The WAR ROOM is back and this quick-hitting edition is full of hoops recruiting scoop! We’ll dive into some of the info coming out of last weekend’s live period, which was the sole opportunity for coaches to evaluate players this spring. We’ll also get into the latest on what we’re hearing on a certain five-star wing who has UVa squarely on his radar as well as discuss the dominoes that will start falling for the Wahoos soon in terms of next year’s roster. Lastly, we’ll touch on the big in-home visit Virginia conducted this week.
As always, what's said in the War Room, stays in the War Room. Let's go!
Nuggets coming out of the spring’s lone live period
We’ll start with last weekend, which saw the staff camp out in Atlanta and Dallas including Tony Bennett splitting his time between the two locations, though spending more time in the Peach State. We went into last weekend telling you that four-star point guard Reece Beekman was the guy we thought the staff wanted most and nothing about the live period changed that opinion. In fact, it only bolstered it. Bennett spent a good amount of his EYBL time watching the 6-foot-3, 170 pounder and reviews continued to be very good. There’s no doubt that the staff is doing all it can to make sure Beekman, No. 89 nationally right now, knows that he’s their top guy at the point. We’ve said before that fit is important and we hear UVa is very comfortable with the way he fits UVa as well as how he and three-star commit [https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2020/carson-mccorkle-182081]Carson McCorkle (who had a really nice outing on Sunday at the Gauntlet) would pair together.
If we had to pick one player who has yet to pick up an offer who could be in line for one relatively soon, it’s probably Jabri Abdur-Rahim, the 6-foot-6 forward from Blair Academy. No. 42 in the class of 2020, UVa saw him plenty over the weekend and he’s someone who has impressed at times. Consistency is going to be important for him, at least as far as UVa’s pursuit, next time the staff gets to watch him in person. That being said, it’s worth noting that once our sources start talking about looking for consistency, that’s typically the tell-tale sign that guys are really close to the offer. We’ll have to wait and see if that’s the case here.
Elsewhere, sources said that the staff spent time seeing “the usual suspects” but the two names that seem most intriguing right now outside of Beekman and four-star wing Keon Johnson (who Virginia continues to recruit as hard as anybody) were 2020-possibly-turned-2019s Jalen Bridges and Demarr Langford. UVa is much further down the road with Bridges, the 6-foot-7 wing who interestingly enough told Corey Evans this week that he would likely redshirt if he came to Virginia with the 2019 class. That’s a situation worth continuing to monitor because the staff, per sources, really is intrigued by what Bridges can do. Things with Langford are still in the infancy stages, per those same sources, but the intrigue is also there for the 6-foot-4 four-star. At this point, we haven’t heard enough to think UVa is set on making this sort of a move but things are certainly setting up for that possibility to become a reality.
The latest on a certain five-star wing
We can’t really leave the “2020 turned 2019” discussion without touching base on five-star wing Johnny Juzang. With his Kentucky visit now in the rearview and no commitment made, should Wahoo fans take that as a good sign? Yes, but also no. Sort of.
In talking to sources this week, it seems like the optimism on the UVa side continues to erode with no real signs of the tide turning. His comments to to our UK site certainly don’t sound like a dude who UVa is in the lead for but they also don’t sound like someone on the brink of announcing a foregone decision. Rumblings on the Kentucky side a week ago had this as a done deal and with this much of a wait after the visit, that has to be ruled inaccurate at least as of now. Maybe he’s waiting for the green light from admissions there—he wasn’t as far down the road with UK on that front as he still is with UVa, as far as we’re aware—or there’s some other non-critical aspect of things that has to be ironed out. But for now, no news is good news for the Cavaliers. They remain very much in the fight according to various AAU sources.
We still think, as we’ve said on the board in the last day or so, that the most likely eventuality still remains that he’ll commit to Kentucky but the door is more open now than it was a week ago. Do with that what you will.
The current dominoes this spring
So, let’s revisit the scene so to speak: Since Mamadi Diakite still has yet to announce his intentions on either staying in the draft or returning to school, a significant amount of uncertainty remains. The Hauser brothers are confirmed for their official visit in a few weeks but that’s an eternity in recruiting turn.
The interesting thing to us about where things stand this spring is just how quiet it’s been and continues to be. While a name leaks here or there, nothing much has and when we talk to sources we get very unconvincing refrains of “nothing new to report.” Just this past week, word spread quickly that Bennett was going to be traveling to see a JUCO prospect and many identified him as Indian Hills CC’s Tomas Woldentensae. We did some digging and the one thing we can pass along on the 6-foot-5 guard—who would seem like a great fit for UVa’s needs—is that we were able to confirm UVa did not go see him this week. Beyond that, there’s nothing else to say as of yet.
But our feel—and this is reading tea leaves and isn’t based on any specific piece of intel—is that UVa has several irons in the fire and is doing the absolute best to make sure everything stays off the grid. Perhaps Woldentensae is someone they’re serious about but there almost surely are other targets, like grad transfers that are keeping things close to the vest, that are part of the equation.
We hope to have more to say on this topic in the next 12 to 24 hours or so.
….and what sources had to say about that in-home
Lastly, we need to touch on where things stand with four-star in-state forward Henry Coleman following the in-home visit on Wednesday night. According to our sources, the visit came about mostly because in conversations between the family and the coaches the invitation was extended and UVa jumped on it. And quickly it seems. Which will not be lost on the family, of course.
The choice to go basically full staff for the visit was not an accident. Our sources say that the coaches wanted him and his family to have the chance to spend time with everyone and also for them to know just how much the coaches want him to be a part of the 2020 class. This is not just a one-coach effort or even just a Bennett-led effort. It’s the entire team. And it certainly sounds like the visit was a homerun even if—much to the chagrin of some fans, of course—it didn’t end with a commitment. But that wasn’t the intent even if that was the immediate thought that some may have had when they first heard the news. It gave the coaches and the Coleman family time to get to know each more and to do so other away from the pressure of an on-campus visit. We hear the staff came away even more impressed by not only Coleman but also his family, who at this point is basically part of the UVa family. The fit could not be better, we were told.
Some voices we trust in Central Virginia think that Coleman’s long-held goal of playing the process out might not ultimately stick. Whether that’s specific to UVa or not, we aren’t entirely sure. Virginia is prepared to see it out as long as the space is available. Of course, the Wahoos have other needs and will have to focus on those as well but we don’t think it’s a stretch at all to say that as of now Beekman, Johnson, and Coleman are the top three targets and UVa—even amid a lot of uncertainty—is locked in on trying to make that class happen.
That is it for this week, and as always, what's said here, stays here!
As always, what's said in the War Room, stays in the War Room. Let's go!
Nuggets coming out of the spring’s lone live period
We’ll start with last weekend, which saw the staff camp out in Atlanta and Dallas including Tony Bennett splitting his time between the two locations, though spending more time in the Peach State. We went into last weekend telling you that four-star point guard Reece Beekman was the guy we thought the staff wanted most and nothing about the live period changed that opinion. In fact, it only bolstered it. Bennett spent a good amount of his EYBL time watching the 6-foot-3, 170 pounder and reviews continued to be very good. There’s no doubt that the staff is doing all it can to make sure Beekman, No. 89 nationally right now, knows that he’s their top guy at the point. We’ve said before that fit is important and we hear UVa is very comfortable with the way he fits UVa as well as how he and three-star commit [https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2020/carson-mccorkle-182081]Carson McCorkle (who had a really nice outing on Sunday at the Gauntlet) would pair together.
If we had to pick one player who has yet to pick up an offer who could be in line for one relatively soon, it’s probably Jabri Abdur-Rahim, the 6-foot-6 forward from Blair Academy. No. 42 in the class of 2020, UVa saw him plenty over the weekend and he’s someone who has impressed at times. Consistency is going to be important for him, at least as far as UVa’s pursuit, next time the staff gets to watch him in person. That being said, it’s worth noting that once our sources start talking about looking for consistency, that’s typically the tell-tale sign that guys are really close to the offer. We’ll have to wait and see if that’s the case here.
Elsewhere, sources said that the staff spent time seeing “the usual suspects” but the two names that seem most intriguing right now outside of Beekman and four-star wing Keon Johnson (who Virginia continues to recruit as hard as anybody) were 2020-possibly-turned-2019s Jalen Bridges and Demarr Langford. UVa is much further down the road with Bridges, the 6-foot-7 wing who interestingly enough told Corey Evans this week that he would likely redshirt if he came to Virginia with the 2019 class. That’s a situation worth continuing to monitor because the staff, per sources, really is intrigued by what Bridges can do. Things with Langford are still in the infancy stages, per those same sources, but the intrigue is also there for the 6-foot-4 four-star. At this point, we haven’t heard enough to think UVa is set on making this sort of a move but things are certainly setting up for that possibility to become a reality.
The latest on a certain five-star wing
We can’t really leave the “2020 turned 2019” discussion without touching base on five-star wing Johnny Juzang. With his Kentucky visit now in the rearview and no commitment made, should Wahoo fans take that as a good sign? Yes, but also no. Sort of.
In talking to sources this week, it seems like the optimism on the UVa side continues to erode with no real signs of the tide turning. His comments to to our UK site certainly don’t sound like a dude who UVa is in the lead for but they also don’t sound like someone on the brink of announcing a foregone decision. Rumblings on the Kentucky side a week ago had this as a done deal and with this much of a wait after the visit, that has to be ruled inaccurate at least as of now. Maybe he’s waiting for the green light from admissions there—he wasn’t as far down the road with UK on that front as he still is with UVa, as far as we’re aware—or there’s some other non-critical aspect of things that has to be ironed out. But for now, no news is good news for the Cavaliers. They remain very much in the fight according to various AAU sources.
We still think, as we’ve said on the board in the last day or so, that the most likely eventuality still remains that he’ll commit to Kentucky but the door is more open now than it was a week ago. Do with that what you will.
The current dominoes this spring
So, let’s revisit the scene so to speak: Since Mamadi Diakite still has yet to announce his intentions on either staying in the draft or returning to school, a significant amount of uncertainty remains. The Hauser brothers are confirmed for their official visit in a few weeks but that’s an eternity in recruiting turn.
The interesting thing to us about where things stand this spring is just how quiet it’s been and continues to be. While a name leaks here or there, nothing much has and when we talk to sources we get very unconvincing refrains of “nothing new to report.” Just this past week, word spread quickly that Bennett was going to be traveling to see a JUCO prospect and many identified him as Indian Hills CC’s Tomas Woldentensae. We did some digging and the one thing we can pass along on the 6-foot-5 guard—who would seem like a great fit for UVa’s needs—is that we were able to confirm UVa did not go see him this week. Beyond that, there’s nothing else to say as of yet.
But our feel—and this is reading tea leaves and isn’t based on any specific piece of intel—is that UVa has several irons in the fire and is doing the absolute best to make sure everything stays off the grid. Perhaps Woldentensae is someone they’re serious about but there almost surely are other targets, like grad transfers that are keeping things close to the vest, that are part of the equation.
We hope to have more to say on this topic in the next 12 to 24 hours or so.
….and what sources had to say about that in-home
Lastly, we need to touch on where things stand with four-star in-state forward Henry Coleman following the in-home visit on Wednesday night. According to our sources, the visit came about mostly because in conversations between the family and the coaches the invitation was extended and UVa jumped on it. And quickly it seems. Which will not be lost on the family, of course.
The choice to go basically full staff for the visit was not an accident. Our sources say that the coaches wanted him and his family to have the chance to spend time with everyone and also for them to know just how much the coaches want him to be a part of the 2020 class. This is not just a one-coach effort or even just a Bennett-led effort. It’s the entire team. And it certainly sounds like the visit was a homerun even if—much to the chagrin of some fans, of course—it didn’t end with a commitment. But that wasn’t the intent even if that was the immediate thought that some may have had when they first heard the news. It gave the coaches and the Coleman family time to get to know each more and to do so other away from the pressure of an on-campus visit. We hear the staff came away even more impressed by not only Coleman but also his family, who at this point is basically part of the UVa family. The fit could not be better, we were told.
Some voices we trust in Central Virginia think that Coleman’s long-held goal of playing the process out might not ultimately stick. Whether that’s specific to UVa or not, we aren’t entirely sure. Virginia is prepared to see it out as long as the space is available. Of course, the Wahoos have other needs and will have to focus on those as well but we don’t think it’s a stretch at all to say that as of now Beekman, Johnson, and Coleman are the top three targets and UVa—even amid a lot of uncertainty—is locked in on trying to make that class happen.
That is it for this week, and as always, what's said here, stays here!
