The
WAR ROOM is back and this edition is full of hoops recruiting scoop! As the Cavaliers get set to head into the July evaluation period soon, there are some important visits scheduled among a host of prospects and we'll break down where things stand with each of them. We'll also take a step back and sort of set the table for where things are as things move into the thick of summer, as UVa focuses its attention on bigs in the 2016 class. But we'll also spend a moment or two touching on a pair of 2017 recruits that are very much looking forward to playing together at the next level and Virginia has positioned itself well on both fronts.
As always, what's said in the War Room, stays in the War Room. Let's go!
The picture remains unclear
Before we jump into the specifics, we wanted to step back and look at the big picture. UVa currently has what amounts to three spots to work with in what we'll call the 2016 recruiting cycle, and that includes the potential for an incoming transfer. By all accounts, the "wish list" has some flexibility but definitely includes a desire to find an athletic big man in the Darion Atkins/Akil Mitchell mold. While a lot of focus has been on the post players, there's still a possibility that the staff looks for a wing player with some length, though some of those recruitments have been trending away from the Cavaliers. Keep that in mind over the next couple of sections.
In talking to various sources over the course of the last few weeks, there are two things that we seem to be hearing regularly. The first is that there shouldn't be much of an expectation that UVa will ultimately be a factor for Sacha Killeya-Jones. While the staff loves him and his game, the reality of the situation is what it is.
Tony Bennett has always been and will always be a recruiter who likes to make moves. He's not a marathon runner, he's a sprinter. So if Killeya-Jones wants to draw this thing out, it's probably not going to work out anyway. But on top of that, being committed to the program for so long and then opening it up essentially because of how he saw himself among the other recruits in the class is going to be hard to get over. We think it's in everyone's best interest to assume, unless something dramatic changes, that Killeya-Jones will not be a Cavalier.
Status quo for Diakite?
The other thing we seem to be hearing with regularity is that four-star Rivals150 power forward
Mamadi Diakite is heavily favoring UVa. This has been a weird recruitment for a lot of reasons and chief among them is this: How can a recruit be such a heavy lean with no apparent end to his recruitment in sight? Honestly, we can't answer that one. How he and those around him have treated the process is very different than how it's traditionally done. But what we can say with a very high degree of confidence is that he really likes Virginia, more so than any team recruiting him and it's not even close. Word around the campfire is that the persistent rumor about him possibly joining the program as a 2015 recruit is something with legs, at least in terms of interest on both sides. The problem continues to be how feasible it is (or was). And at this point, we do not see it working out that. But still, it's a sure sign of his level of interest.
The issue, then, would seem to be when and there's no rumbling whatsoever lately when it comes to timing. As far as UVa goes, the Cavaliers feel comfortable right now that they're the one he favors but they will continue to recruit until he makes his decision. And our understanding is that he's aware of that reality. As far as we can tell, everything
Ron Sanchez and the Hoos are doing is exactly the right play here.
Now, as you move forward in settling the table, you sort of have to do so in two frames: One with Diakite and one without. Again, the working number is now three. So the scenarios with him include two more names and who those two are is greatly impacted by his skill set. At the same time, if he's not in the fold then the three changes a bit. And as is sometimes the case with UVa, it might end up coming down to who jumps on board next and developing the blueprint thereafter. But make no mistake: UVa wants Diakite, Diakite likes UVa, and the Cavaliers are easily the odds-on favorite at this point.
Cook and Gabriel are different options
With
Jay Huff in the fold, UVa has a variety of ways it can go with the other big men on the board. His skill set is such that the Cavaliers can go after a traditional big in addition to a more springy, athletic guy. And that's why
Tyler Cook and
Wenyen Gabriel make so much sense.
Cook, the four-star from St. Louis, appeared for a long time to be a heavy Missouri lean and we can't say he won't land there eventually. But
Brad Soderberg and UVa have positioned themselves well for the 6-foot-8, 240-pound banger. Word we've heard is that he's likely to take an official visit to Virginia over the couple of weekends, if not next weekend. Gabriel, meanwhile, is also looking to visit soon as well. We had originally heard that the trip might come after the evaluation period in July, so sometime in August, but word lately has been that it could come sooner. The Wilbraham (MA) Wilbraham and Monson standout is likely to blow up during the eval period, so bringing him in first might be UVa's best bet if the Cavaliers are serious about landing him.
Now, we'll pause here because in the same sense that Cook is a banger, Gabriel is an athletic big who could play some stretch 4 even depending on his shot continues to develop. Simply put, these two guys would really work well together. And sources say that isn't lost on the staff as they recruit them. Timing here is up in the air because there's no clear sign as far as if UVa would take them both now or not. That's largely something Bennett generally decides when the question itself is in play, much like with Huff when few really knew how serious the Cavaliers were about him.
Where the rubber might meet the road
The interesting piece in all of this is Providence transfer
Paschal Chukwu, who by all accounts will make a decision relatively soon for obvious reasons. After playing as a true freshman last season, he'll be able to sit out in 2015-2016 and then play three years wherever he lands. With trips to Kansas and Nebraska behind him, word is Chukwu has official visits to both UVa and Michigan State planned for next weekend and the beginning of the following week, respectively. There's also a very real chance that Syracuse and UConn get involved, whether visits are official or unofficial. We continue to hear that the Cornhuskers and Jayhawks shouldn't be overlooked but at the same time the Cavaliers feel good about where things are right now.
If he and when he decides, it could be the first domino in all of this that sort of sets the scene. If UVa gets him, it's one less spot to play with and the "needs" could be tweaked. As they have in the past, the Wahoos will act accordingly.
Our best guess right now is that if Chukwu follows up on plans to visit MSU and potentially Cuse and UConn, UVa's chances probably are slim to none. If that happens, don't be surprised to see the Cavaliers really focus on the 2016 kids. But like we said, they feel confident right now according to multiple sources.
Another wildcard?
And then there's
Matthew Freeman, the New Zealand native who UVa is interested in as well. As we touched on earlier this week, we get the sense he's very much on the radar but to what degree UVa would favor him over the aforementioned options is very much TBD. He's a guy a lot like Gabriel in terms of his skillet, so that's something to keep in mind as we move forward.
Again, the numbers here and timing will help dictate a lot. Should UVa make a push and land him, it's going to cause a ripple effect. That's likely why such a move hasn't happened yet. We still get the sense that UVa is highest on the four players mentioned above but recruiting moves fast; should something change we could see the attention turning to Freeman in a hurry.
Already looking at 2017
Before we ended this week's edition, we wanted to touch on two rising junior prospects that UVa is already really making a hard push to get and that's
Trae Young and
Michael Porter. Young, the four-star point guard from Oklahoma, is the No. 30 overall player in the 2017 class while Porter, of course, is the five-star from Missouri that's currently No. 2 overall.
Credit four-star UVa commit
Kyle Guy (who will be at Top 100 Camp this week along with fellow future Wahoo
Ty Jerome) for doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. Truth be told, Virginia would be recruiting these guys anyway but the degree of success probably wouldn't be as high.
Porter and Young have said publicly that they want to play together in college and word is Porter will spend some time on a visit next week outside of the camp. Guy and Porter have been best friends for a long time, setting up a situation where the Cavaliers could be in the mix for something really special. While much of the PG recruiting talk in 2017 has centered on four-star prospect
Matt Coleman, and rightfully so, the potential with Young and Porter should not be discounted. Though there is obviously a long way to go in all three recruitments, this is one package deal that we expect will actually come to fruition and the Hoos are positioned well right now. But it also shows that despite some fans worrying that Virginia won't take on-court success and start going after top-flight recruits, the Cavaliers are already making moves two classes ahead. Now the next step, of course, is locking up commitments and that'll be something to keep an eye over the next year and a half or so.
That is it for this week, and as always, what's said here, stays here!
