The 2021 class is beginning to garner more and more attention thanks to next season’s rosters being close to completed for a number of programs. In this week’s Wednesday’s Leftovers, we tackle such topics as the likelihood that Paolo Banchero and Kennedy Chandler team up in college, suitors for Moussa Cisse, leaders for Harrison Ingram and much more.
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I am going to bet against it because very rarely do we see two five-star prospects go through with their original plans of attending college together. That is not to say that their friendship and hopes of teaming up at the next level aren’t real. However, there are just so many dynamics that go into two prospects choosing the same school together as far as comfort level, location, fit, role and other unforeseen influences that go unnoticed.
Kennedy Chandler and Paolo Banchero each published their final school lists last week with Duke, Kentucky and Tennessee appearing on both. If they do find a way to make it work, it might come as a surprise, but Tennessee has the best chance, at least in my eyes, in paring the two together.
There is still is some time before a decision is made from either, but the Vols should like where they sit with Chandler. The question then becomes if Chandler can influence Banchero enough to leave his Pacific Northwest locale and attend the SEC program alongside him? I do not believe Banchero would pick Tennessee if it weren’t for Chandler but I also know that he is heavily impressed by Rick Barnes’ developmental background and the facilities at UT.
If not Tennessee, maybe Kentucky keeps the two together but, for now, I will say they go their separate ways with Chandler picking the Vols and Banchero choosing their rivals in the Bluegrass State.
I don’t want to be a downer, Jack, but Georgetown’s chances are very slim. Sure, the Hoyas did make the final six for top-10 junior Moussa Cisse, news that we broke last Friday, but I don’t see it adding up in favor of the Big East bunch.
Now, Cisse is very intrigued by the chance of playing for Patrick Ewing and they have been involved with him for much longer compared to some of his other finalists but it remains more of an uphill battle. Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU and Memphis round out his list.
He has only visited Florida State in the official variety, while he has been on the campuses at Memphis and UK in the unofficial form this winter. A member of the 2021 class, the plan is for Cisse to complete his coursework this month and then make the decision on whether to reclassify a year up.
If he does make such a move and official visits are then allowed, look for Cisse to visit the schools that he has not visited yet. LSU sits as the program to beat. If he remains in the 2021 class, then it is more of a guessing game for who he chooses with a commitment timeline that could take longer to play out.
While there was some talk that Harrison Ingram was close to committing last month, that is far from the truth. The expectation is for Ingram to release another school list in the coming weeks and that a commitment wouldn’t be made until, at the earliest, the fall.
That is nothing to take away from Stanford’s choices. One should believe that recently committed guard Isa Silva has been in Ingram’s ear for the past few weeks about joining him in Palo Alto.
Stanford is involved for Rivals150 juniors Stevie Mitchell, Jaylen Blakes, Langston Love, Trey Patterson, and Matthew Cleveland.
The Cardinal have a very good chance with Ingram but if things ended today, I would actually side with Purdue. No one has recruited him harder than the Boilermakers and their mix of academics and winning has intrigued Ingram. Do not count out Kansas, Louisville, Memphis, North Carolina or Texas A&M, either, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if a few other blue bloods entered the picture.
Jaden Akins, primarily because the four-star guard is much closer to a decision compared to Max Christie or Charles Bediako. The former already discussed his commitment timeline with Rivals.com two weeks ago and that the earliest he could see himself selecting a school is in the fall, if not much later. Michigan State may be the leader right now, but the competition for him remains tough in which Duke, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, Villanova and Virginia sit as suitors.
Bediako remains more of a guessing game at this time. His recruitment is all over the place and while there was a feeling that, during the winter, he could make the move into the 2020 class, it seems now that he will remain in his original 2021 graduating class. In doing so, his recruitment remains wider open compared to others, though the Spartans are in a good spot which is only enhanced by his families ties to the region.
Akins is a lead guard that would ease many of MSU’s needs in the backcourt. His last unofficial visit before the pandemic set in was to East Lansing. Others including DePaul, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri and Xavier are also in the picture.
We are already seeing the direct impact as far as early commitments. I detailed such activities last week in my Three-Point Play article, but it should be noted that, at this time last year, there was just nine commitments from members of the 2020 class. Today, there are 37 from the 2021 class and that number could grow.
Among the Rivals150, members of the junior class are committing as if they have been given a timeline to do so and if not, programs will move onto the next target on its board. However, who this lack of a summer could really impact is those that were on the cusp of their breakout. If summer play was canceled last year, we might not know the names of KK Robinson, RJ Davis, or Jordan Geronimo.
Furthermore, DJ Steward doesn’t enjoy a blue blood recruitment, Lance Ware doesn’t receive the Kentucky offer, and Nimari Burnett doesn’t become Texas Tech’s first ever McDonald’s All-American. Now, either offer lists are remaining as they are, or recruitments that would have been kick-started thanks to the live periods, has failed to take off.
The ramifications are endless and the trickle-down effect cannot be measured until years down the line. Whether it is failed evaluations, recruits being forced to commit to a programs sight unseen, or schools incorrectly opting towards the transfer realm compared to the high school platform, no summer recruiting could entirely change the complexion of the game and who the best are within it.
