EVANS' TAKEAWAYS: Nike EYBL circuit concludes in Dallas
In this week’s Twitter Tuesday mailbag, we take a deeper look at Kansas’ forward hunt, check into Kentucky's frontline, discuss the chase for Hunter Dickinson and chop up the ongoing recruitment of Villanova transfer Jahvon Quinerly.
Silvio De Sousa's return does little to impact Kansas' pursuit of Jalen Wilson. The Jayhawks had a major hole to fill at the power forward spot which only could have been filled by De Sousa due to the limited amount of college-ready big men available this spring. They will continue to pursue N’Faly Dante, though, as he could potentially reclassify into the 2019 class, but he is no longer a must-have prospect for Kansas thanks to De Sousa’s return.
Regarding Wilson, the small forward position remains a major need for Kansas. Missing on Precious Achiuwa really hurt the Jayhawks, and Wilson is intrigued by the opportunities available at his position in Lawrence. He visits KU this week and is expected to visit North Carolina in the coming days. While others such as Florida, Michigan and Oklahoma State remain involved, the best bet is that he will not get past mid-June without giving his verbal commitment which will likely be celebrated by the Jayhawks.
I do and they definitely should. E.J. Montgomery would have an opportunity to flourish as a sophomore. While he might not make for the giant leap in production that P.J. Washington enjoyed this past year, a hole remains at the power forward position that Montgomery would have first dibs on. His numbers last season also weren’t up to par compared to other potential NBA Draft picks, so a college return could give Montgomery the chance to play up to his talent level and earn a guaranteed contract next June.
Nick Richards is the only legitimate center on the Wildcats' roster outside of Bucknell transfer Nate Sestina and is therefore one of the most important players in the program right now. Richards will be 22-years-old next June so he could feel a bit rushed in speeding up his professional clock. However, he has never averaged more than six points or five rebounds a game throughout a season and his return might be just what he needs to create the positive momentum to a more buzzworthy draft selection next year.
Louisville has been in contention for Hunter Dickinson for the past several months, maybe not to the degree that Notre Dame and Purdue have been, but the Cardinals are definitely one of the programs to watch. They have remained a strong presence in Washington, D.C. despite the program's recent coaching change and would love to continue to mine the talented region with Dickinson being the starting point. He will head to Louisville for an official visit soon and the Cardinals will have a chance to impress the four-star center. A commitment is not expected any time soon and the thought is that it will be difficult to defeat Notre Dame or Purdue, but Louisville can't be counted out.
I am going to stick with Pittsburgh for Jahvon Quinerly but I'm not entirely confident in that prediction just yet. He was impressed by his visit to Alabama, as the Tide sold him the idea replacing of Kira Lewis once he departs for the NBA. However, Pitt will host Quinerly tomorrow and no one has a longer standing relationship with him than Jeff Capel. Arkansas and Georgia remain involved, too, as Eric Musselman is hoping that Quinerly will be his next tremendous transfer talent to go on to star at a second-chance home.
Look for Quinerly to make a college decision next month.
