Wednesday's Leftovers: Dishing on Pitt, St. John's, Alabama and more
RANKINGS: 2019 Rivals150 | 2020 Rivals150 | 2019 Team Rankings
STARTING FIVE: Zeke Nnaji trims list, big decisions coming
We missed some of your questions in yesterday’s #TwitterTuesday, but we've managed to get around to a few of them in Wednesday’s Leftovers. Today, we take a look at what the next few months could mean for Pitt, St. John’s, Alabama and Illinois, evaluate Virginia’s sophomore commit and take a look at the dilemma facing the Atlantic 10 Conference.
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Frontcourt, frontcourt, frontcourt is the name of the game for the Panthers in the 2019 class. There are no sure-fire bets for Pitt with any of its targets, but if there is one prospect that I feel best about playing his college career at the Pete, it would be Anthony Walker. Beating Rhode Island, VCU, Illinois and Miami will be difficult, but I think Jeff Capel and his staff have it in them.
Qudus Wahab would be next, and he recently cut his list to a final five of Pitt, Virginia Tech, Syracuse, UConn and Georgetown. Akok Akok might be difficult to secure, as will Kofi Cockburn, but the Panthers have begun to place greater attention into the recruitment of three-star center Karim Coulibaly.
Walker is the likeliest Pitt pledge this fall, and Wahab or Ajak are looking like the next two possibly within its grasp.
Illinois missed on EJ Liddell on Monday, which definitely hurts some but all is not lost in Champaign. Thanks to enrolling six freshmen this fall, the 2019 class doesn't need to be a large one.
The one prospect that I do see headlining its class is Terrence Shannon. The top-50 wing has already visited Texas Tech and will head to Georgetown this weekend. Throw in Florida State and the competition is, stiff but I see the Illini getting it done.
I do not like their chances with Oscar Tshiebwe or this week’s visitor to Champaign, Quincy Guerrier, so look for Shannon to be the lone fall signee with more work being done during the winter and spring months, similar to last year after they signed Ayo Dosunmu.
I would give the Red Storm a 60 percent chance with Al-amir Dawes. St. John's has remained empty-handed this fall, and while it remains involved with Precious Achiuwa, Kofi Cockburn, Lester Quinones and Aidan Igiehon, Dawes is likely its best bet for a class of 2019 pick-up this fall. The Red Storm will host the Rivals150 guard for an official visit on Oct. 12. He has already visited Clemson and Providence, but I like their chances here with the local product out of New Jersey.
Virginia raised some eyebrows last month with the commitment of not a 2019 or 2020 prospect, but rather a sophomore target in Carson McCorkle. The 6-foot-3 guard is a sturdy, savvy, skilled and multi-positional prospect in the backcourt who can play either guard spot.
He was originally a member of the 2020 class before reclassifying last year and making the move into the 2021 class, but he did tell Rivals.com that he could move back into the 2020 class and enroll a year earlier than expected in the future.
Regardless, Wahoos’ fans should expect a shot-making guard who can make the appropriate play on the perimeter. There are shades of a younger Ty Jerome, and if he can grow a bit more and work on his athleticism, McCorkle could be able to plug a number of holes in Charlottesville.
Top-25 recruiting classes are becoming the norm for Avery Johnson in Tuscaloosa, and he has done it again this fall, thanks to the commitments of three Rivals150 prospects, the latest being elite shooter Jaden Shackelford. The Crimson Tide have hit on many of their needs this fall with Shackelford, Juwan Gary and Jaylen Forbes, but I would expect the final piece to come in the frontcourt.
Their top two targets remain Trendon Watford and Drew Timme. I see the Tide as a top-three favorite for each, and they are picking up ground with Watford, who has remained adamant about not signing until the spring. On the other hand, I can see Timme signing this fall. Texas A&M and Gonzaga are the two others that need to be accounted for, primarily. The Tide will not get both and could strike out on each, but the chances of Alabama securing one of the five-star prospects should be placed around 50 percent.
Rivals150 junior Zeb Jackson narrowed his school list to a group of seven last month, and Michigan, Butler, Ohio State, Marquette, Arizona State, Purdue and Michigan State made the cut. There was talk about an early commitment before even releasing the list, and all signs pointed toward Butler.
Since then, he has backed off such plans and just this past weekend took an unofficial visit to Michigan. Marquette will host him for his first official visit this weekend. However, Butler, Ohio State and Michigan may be the three to beat, and the Buckeyes have picked up some major momentum in recent weeks. I would say that a commitment should be expected much earlier than others in his class.
Great question. It just comes down to success when it matters the most: during the NCAA Tournament. The Atlantic 10 needs to not only receive multiple bids but also see more than one of its teams reach the Sweet 16 or further. That has become the norm for leagues such as the ACC, Big Ten or Big 12.
Also, the Atlantic 10 needs to see facility upgrades, higher salaries for the coaches, charter flights to away contests and a number of teams to make a mark in recruiting the Rivals150. It is difficult that those among the top of the league can buy non-conference games while the lower-rung programs can't.
If the proper buy-in can be made by the powers that be at some of the consistently unsuccessful programs and if wins are had in March, we could see the Atlantic 10 as more of a destination league rather than a fallback conference.