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ELITE 14: Eric Bossi's takeaways from Denton
In this week’s Twitter Tuesday mailbag, we discuss Washington’s chances with its five-star targets, the recruitment of top-50 guard Boogie Ellis and North Carolina's newest offer to top-35 forward Zeke Nnaji.
Yes, I would be surprised if the Huskies don't get at least one of Isaiah Stewart and Jaden McDaniels. I'll take it a step further and say that I would be more surprised if Washington struck out on both than I would if both ended up inking with the Huskies.
Stewart will likely close out his official visits with a trip to Duke in the coming weeks. I don't expect him to sign early, but I do think we will see him make a commitment in the next few weeks. Duke, Michigan State and Kentucky have gained most of the talk, but Stewart is of a different mold. He has his greatest relationship with Washington’s Mike Hopkins, has never been afraid to go against the grain and appears to like the idea of starting something anew. Believe it or not, Washington would be my pick for Stewart.
McDaniels, on the other hand, just completed his third official visit to Texas over the weekend. Having already been to Washington and San Diego State, McDaniels will likely complete his visit tour with trips to Kentucky and UCLA in the coming weeks. Ultimately, I do not see him leaving the West Coast and Washington and San Diego State will be tough to beat.
While I do believe Boogie Ellis ends up at Duke, his recruitment is by no means a done deal. If this was a set-in stone situation, Ellis would have committed to the Blue Devils on the spot during his official visit to Durham two weeks ago.
Ellis will only get to go through this kind of college recruitment once in his life, so why not let him have his day and/or sift through the process and find the best fit for him? Let's not underestimate just how involved his other finalists really are.
North Carolina seemed to have momentum in Ellis' recruitment in September, while Memphis is a legit contender as well. San Diego State has recruited him longer than any other program, and USC offers an emerging program relatively close to his home.
I wouldn’t take North Carolina extending an offer to top-35 forward Zeke Nnaji as a sign of desperation, but rather a reconfiguring of the Tar Heels' board. I also think this is a sign of Roy Williams having an even better understanding, with a full month of practice under his belt, of what his program might need a year from now.
North Carolina will lose Luke Maye to graduation in the spring, leaving a massive hole in the frontcourt that the Tar Heels do not have an answer for right now.
Armando Bacot will enroll next year as he should be a steady producer from 15-feet and in. However, Williams has become reliant on his big men lineups and North Carolina's miss on Jeremiah Robinson-Earl made the offer to Nnaji that much more worthwhile.
The Tar Heels are a late entrant into Nnaji's recruitment as he was planning on committing on Nov. 24. His options are not in short supply and he spent all of his official visits checking out Arizona, Baylor, Kansas, Purdue and UCLA. This is not a sign of desperation but rather an indication that North Carolina is doing its due diligence to see if Nnaji might be an option to fill a need.
