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In this week’s Twitter Tuesday mailbag, Rivals.com basketball recruiting analyst Corey Evans take a deeper look at the recruitment of elite post Isaiah Stewart, evaluates Illinois’ chances in the 2019 class, check out where things sit with Jaden McDaniels and the predict where Scottie Lewis will land.
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Isaiah Stewart's recruitment will be one of the more interesting ones to follow as the fall months approach. The top-five prospect is down to a final six of Indiana, Michigan State, Syracuse, Washington, Villanova and Duke, however a visit from Kentucky’s John Calipari last week has muddied the waters a bit.
Michigan State and Duke are the two to beat, not Villanova, though it is not too far behind. Stewart will take his first official visit to Washington this weekend, and he might have the best relationship out of anyone recruiting him with Mike Hopkins. Kentucky is the complete wildcard. If the Wildcats do decide to pursue Stewart, watch out.
I don't expect the Illini to land a top-50 commitment at this point, but it's certainly possible. The two that they have the best shot with are Terrence Shannon and E.J. Liddell as both prospects will visit the Champaign campus this weekend.
Illinois is in the final three for Liddell as Missouri and Ohio State remain in the hunt. No clear leader has emerged yet, so his recruitment looks to be a total toss-up.
Shannon, a top-50 wing that is taking a prep year at IMG this fall, just visited Texas Tech over the weekend and will return to his home state and see Illinois this weekend. I would say that Florida State is the team to beat, but his trip to the Illini could change some things. Shannon played with the same program team as Ayo Dosunmu, Illinois’ star-studded freshman.
The Illini are also involved with Oscar Tshiebwe, Drew Timme and Kofi Cockburn but are fighting uphill battles on all three fronts.
Shannon and Liddell represent Illinois' best chance at a top-50 signee in 2019. For now, I say it there's a 50-50 chance that Brad Underwood’s crew leaves the fall with the signing of a top-50 prospect.
Jaden McDaniels has kept his recruitment close to vest and it has been difficult to get a great read on where things stand.
What we do know is that Washington, Texas, San Diego State, Oklahoma, UCLA and Arizona are the programs that have laid the greatest groundwork with him, but the Kentucky Wildcats represent a wildcard. UK, while it has not offered just yet, completed an in-home visit with McDaniels and his family last Thursday.
McDaniels has not scheduled any official visits yet. I expect that he will wait until the spring to sign, and that delayed timeline could benefit Kentucky, as it would give the Wildcats more time to establish an even better rapport with him and his family.
Scottie Lewis' recruitment is coming down to the wire and, after completing an official visit to Kentucky yesterday, it looks as if this battle is really between Florida or Kentucky, though he is down to a final group of seven schools.
While many believe this is a done deal for the Gators, that is not the case. Florida definitely has momentum as Lewis has visited the Gators' campus a number of times throughout the years and his good friend and teammate, Alex Klatsky, just accepted a preferred walk-on spot at UF beginning next fall.
However, Kentucky is still Kentucky. The Wildcats already hold two commitments from backcourt prospects in Tyrese Maxey and Kahlil Whitney, but I can't imagine that Lewis would be turned off by competition.
I see good things ahead for the Gators, though Mike White and his staff will be sweating it out until Lewis says yes to Florida.
