Florida was one of the first to offer before many others followed suit. He visited Gainesville two weeks ago and will return on Sept. 7 for an official visit. He is down to a final seven, but Florida is the one to beat and another visit could be all that is needed for the Gators in the Lane sweepstakes.
Peavy has been a long-rumored Texas Tech commitment, but a few others have worked their way into the mix, including Florida. He will visit each program next month, along with Texas. The Red Raiders are still the favorite and while Oregon has become a serious contender, keep tabs on TCU. The Horned Frogs have developed a strong connection with Peavy and his family. He lives less than a 45-minute drive from the Big 12 campus and is the type that Jamie Dixon has had great success with dating back to his days at Pitt. Florida will have a chance but it is playing catch-up.
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Seton Hall was the program out in front for Posh Alexander throughout his high school career. The Pirates making his final five and getting the chance to host him again over the weekend should only help their chances.
However, St. John’s has picked up major ground and could even be labeled as the leader. Upon the hiring of Mike Anderson earlier this spring, the new staff in Queens immediately labeled Alexander as one of their top targets. The fact that he is from the region, a locale that they want to prioritize, only helped in such matters. Dayton, Illinois and Pitt round out his final five but it would be a surprise if he landed anywhere but Seton Hall or St. John’s with the Red Storm being my selection.
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Virginia Tech definitely has a shot with P.J. Hall. Am I willing to go out on a limb and say that he chooses the Hokies over Florida or Tennessee? No, but there is a strong connection with Hall and the Virginia Tech coaching staff that could pay off in the long run.
Hall took another unofficial visit to Virginia Tech on Saturday and, on Oct. 11, will return to Blacksburg, but this time it will be in the official variety. The Hokies had previously recruited him when Buzz Williams was overseeing the program and by Mike Young retaining assistant coach Christian Webster, who had already developed a rapport with Hall and his family, continuity remained. Speaking of Young, he had coached Hall’s father at Wofford when he was an assistant, so there is a strong history there.
However, Florida has recruited Hall for the longest. He has been on the campus more than anywhere else thanks to his sister going through her own recruiting process. She is now entering her sophomore year with the Florida volleyball team. Tennessee is in a good spot, while Clemson and Georgia Tech round out his final five. He will take all five official visits this fall and likely sign in November with Florida as my prediction.
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Yes. Memphis was always going to be a participant in the Moussa Cisse sweepstakes since it is recruiting at the highest level and the five-star is one of the best in the 2021 class. Cisse’s move to Memphis only enhances its chances now that he can be deemed a local target that will definitely be on campus a number of times in the coming months thanks to his enrollment to Lausanne Collegiate.
His recruitment will not be an easy one to win, though. Georgetown, UConn and a slew of other respected programs will definitely put up a fight. However, with the way Memphis has recruited since Penny Hardaway was hired and that he has not allowed many from the city leave the area for college, it is only a fair assumption to say that Memphis will be one of the top contenders for Cisse.
