Twitter Tuesday: Shareef O'Neal's future; updates on Carton, Ramey

To say that it has been a busy week in the college basketball world would be doing a disservice to all that has occurred and will likely play out in the days and weeks ahead. Taking a step back for a second for this week’s #TwitterTuesday, we assess the potential favorites for newly available Shareef O’Neal, look at Serrel Smith’s pending future at Ole Miss and assess where things stand with top-50 guard DJ Carton and Courtney Ramey.

STARTING FIVE: Storm clouds hang over NCAA, especially at Arizona

RANKINGS: 2018 Rivals150 | 2019 Rivals150 | 2020 Rivals150 | 2018 Team | 2018 Position

Arizona lost its top 2018 pledge, Shareef O’Neal, over the weekend with the Wildcats and coach Sean Miller embroiled in a recruiting scandal. Seeing that he signed financial aid papers and did not bind his college eligibility by signing a letter of intent, the recruitment of O’Neal should be a heavily monitored one by some of college basketball’s best.

It would be safe to assume that a number of Pac-12 powers were to become heavily involved for Shaq's son. UCLA and USC make a lot of sense due to their heightened profiles and close proximity to the Southern California prospect. Oregon could make a run at O’Neal, too, thanks to his friendship with already signed five-star big man Bol Bol, as they played travel ball together last summer.

Prior to his commitment last April, O’Neal was primarily focused on the Wildcats, Kentucky and LSU. The two former finalists could jump back into the picture, too, but with there being a major need by a handful of brand name programs this winter and the dearth of talent to match, expect for O’Neal’s recruitment to be a full-fledged one with some of the top programs nationally involved.

Carton is a top-50 guard in the 2019 class and one of the best point guards nationally. While there is not a clear-cut leader for Carton at the moment, a number of Big Ten programs have begun to prioritize the Iowa native.

With a class that is lacking for premier talent, especially at the point guard position, Carton has not been short for offers or interest.

Last month, Carton visited Indiana for an unofficial visit. With the Hoosiers in need of a point guard in the 2019 class, IU will likely have a major say when it comes to his commitment.

Others to keep tabs on include Ohio State, a place that he could soon visit, Virginia, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. A commitment is not expected for the foreseeable future as Carton continues to see his recruitment bleed into a priority one for the top programs in and out of his Midwest locale.

The thinking was that once Missouri nabbed the commitment of Xavier Pinson, a 2018 point guard prospect, two weeks ago, that its interest with in-state guard Courtney Ramey would diminish. Instead, the Tigers offered the top-50 guard last week and a chance remains for Mizzou to sneak in late and nab his commitment.

Already, Ramey has officially visited Texas and Oklahoma State, while SMU, Clemson, Ohio State, South Carolina and now Missouri are just some of the programs in contention for one of his final three official visits allotted.

Things remain slow moving with Ramey when it comes to setting visits and coming to a final college decision, which would benefit Missouri even further. What also helps is that his long-time travel teammate, Torrence Watson, has already signed with the SEC program.

The recruitment of Ramey remains entirely wide open and as his high school season comes to a close, look for his remaining official visits to be scheduled and a handful of others in the unofficial variety to take place, with Missouri now squarely in the mix.

Serrel Smith, Ole Miss' top 2018 commitment, has not spoken regarding his future with the Rebels. After firing head coach Andy Kennedy two weeks ago, I would expect for the Ole Miss administration to keep Smith in tow until an official hiring is made.

A prospect, the majority of the time, attends a college due to the relationship that he has built with a school’s coaching staff. With Kennedy no longer in Oxford after this season, Smith will likely want to take a step back and readdress the best options for his collegiate playing career.

While he did sign his letter of intent in November, we have seen in the past how bad of a PR move it is when it comes to not releasing prospects without limitations. If Smith would ask for his release, he would immediately leap to the front of a number of recruiting boards as he is a talented shot-making guard that could impact a high-major program immediately due to his scoring abilities.

Whomever the Ole Miss administration does name as its head coach, his top priority must be to keep its two 2018 signees, Smith and Anthony Higgs. More than likely, each will opt to reopen their recruitment and take another look around.