MORE: Q&A with five-star big man Walker Kessler at USA Basketball
In this week’s Twitter Tuesday mailbag, we evaluate the landing spots for Quentin Grimes, discuss Kentucky’s 2021 outlook, and look at how Virginia and Providence might complete their 2020 classes.
This seems to be a two-horse race between Houston and Texas A&M. The former five-star guard and Kansas Jayhawk made his transfer official last month after withdrawing his name from the NBA Draft. From there, Grimes took unofficial visits to both programs, but since then there has been very little news coming from his camp.
Houston may be the slight favorite at this point. The draw of playing in his hometown and suiting up for one of the better programs nationally is certainly playing in the Cougars' favor. However, the Aggies can offer Grimes the chance to compete in the SEC, enjoy unlimited resources and the opportunity to have the ball in his hands early on during Buzz Williams’ first few seasons in College Station.
Look for a commitment in the coming days, and there is also a chance that Grimes could receive a waiver to play right away.
Terrence Clarke and Jonathan Kuminga, the top two prospects in the 2021 class, have offers from the Wildcats. While Kentucky just completed its roster for the upcoming season and could still take Virginia Tech grad-transfer Kerry Blackshear, John Calipari's program can now invest more time in the younger classes.
Clarke has been a top target for Kentucky for over a year now and the five-star sophomore has already taken an unofficial visit to the Lexington campus. He could potentially move into the 2020 class which speeds up his timeline towards enrolling in college, thus making it important that Kentucky, or whomever else that recruits him, put in early work with his recruitment.
Kuminga is now sitting as the top-ranked prospect in the newly updated Rivals150 and he will be a priority for the Wildcats. Whether they land him is up for debate.
Virginia made another move with its 2020 class last week with the commitment of four-star guard Reece Beekman. He joins Carson McCorkle, another member of the Rivals150, on the Cavaliers' commitment list, meaning Virginia has just one more scholarship available for 2020.
Three prospects remain heavy targets for Virginia with Jabri Abdur-Rahim the likeliest to choose the Wahoos. Following his time at the NBPA Top 100 Camp on Sunday, the top-50 wing took an unofficial visit to the ACC program. Villanova is probably the strongest threat to Virginia, but the Cavaliers are in a great spot.
Keon Johnson is another prospect that Virginia would love to have. He's down to a final three of Ohio State, Tennessee and UVA. Johnson will likely make a decision in August, with the Volunteers out in front. Finally, Walker Kessler is also a Cavs target, but with the program's frontline already fairly crowded, look for Tony Bennett to make a move with either of the bigger wings. I think Abdur-Rahim is the likeliest of the trio to end up in Charlottesville.
There is no clear-cut answer here, but the Friars have done a lot of the grunt work already with a handful of Rivals150 prospects. No one has recruited Lance Ware harder and while his recruitment is beginning to blow up, the Friars should definitely receive a visit from him. The same can be said for Niels Lane and while he has seen some of the better programs nationally jump in with offers, Ed Cooley and his staff have developed a great rapport with him and his family.
Josh Hall and Tristan Maxwell are two North Carolina natives that Providence has targeted, though Hall may be difficult to attain and Maxwell is far from a decision. R.J. Davis, Earl Timberlake, D.J. Gordon and Richard Springs are four others to keep tabs on as Providence has not been shy in going after some of the best in the 2020 class.
