The WAR ROOM is back and this edition is full of basketball recruiting scoop! With the final evaluation period of the summer now in the rear view, we'll dive into where things stand for the Wahoos as they move into the recruiting portion of the cycle. We'll tell you about one intriguing offer that went out earlier this week to a 2017 prospect and give you the background on why it went out, how it might work out, and detail UVa's view of the recruitment in question. We'll also touch on a very important offer that went out to a 2018 wing that could be a serious option for the Cavaliers, perhaps even the first commit. Lastly, we'll cover the board in general and highlight the guys we think stand out among the rest while also touching on the recruitments that UVa could still become a factor in down the road.
As always, what's said in the War Room, stays in the War Room. Let's go!
An interesting offer in 2017
When word began to spread two nights ago that UVa had offered 2017 forward Chase Johnson, it left a lot of people scratching their heads. After all, the Cavaliers have already filled their lone scholarship in that class. But there's typically a method to the madness for Tony Bennett and that's the case with the Ripley (WV) standout as well.
The offer, sources made clear to us in the past 24 hours, is out there as a prospect in the class of 2018. The idea of reclassifying has been something Johnson has been kicking around for some time, we heard. In conversations, he's told UVa's coaches that regardless of whether or not he chooses to take a prep year and reclassify, he's going to wait until the spring to make a decision. And that's obviously good news for the Cavaliers, who don't have any room at the inn right now in 2017.
A teammate of former target Luke Frampton, Virginia sees Johnson as a bouncy big who is a little bit like Anthony Gill in some ways. He's a touch more athletic, per one source, but maybe not quite as physical. And one of the big reasons Bennett liked him so much during this past live period was his bounce. According to our sources, he quickly became someone the staff wanted to see more of and going in, UVa was aware of the uniqueness of his situation.
This one is hard to gauge given that there are schools that have definitely moved on offering in 2017 (like West Virginia and Arizona) as well as those, like UVa, who won't have space until 2018 (and probably some who have told him 2017 but are hoping he's 2018). Obviously, for UVa, things become very different in the spring should a spot become available, but it's not unheard of for the Cavaliers to do this. In the past, they have continued to recruit and stay in touch with kids even though their class was full. It's the lesson Bennett has learned over his time in Charlottesville. That Johnson does have a host of legit 2017 interest is one of the reasons, sources say, that the staff won't invest too much of their time and energy but they will continue to recruit him.
The bottom line is that the Wahoos are treating Johnson as a 2018 recruit and will make changes to their approach down the road if the need to do so presents itself. Sources say the offer was not put on the table under any other circumstances.
Jallow's recruitment could trend UVa's way
While there may be some uncertainty about Johnson, there is none surrounding Virginia's pursuit of four-star Bloomington (IN) Bloomington North wing Musa Jallow, who also picked up an offer this week. The 6-foot-5, 200 pounder really impressed the staff during this most recent evaluation period, though that certainly wasn't the first time they had entertained the possibility of offering him.
Jallow actually came on an unofficial visit to UVa this past season with his mother and was very impressed with what he saw and learned about the program. Thanks to his time at Indiana earlier in his career, associate head coach Ron Sanchez has an existing relationship with the family, and that connection could pay big dividends for the Cavaliers.
UVa has known about Jallow for quite some time but due to his AAU's team relative lack of quality opponents, the staff just hasn't had a chance to focus on him much. But during the last live period, Bennett got a chance to watch him against some very good competition. According to one source, he was "phenomenal." And it's no surprise that he's adding offer after offer.
So what are Virginia's chances? Interestingly, though the offer is still pretty fresh, we're hearing that the Cavaliers feel very good about their chances. In fact, that optimism is to the point where they feel like Jallow could be the first commit for the program in 2018. Because of the existing relationship, there's a lot of good vibes right now. How quickly it could happen is still very much TBD but the groundwork, as one source conveyed this week, has absolutely been put down well in this one.
The staff sees Jallow as being a multifaceted guy on the wing. He's got good ball skills and fits well with three-star Texas wing Marco Anthony and could play the 2 or 3 for the Cavaliers. UVa plans to continue to touch base with the kid and hopes to have him back on Grounds soon.
One last nugget, for those who see his where he's from and wonder if there's a connection as well to recent enrollee Kyle Guy, you would be right. While our source didn't go as far as to call them good friends or anything, they definitely know each other and Guy, as he is known to do, has been doing a little recruiting on UVa's behalf.
A view of the big board
In talking to sources this week, it seems pretty clear that UVa's board for 2018 has really taken shape over the last few weeks. The guys they will focus on pretty much are the players they have focused on recently. The staff feels pretty good about the list of prospects they have now and things are shifting from evaluating into recruiting in a focused way.
At point guard, our sense is that four-star guys Jahvon Quinerly and Darius Garland probably are among the prospects UVa wants the most. Interestingly, after having scouted him more in recent weeks, we hear the Wahoos see four-star Washington, D.C. standout Prentiss Hubb as projecting more as 1 than a 2 and he's pushed his way to the top tier of prospects at PG, with California native Brandon Williams maybe being just a bit behind. That Hubb is now seen as a 1, according to sources, won't slow down UVa's pursuit if another of the point guard targets were to come on board. According to sources, they believe he could play with a guy like Quinerly, for example, without a problem. Of course, point guards can get touchy about teams adding other point guards so that one would need some finessing. Bottom line is that the Cavaliers feels very good not only about the targets but about where they are with those targets.
Even with Coby White off the board to UNC last night (had he been uncommitted by the time of this posting, we'd have told you we had heard from UVa sources that his decision in favor of the Heels would come "any second"), the options at wing are very solid. As we said a week ago, it's a crowded field.
Our general sense is that UVa is very high on Jallow and that he and four-star Paul VI guard Brandon Slater are the guys that stand out. Canadian Noah Kirkwood and five-star South Hill native Keldon Johnson are high on the board as well but probably just a touch behind Jallow and Slater. Though it's definitely possible that things will pick up again with him, we get the sense that four-star small forward Nasir Little is behind this lead group.
Among the bigs that Virginia is currently on, we'd say they are probably the most intrigued by adding four-star Baltimore native Jalen Smith, Chase Johnson if he moves into the 2018 class, Florida's Darius Days, and four-star Stevens Point (WI) native Joey Hauser. The Cavaliers would absolutely love to add five-star forward Zion Williamson, currently the No 3 overall player in the Rivals150. But word we heard is that UVa feels that one is "done." To what school we couldn't say for sure but the Cavaliers, having read the tea leaves, don't appear to be putting any time into that recruitment now.
Now, a brief word of caution: Countless times, we've mentioned in the past that UVa doesn't typically view recruiting the way many fans do. The staff evaluates a player and then once they offer, the guys are pretty much equal. What we tried to do in the previous section was give you a snapshot of what we're hearing. That's subject to ebb and flow with regularity.
So, who might still be on the fringe that hasn't been offered that the staff will continue to evaluate? Word we heard this week is that four-star Arizona native K. J. Hymes and Daniel Oturo continue to be bigs that the staff will look at more in September. Four-star Massachusetts standout Nate Laszewski will continue to be evaluated as well.
Among the guards/wings, the one new name we heard this week is that of 6-foot-4 four-star Arlington (FL) Arlington Country Day standout Luguentz Dort, who already has offers from Oklahoma, Oregon, and Louisville. He's likely to add more in the coming months.
Also remaining in the mix as we move toward the fall are four-star Texas standout Quentin Grimes as well as the two Greensboro (NC) Greensboro Day prospects Will Dillard and John Newman. At this point, we think Grimes is probably the closest to adding an offer from Virginia but it might take one of the existing PG targets coming off the board before he gets added. We also see Dillard and Newman as guys the staff will focus in on down the road once the class takes a bit more shape.
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!
An interesting offer in 2017
When word began to spread two nights ago that UVa had offered 2017 forward Chase Johnson, it left a lot of people scratching their heads. After all, the Cavaliers have already filled their lone scholarship in that class. But there's typically a method to the madness for Tony Bennett and that's the case with the Ripley (WV) standout as well.
The offer, sources made clear to us in the past 24 hours, is out there as a prospect in the class of 2018. The idea of reclassifying has been something Johnson has been kicking around for some time, we heard. In conversations, he's told UVa's coaches that regardless of whether or not he chooses to take a prep year and reclassify, he's going to wait until the spring to make a decision. And that's obviously good news for the Cavaliers, who don't have any room at the inn right now in 2017.
A teammate of former target Luke Frampton, Virginia sees Johnson as a bouncy big who is a little bit like Anthony Gill in some ways. He's a touch more athletic, per one source, but maybe not quite as physical. And one of the big reasons Bennett liked him so much during this past live period was his bounce. According to our sources, he quickly became someone the staff wanted to see more of and going in, UVa was aware of the uniqueness of his situation.
This one is hard to gauge given that there are schools that have definitely moved on offering in 2017 (like West Virginia and Arizona) as well as those, like UVa, who won't have space until 2018 (and probably some who have told him 2017 but are hoping he's 2018). Obviously, for UVa, things become very different in the spring should a spot become available, but it's not unheard of for the Cavaliers to do this. In the past, they have continued to recruit and stay in touch with kids even though their class was full. It's the lesson Bennett has learned over his time in Charlottesville. That Johnson does have a host of legit 2017 interest is one of the reasons, sources say, that the staff won't invest too much of their time and energy but they will continue to recruit him.
The bottom line is that the Wahoos are treating Johnson as a 2018 recruit and will make changes to their approach down the road if the need to do so presents itself. Sources say the offer was not put on the table under any other circumstances.
Jallow's recruitment could trend UVa's way
While there may be some uncertainty about Johnson, there is none surrounding Virginia's pursuit of four-star Bloomington (IN) Bloomington North wing Musa Jallow, who also picked up an offer this week. The 6-foot-5, 200 pounder really impressed the staff during this most recent evaluation period, though that certainly wasn't the first time they had entertained the possibility of offering him.
Jallow actually came on an unofficial visit to UVa this past season with his mother and was very impressed with what he saw and learned about the program. Thanks to his time at Indiana earlier in his career, associate head coach Ron Sanchez has an existing relationship with the family, and that connection could pay big dividends for the Cavaliers.
UVa has known about Jallow for quite some time but due to his AAU's team relative lack of quality opponents, the staff just hasn't had a chance to focus on him much. But during the last live period, Bennett got a chance to watch him against some very good competition. According to one source, he was "phenomenal." And it's no surprise that he's adding offer after offer.
So what are Virginia's chances? Interestingly, though the offer is still pretty fresh, we're hearing that the Cavaliers feel very good about their chances. In fact, that optimism is to the point where they feel like Jallow could be the first commit for the program in 2018. Because of the existing relationship, there's a lot of good vibes right now. How quickly it could happen is still very much TBD but the groundwork, as one source conveyed this week, has absolutely been put down well in this one.
The staff sees Jallow as being a multifaceted guy on the wing. He's got good ball skills and fits well with three-star Texas wing Marco Anthony and could play the 2 or 3 for the Cavaliers. UVa plans to continue to touch base with the kid and hopes to have him back on Grounds soon.
One last nugget, for those who see his where he's from and wonder if there's a connection as well to recent enrollee Kyle Guy, you would be right. While our source didn't go as far as to call them good friends or anything, they definitely know each other and Guy, as he is known to do, has been doing a little recruiting on UVa's behalf.
A view of the big board
In talking to sources this week, it seems pretty clear that UVa's board for 2018 has really taken shape over the last few weeks. The guys they will focus on pretty much are the players they have focused on recently. The staff feels pretty good about the list of prospects they have now and things are shifting from evaluating into recruiting in a focused way.
At point guard, our sense is that four-star guys Jahvon Quinerly and Darius Garland probably are among the prospects UVa wants the most. Interestingly, after having scouted him more in recent weeks, we hear the Wahoos see four-star Washington, D.C. standout Prentiss Hubb as projecting more as 1 than a 2 and he's pushed his way to the top tier of prospects at PG, with California native Brandon Williams maybe being just a bit behind. That Hubb is now seen as a 1, according to sources, won't slow down UVa's pursuit if another of the point guard targets were to come on board. According to sources, they believe he could play with a guy like Quinerly, for example, without a problem. Of course, point guards can get touchy about teams adding other point guards so that one would need some finessing. Bottom line is that the Cavaliers feels very good not only about the targets but about where they are with those targets.
Even with Coby White off the board to UNC last night (had he been uncommitted by the time of this posting, we'd have told you we had heard from UVa sources that his decision in favor of the Heels would come "any second"), the options at wing are very solid. As we said a week ago, it's a crowded field.
Our general sense is that UVa is very high on Jallow and that he and four-star Paul VI guard Brandon Slater are the guys that stand out. Canadian Noah Kirkwood and five-star South Hill native Keldon Johnson are high on the board as well but probably just a touch behind Jallow and Slater. Though it's definitely possible that things will pick up again with him, we get the sense that four-star small forward Nasir Little is behind this lead group.
Among the bigs that Virginia is currently on, we'd say they are probably the most intrigued by adding four-star Baltimore native Jalen Smith, Chase Johnson if he moves into the 2018 class, Florida's Darius Days, and four-star Stevens Point (WI) native Joey Hauser. The Cavaliers would absolutely love to add five-star forward Zion Williamson, currently the No 3 overall player in the Rivals150. But word we heard is that UVa feels that one is "done." To what school we couldn't say for sure but the Cavaliers, having read the tea leaves, don't appear to be putting any time into that recruitment now.
Now, a brief word of caution: Countless times, we've mentioned in the past that UVa doesn't typically view recruiting the way many fans do. The staff evaluates a player and then once they offer, the guys are pretty much equal. What we tried to do in the previous section was give you a snapshot of what we're hearing. That's subject to ebb and flow with regularity.
So, who might still be on the fringe that hasn't been offered that the staff will continue to evaluate? Word we heard this week is that four-star Arizona native K. J. Hymes and Daniel Oturo continue to be bigs that the staff will look at more in September. Four-star Massachusetts standout Nate Laszewski will continue to be evaluated as well.
Among the guards/wings, the one new name we heard this week is that of 6-foot-4 four-star Arlington (FL) Arlington Country Day standout Luguentz Dort, who already has offers from Oklahoma, Oregon, and Louisville. He's likely to add more in the coming months.
Also remaining in the mix as we move toward the fall are four-star Texas standout Quentin Grimes as well as the two Greensboro (NC) Greensboro Day prospects Will Dillard and John Newman. At this point, we think Grimes is probably the closest to adding an offer from Virginia but it might take one of the existing PG targets coming off the board before he gets added. We also see Dillard and Newman as guys the staff will focus in on down the road once the class takes a bit more shape.
That is it for this week, and as always, what's said here, stays here!
