The
WAR ROOM is back and this edition is full of hoops recruiting scoop! With two huge official visits set to begin today in Charlottesville, we'll set the stage on both four-star prospects that the Cavaliers will be hosting and give you all of the latest info we're hearing on each. We'll also tell you what these visits mean for Virginia's chances to lock up the shooter and big man the staff covets in 2015 and 2016, respectively. But that's not all of the recruiting scoop, as we'll touch on one five-star in 2016 who cut his list down to five as well as a 2017 point guard that UVa is definitely interested in turning up the heat on this summer.
As always, what's said in the War Room, stays in the War Room. Let's go!
Two BIG visits this weekend
Where else could we start than with the two official visitors that UVa is expecting to host this weekend in four-star Rivals150 (2015) guard
Kenny Williams and four-star Rivals150 (2016) power forward
Mamadi Diakite. And there's plenty to talk about as far as both recruitments are concerned.
Let's start with Williams, the Chesterfield native and former VCU signee. We said
in this space last week that Florida and Michigan were lining up for visits if he wanted to take them while UVa, even though he just visited, was in the mix for the third official. We had heard that the Wolverines were fading and that UNC and UVa seemed to be the teams to beat. Well, since then Williams picked his visit dates, Billy Donovan took off for the NBA, and now it's down to just the Wahoos and Heels, meaning this will be his final official visit.
Word is that he'll leave Richmond after school today and head to Charlottesville. As of Thursday afternoon, there was still some uncertainty on who would be his host but our sources heard
London Perrantes would likely draw that task. Williams, who will be making the trip with just his mom due to his father's work schedule, is expected to stay overnight tonight and then into the day tomorrow.
Where this thing really gets interesting is that multiple sources (and not those in Charlottesville, mind you) are not only confident about Virginia's chances but we'd venture to say they are very, very confident. The Donovan news may have not only knocked UF out of the picture but also could have helped the Cavaliers seem even more attractive. After all, Williams and his family had planned for him to be at VCU before Shaka Smart's departure.
Tony Bennett and UVa have the "stability" aspect locked down and as the school closest to home, that's big.
So, why no fearless prediction if the tea leaves look this good? Simple: Not all of our sources are on the same page. For starters, those in Chapel Hill still feel very good and one key UVa source is still cautious about the Hoos here because of the "aura" that the Heels have. Simply put, Williams was surrounded by UNC fans for much of his life and whether Cavalier fans like it or not, that's a serious thing to consider here. But remember: He picked another school over UNC once before.
What we feel comfortable saying out loud is that Virginia should be seen as the
clear team to beat, if for no other reason than the fact that he's taking this OV and he's down to two. Somehow, Bennett ended up with the final visit and Williams will have been to JPJ twice since he's been to Carolina. We'd put money on a decision sometime this week.
And then there's Diakite, and man, what an odd six months or so it's been for the Blue Ridge School standout in terms of his recruitment. He really hasn't been on the recruiting radar much at all but somehow managed to sneak in two quiet visits to Washington and USC. We hear he and his parents are set to arrive earlier in the day today and stay through to Sunday. Look for him to be hosted, according to our source yesterday afternoon, by one of the big men, likely
Anthony Gill or
Isaiah Wilkins.
In talking to sources, there's still a fair amount of uncertainty about Diakite right now. Outside of the vast majority expecting UVa to be the team to beat, there just isn't a lot of solid intel on if he's planning to make a decision after this trip, if he wants to take more trips, if he wants to wait a while and think it over, etc. But what we can definitively tell you is that Diakite was ready to pull the trigger once before and had he been able to get the blessing from his family to end his recruitment, it would be over.
It's not a stretch to say both could commit to the Wahoos, though at this point we do not expect it to happen immediately. The best prognostication that we can give is that both will take at least a couple of days before there's any movement. But, considering all of the circumstances in play, it would not surprise us in the least if they made their decisions.
Making King's top five
The news of those two OVs wasn't the only bit of good the staff heard this week as one of the top players in the class of 2016, five-star wing
V.J. King trimmed his list down to five with UVa making the cut along with Arizona, Connecticut, Kentucky, and Louisville. The fact that Ohio State isn't alive here anymore was quite the eye opener for a lot of people and to say the 6-foot-7, 185-pound small forward is wide open is probably an understatement.
According to our sources, UVa continues to feel really good about this one. The visit he and his mother took to Charlottesville really opened his eyes and he sees how he could fit into what the Wahoos are doing. Maybe they're a ways off the lead here but this is far from over. At this point, sources seem confident that UL is the most likely choice but there's going to be a long way before this gets done.
The interesting wrinkle here is that, if UVa gets Williams, how does it impact their recruiting? And truth is, at one point the thought was that with him in the fold they wouldn't need to go after the 6-foot-5/6-foot-8 in 2016 who could shoot that we had heard about right after the season ended. And that guy, as it turns out, may be King. Sources were adamant Thursday (even before he trimmed his list) that UVa will not stop recruiting him if Williams commits to the Hoos. We also didn't get the vibe that the staff would stop recruiting recently offered three-star Wisconsin standout
Sam Hauser, a player that Bennett really likes.
What it could mean if Williams picks Virginia, though, is that 2016 needs are tweaked. For example, if UVa were to land both Williams and Diakite, we could see them going after King as well as Durham's
Jay Huff. Bennett saw Huff last weekend and came away liking his game, meaning the chances of UVa throwing an offer out there later on (understanding that he would redshirt his first year and give
Mike Curtis time to get him right physically) are growing.
Right now, the Cavaliers are in a great spot: Keep on doing what you're doing. Things are breaking right for them with both Williams and King, Diakite is finally going to be on Grounds with his parents, and the scholarship situation provides a lot of options going forward. All in all, the staff has it cooking right now.
New 2017 point guard offer out
Finally this week, we wanted to touch on one other news item and that was the offer UVa handed out to 2017 point guard
Trae Young, a four-star from Oklahoma currently No. 30 overall in the Rivals150.
In talking to sources, this wasn't so much about UVa's confidence level with four-star Maury point guard
Matt Coleman but rather about UVa having seen Young in action and wanting to be a factor in his recruitment. Truth be told, we still get the vibe that the Cavaliers feel very good about where things are with Coleman and he's still the guy most likely to take that spot in that class. But Young is a very good player and someone that will likely see his recruitment explode. Getting in when they did is a good move and the right one.
That is it for this week, and as always, what's said here, stays here!
.. Not NC State...