While the holidays brought time for family and eating, coaching staffs across the nation hit the road in attempting to round out their rosters for next season. In this week’s Wednesday’s Leftovers, we take a close look at Duke and an even larger 2020 class, the outlook at Memphis for next season and the avenues Makur Maker could take.
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I think that it is a possibility. A seven-man class would be a big one even for Duke’s sake, but it was nearly within grasp before Hunter Dickinson chose Michigan over the Blue Devils last week.
Will Duke look to the backcourt or will another frontline prospect be the route it takes? It would seem that the latter is the avenue it goes down. Mark Williams is going to be absolutely awesome but the feeling is that Duke wouldn’t mind having another in the low-post.
While they are currently not pursuing any other 2020 prospects, if they so deem fit, could attempt to reclassify Canadian junior Charles Bediako. The four-star prospect picked up a Duke offer earlier this month. He told Rivals.com that the offer was for either year of enrollment, as in 2020 or 2021. The feeling is that Bediako would rather wait until 2021 to enroll but it is never easy to decline the blue blood whenever they come calling. Now, it will all depend on which year Duke might ultimately want him to enroll.
Keep an eye on the grad-transfer front this spring, that is if the Blue Devils wants to add more experience to their roster, or the decommitment front following various coaching changes.
Listen, I understand your cause for concern. Not many times do we see a program land the nation’s top recruiting class in the spring and the next year, fail to land a single prospect. That is going to change.
I will say this though, by taking a glance at Memphis’ roster and with James Wiseman no longer on it, who else will not return to the program next year? Precious Achiuwa, for sure, and Isaiah Maurice will graduate, but I actually believe that the Tigers will be better next year, despite their recruiting misses this fall.
I do believe Memphis will strike at least twice this spring. If all things work out accordingly and Jalen Green goes to college, I am confident that his enrollment will be at Memphis. They are also a legitimate suitor for Greg Brown, who will visit this weekend, and have made up ground with Karim Mane.
Also, they will have an easy pitch to make to any grad-transfer this spring seeing that only a piece or two would be needed for the Tigers to enter next season with major aspirations for March success if everyone does return outside of Achiuwa.
Since the spring, the likelihood that Makur Maker would actually step foot onto a college campus in the fall of 2020 was minimal, at best. For a variety of reasons, there is now a chance that he could actually delay the professional path and play a year in college. Currently, Maker and his circle are attempting to notch the particular boxes that would allow for him to enter the NBA Draft in June, though the dilemma surrounds gaining proper clearances regarding the year that he graduated high school.
Should he go to college, the schools most talked about are Auburn and Oregon. The Ducks have recruited Maker for the longest and have invested the most in his recruitment and while it would make for one of the crazier stories, Howard has already hosted Maker for an official visit and remains involved.
Expect for the recruitment of Maker to go on for several more months.
Jaylen Clark just got back onto the playing floor Monday due to transfer restrictions that barred him from playing with his new Etiwanda High unit for the first portion of the high school season. One of the best wing prospects available, I would expect for his recruitment to now pick up, but it is a bit perplexing with how limited his options currently are.
In the fall, Clark was all but set to commit to New Mexico. For one reason or another, his pledge never came and then Colorado, who was also heavily involved, fell out of contention which made Clark reset his recruitment entirely.
The two schools in contact with him the most now are Arizona and Oklahoma. Sean Miller was front and center for him on Monday and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Wildcats ramped up their attention towards the four-star wing. Don’t sleep on Oklahoma, either, as Clark told Rivals.com that he is expected to take an official visit to Norman on Jan. 24.
His recruitment won’t come down to just the Wildcats and Sooners; I expect for many others to nudge their way into the picture. Look for Clark to take a handful of visits following his trip to OU and then make his college decision sometime in the spring.
