Twitter Tuesday: UGA's momentum, UK's frontcourt plan, Duke's PG
RANKINGS: 2019 Rivals150 | 2019 Team rankings | 2019 Position rankings
Another major piece is off the 2019 recruiting board thanks to Anthony Edwards’ commitment to Georgia on Monday. In this week’s #TwitterTuesday, we take a deeper dive into whether Georgia is primed for recruiting success, Kentucky’s frontcourt pursuit, how Duke would go about replacing Tre Jones, and Memphis’ fight to add another Rivals150 prospect.
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That's the $1 million question, right? Many have pondered why the best in the state of Georgia can’t stay home for their college ball. Anthony Edwards will be a phenomenal case study.
However, Georgia won’t be able to add a whole lot more during the 2019 cycle as the remaining talent is rather depleted, though it could receive a visit from Rivals150 guard Harlond Beverly in the week ahead. Georgia holds signatures of Rivals150 seniors Toumani Camara and Jaykwon Walton, two prospects that should make for a positive impact immediately next season.
Their 2020 class could be when the Bulldogs make another statement, and while they are not in a good spot for five-star Georgia natives BJ Boston and Sharife Cooper, might Walker Kessler be their next in-state win? The Bulldogs prioritized him early in the process, his father and uncle played for the program and UGA was his favorite school growing up. Defeating the bluebloods will be a difficult task, though.
Keep tabs on Jabri Abdur-Rahim, a top-50 junior and the nephew of assistant Amir Abdur-Rahim. Just as well, Rivals150 prospects Brandon Harris, KD Johnson and Deivon Smith, each Peach State natives, could be in the cards for what could be another building block class in 2020.
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Nick, I think that they’re going to do both and actually, besides attempting to reclassify either Isaiah Todd or N’Faly Dante, and add a grad-transfer this spring, also try to land someone in the mold of Jaden McDaniels and/or Matthew Hurt.
Either way, expect for a very busy spring for the Wildcats as they will need to add at least two more in patching together what could be another national title contending unit for the 2019-2020 season.
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Will this be 2015 all over again for the Blue Devils? Tyus Jones dominated March and made the decision to leap to the NBA after just one year in college. Just like his brother, Tre Jones was expected to return for his sophomore season but it looks as if, thanks to his building resume and the lackluster draft upcoming, he too could be leaving campus after just one year.
If this is the case, Duke is still not limited in the backcourt. It will enroll Wendell Moore, a playmaking wing, and Boogie Ellis, a more-than-serviceable facilitator, though he is more of a shot-maker than playmaker first.
Coach K could attempt to get back into the Cole Anthony race, although overcoming all of the work that Oregon and UNC have invested might be too difficult. Outside of Anthony, the point guard class has been decimated, so waiting until the spring for the grad-transfer market to work itself out, or decommitments to occur following the coaching carousel, could be another avenue Duke heads down.
If all else fails, the Blue Devils could attempt to work on reclassifying RJ Hampton, a five-star junior that narrowed his school list last week with Duke making the final cut. There was talk about Hampton making such a move last year, but it seems as if Hampton is set on returning for his senior year of high school in the fall.
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Memphis has not been short on showing interest in some of the top remaining prospects in the 2019 class this winter. It has already secured the commitments of Rivals150 prospects James Wiseman, DJ Jeffries and Malcolm Dandridge, though each can be found in the frontcourt, so picking up a guard is of the utmost importance.
The Tigers are a heavy contender for Trendon Watford and I do believe they are in the thick of it with the top-20 forward, though LSU has gained most of the talk of late. Figuring out the situation surrounding Precious Achiuwa has not been the easiest and while he could end up at Memphis, it is still too early to predict as Kansas, St. John’s, UConn and UNC remain involved.
This leads us to Damion Baugh and Lester Quinones. The former recently cut his recruitment to a final three as TCU and Texas Tech round out his list. The Red Raiders are seen as the favorite but might the lure of staying home for college be enough for Baugh to pledge to the Tigers? I would keep an eye on that one.
Quinones, who was a travel teammate of Achiuwa’s last summer, just cut his list to a final seven. LSU was thought to be the favorite this winter but Memphis may have caught his eye some. He will not be committing until the spring and will likely visit the AAC program before doing as such. I do think Memphis has a chance with Quinones, as both he and Baugh are the likeliest to be heading there.
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