Rivals.com's #TwitterTuesday mailbag returns, as National Analyst Eric Bossi answers readers' questions about a new NCAA rule, Tennessee's 2017-2018 outlook, Providence recruiting and more.
First of all, this is a great catch by one of our readers and something that should be considered a relatively big deal.
Look, we all know that recruits come into contact with former (often famous) players on official and unofficial visits all the time. It’s always been a bit of a joke that we have to pretend they don’t talk to each other, and it’s an even bigger joke that they weren’t allowed to speak with each other.
According to proposal 2016-28 on page 20 of this report, it will be permissible for prospective athletes to have contact with former players, and that’s how it should be. Who better to give a prospect a good idea of what to expect than former players?
Now, the rub is that institutions aren’t supposed to arrange those meetings, but that’s easy enough to avoid. So now a player can meet Michael Jordan on a visit to Carolina and talk about it. If they catch Anthony Davis in a pickup game at Kentucky, we don’t have to give it the if-a-tree-fell-in-the-forest treatment.
Bottom line, this will help create some very nice recruiting weekends and opportunities for schools whose former stars like to come back to campus. If schools without stars don’t like it, well, then they will need to develop some stars to bring back and help with recruiting.
The addition of Daniel, a high-scoring graduate transfer from Howard, should be a valuable one. You can never quite tell how much of an impact a guy coming from a lower-level program can make during a jump to a conference like the SEC, but we are talking about a guy who scored 1,933 points in basically three seasons of action. He’s a high-volume shooter who will have to adjust to not being able to take any shot he wants, but he should add offensive pop.
The key to Tennessee making the tournament in 2017-18, though, is the development of their freshman class. In Grant Williams, it has a future SEC star whom we underrated coming out of high school. Jordan Bone and Jordan Bowden both showed flashes of brilliance, and the Vols had a bunch of other young players who had very bright moments in some tough losses.
So, could Daniel push the Vols over the edge? Yes. But the development of that core freshman class is more important, and they will get it done and lead Rick Barnes and the Volunteers back to the NCAA Tournament.
If there is one thing I’ve learned not to do in recruiting, it is underestimate Providence head coach Ed Cooley. Not only has he proven he can land very good players -- 11 four-star or better prospects since 2012 -- but he also has an eye for finding under-the-radar guys and developing them.
Currently, the Friars have offers out to several members of the 2018 Rivals150 including Immanuel Quickley, Devon Dotson, Keldon Johnson, A.J. Reeves, David Duke, Keyontae Johnson, Kiyon Boyd, Noah Locke, Cole Swider, Jeenathan Williams, Khavon Moore, Nate Laszewski, Jake Forrester, Darius Days and others. It’s a bit of a shotgun approach, but I like the effort by Cooley and his staff to make sure players are mentioning the Friars.
Shooting guard A.J. Reeves (Villanova is also in there deep) stands out as one that they are in great position with early, and if they can get him then they might be able to swing a package of him and guard David Duke. We’ll see who else they can get deep into the mix for, but I’d be surprised if Cooley and his staff can’t at least replicate previous success. Will they pull three Rivals150 players like in 2017? We’ll see, but I’m going to wager they land at least two.
First of all, we are in it for the long haul with Pete Nance as a prospect. He needs strength and to be more productive at times, but his overall skill and bloodlines (father and brother are NBA talents) are too much to ignore.
This one is coming down to the trio of Michigan, Northwestern and Ohio State, he could have a decision relatively soon. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he decides before June finishes up. Ohio State is running behind with the Wolverines and Wildcats pretty much neck and neck. If forced to make a call I’d probably lean in the direction of Ann Arbor, but it’s close.
This is a great question. Currently, there is one player who stands out to me as an absolute must get for Mike Hopkins in his first year at Washington, and that’s top-50 shooting guard Kevin Porter.
The Huskies have long dominated Seattle area recruiting and are already in deep with Porter. With him being the best senior-to-be in the area, he’s the guy that stands out. Luckily for Hopkins, he’s made a strong first impression with Porter, and assistant coach Will Conroy is a big brother figure as well. UCLA could provide some stiff competition, but Porter is exactly the kind of kid that that the Huskies have almost always landed and that makes him a must-get.
Local offers have also been extended to three-star wings Emmitt Matthews and Erik Stevenson, and it would be a poor sign if the Huskies couldn’t close on at least one of those two prospects. After that, Hopkins deserves some time for us to see who he has really zeroed in on during July and to go from there.
