Twitter Tuesday: Kentucky, Pitt, A.J. Hoggard, Ohio State, UConn
In this week’s Twitter Tuesday, we look at what's next for Kentucky, Pitt’s realistic 2020 outlook, how Ohio State and UConn can enhance their success rate and the latest with Makur Maker.
Starting Five: Five-star Banchero's list, changes for 5-star Burnett
2020 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
2021 Rankings: Rivals150
Isaiah Jackson might be the next Kentucky target to commit, but he still has two visits to make in over the next 45 days before he comes to a decision.
Where the Wildcats must strike next is at the lead guard position or in the frontcourt. Last week's commitments of Terrence Clarke and Lance Ware were huge, but Kentucky has a void at the lead guard spot. I don’t see the Wildcats landing Cade Cunningham, but they could push for the reclassification of top-10 junior Devin Askew. A visit will be made to Lexington sometime this winter but a commitment of any sort will not be made until the spring.
In the frontcourt, outside of Jackson, no one looks to be ready to end their recruitment anytime soon. Isaiah Todd might be the closest, but Kansas and North Carolina have garnered most of the buzz with him. Greg Brown won’t visit campus until January and Scottie Barnes is viewed as a Florida State or Oregon lean. Cliff Omoruyi is primarily the lone true center that Kentucky is recruiting and unless he picks the Wildcats, the grad-transfer realm, 2021 reclassification or a decommitment this spring might be the best route again to fill their five-man need.
Not very. I would be surprised if Pitt landed more than two of the four names that you mentioned. That is not to say that the Panthers cannot, but it is going to be an absolute battle to land just one of the group.
Of those discussed, R.J. Davis is the likeliest. He will head to campus this weekend and the Panthers sit in a good spot with the prolific scorer. They will have to defeat Georgetown, Marquette and North Carolina for his fall signing.
Earl Timberlake has two more official visits to take to Seton Hall and North Carolina before deciding. Providence is the sneaky leader for Timberlake, but I don't think he even knows where he is going to land just yet.
Noah Collier had a good trip to Pitt earlier this month and the Panthers are battling California and Clemson for him. His decision is not too far away. On the other hand, Omoruyi is in the middle of his visit tour. Pitt hosted him in the unofficial variety and while a commitment is not near, the Panthers have much more work to complete before they should feel good with where they stand.
A group consisting of Davis and Collier, with possibly D.J. Gordon and John Hugley would be a lot likelier.
A.J. Hoggard just visited Michigan State this past weekend, and in recent weeks, has been on the campuses at Ole Miss and Providence. With two more official visits to take, he will travel to Marquette first, and then end things at Florida.
Michigan State was the perceived leader heading into his trip over the weekend, though a visit to East Lansing without a commitment could have changed things. The Spartans do have a major need in the backcourt, which might pique Hoggard’s interests. Look for him to wrap up his visit tour this weekend and then come to a decision sometime in the coming weeks.
Zed Key or Zach Loveday. Key visited the Big Ten program two weeks ago and the Buckeyes have made up major ground and could even be thought of as the leader for him. Loveday, on the other hand, just completed his second official visit to Baylor within the past six months. He also visited Louisville two weeks ago and is expected on the Buckeyes' campus this weekend. From there, a decision is expected with it being more of a battle between the Buckeyes and Bears for him. Mark Williams is more of a long shot, and Dawson Garcia is not expected to commit until the spring, but it looks as if Buckeyes could land Key or Loveday before October hits.
Kadary Richmond. The four-star guard has narrowed his recruitment down to Oregon, Seton Hall, St. John’s and UConn, with Dan Hurley’s bunch in the best spot to land the him. Richmond is a long-armed, gifted scorer that is a good athlete, can take on secondary playmaking responsibilities and also defend more than just one position.
Beyond Richmond, the Huskies remain involved for Cam Thomas and Niels Lane, but they are also playing catch-up with both. Thomas will visit Auburn next week but LSU has the momentum. For Lane, he will head to Texas next week but Florida has gained most of the talk of late.
The lack of information out there is primarily because coaches don’t want to waste their time with so much chatter that Makur Maker could skip college and instead play professionally next fall. College is still a definite option for Maker and has agreed to take his first official visit to Howard next month.
Oregon, Kentucky and Kansas are possible landing spots for Maker, but not many want to invest their time on a prospect that may not even attend college. For someone of Maker’s national stature, one would think that there would be greater interest shown from coaches, but maybe his first official visit could signify actually interest on his part to attending college which may lead to a more prioritized recruitment.