Published Jul 17, 2018
Twitter Tuesday: Dontiae Allen, Ohio State, Arizona, Archie Miller
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Corey Evans  •  Basketball Recruiting
Basketball Analyst
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@coreyevans_10

In this week’s Twitter Tuesday mailbag, Rivals.com basketball recruiting analyst Corey Evans takes a look at Dontaie Allen’s national emergence, Indiana’s recruiting success, Ohio State’s 2019 efforts and Arizona’s top targets this summer.

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Dontaie Allen added several scholarships offers this spring and told Rivals.com that West Virginia, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and Xavier were among the top contenders for his commitment. However, he also said that things could change if Kentucky were to come calling with an offer. I think the Wildcats will eventually offer.

Allen was tremendous at the Under Armour Challenge last week as he finished tops in scoring at more than 26 points per game. Better yet, the one game that John Calipari watched was Allen's best yet as he scored 30 points off of 11-of-15 shooting from the floor, to go along with a handful of assists and rebounds.

Formerly a three-star prospect, he looks like the best prospect in the Bluegrass State and has now replaced Francis Okoro -- who is enrolling early at Oregon -- at No. 46 overall in the 2019 Rivals150. While KyKy Tandy and David Johnson have a worthwhile argument for the state crown, neither is drawing interest from Kentucky.

Allen told us on Sunday that he has a visit in the works for Kentucky in August but is in no hurry to make a commitment.

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Chris Holtmann and his staff are absolutely killing it on the recruiting trail. They hold the commitment of top-30 forward Alonzo Gaffney and, thanks to the work of assistant coach Mike Schrage, took things a step further on Saturday with the addition of five-star guard D.J. Carton. Look for the Buckeyes to swing for the fences with their final available scholarship for the 2019 class.

With Ohio State's point guard need checked off, look for the Buckeyes to address the frontline next. E.J. Liddell, Drew Timme and Omar Payne are three of the program's top targets down low.

Liddell has been a heavily tracked prospect by the Buckeyes since the new staff took over in Columbus and they are in a fairly good spot for him. Illinois, Missouri and Kansas State are thought to be at the forefront of Liddell's recruitment but Ohio State should be in it until the end.

Timme holds close to 40 scholarship offers and is one of the most heavily recruited, non-five-star prospect that I have covered in recent years. Landing him will be difficult but the Buckeyes have done a fine job of remaining in the mix. The same can be said for Payne, a top-50 center out of Florida that is one of the best low-post defenders in America. Florida may be difficult to beat but Ohio State is in the hunt.

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Arizona head coach Sean Miller was on hand for a number of games featuring Josh Green and Nico Mannion this week and the Wildcats made sure to have an assistant in the stands when he was not. While Mannion is a class of 2020 target, there is a potential for him to reclassify into the 2019 class, allowing him to enroll in college next fall.

Aside from the West Coast Elite backcourt, Arizona has kept tabs on a number of other Rivals150 prospects. Boogie Ellis holds an Arizona offer and his list of suitors will only expand thanks to a tremendous week at the Nike Peach Jam. The same can be said for Patrick Williams, one of the best wing prospects on the East Coast. Miller was able to see both a handful of times during the first evaluation period.

Terry Armstrong and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl are two others to keep tabs on. Armstrong is currently the top class of 2019 prospect in the state of Arizona and is also one of the top scoring wings in America. Robinson-Earl had a good showing in Atlanta in front of Miller and Arizona remains a factor despite a heated race that includes Kansas and a number of others.

Jaden McDaniels is also a top priority for the Wildcats. The top-five prospect continues to bolster his national standing as arguably one of the top two or three long-term prospects in his class. Kentucky and Duke kept a close eye on him in Augusta as did Texas, San Diego State, Oregon, UCLA, Washington and Oklahoma.

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What Archie Miller has done on the recruiting trail during his short time at Indiana is very commendable. He locked up a top-10 recruiting class during his first full year in Bloomington and has his program heavily in the mix for several of the nation’s best in the 2019 class.

The Hoosiers definitely raised some eyebrows with the commitment of Romeo Langford. Miller defeated the nation’s best for Langford but also furthered his goal of locking down the state’s border. Now, Miller will have to do it all over again during the 2019 recruiting cycle.

Trayce Jackson-Davis and Keion Brooks are five-star prospects that call the state of Indiana as home. If Miller wants to put his Big Ten foes on notice and, better yet, the rest of the nation, both must remain in-state for college. Defeating programs such as North Carolina, Michigan State, Kentucky and UCLA for either of the two will be difficult but there is a fair chance that both could commit to Indiana.