Tuesday's top visit list with a commitment at hand
Now that the travel season is over with and all of the camps that the shoe companies had run are complete, the recruiting scene picks up again. College visits are now being taken by the day as programs attempt to lure some of their top targets to its campus. While official visits usually don’t take place until later in August and in the fall, a few schools have begun to get the ball rolling this week. We take a brief look at who is where today, August 2, and a big time commitment that will ensue this evening.
VISIT TRAIL
Louisville will be hosting two of its top targets from the 2017 class today. The need for a point guard, wing, and two big men is in order for the Cardinals and after beginning his visit to campus yesterday, Alex O’Connell will remain at the ACC program today for his first official visit. The 6-foot-5 bouncy wing carries over 30 high major offers but it must bode well for the Cardinals that they jumped in so late into the picture and no other visits are set up at the current moment for the Milton High product. O’Connell would be a giant add for Louisville, a top-75 prospect that brings an immediate scoring punch and fine athleticism at the basket from either wing position on the floor.
Marietta, GA
Right along with him, Darius Perry takes his talents from the adidas Nations, a camp that ran this past week in Anaheim, California, to Louisville as he also begins his first official visit. Georgia is the other program heavily involved with the 6-foot-2 lead guard. In need of someone that can defend the ball and also run the half-court offense, Rick Pitino and his crew are also involved with top-50 guard Makai Ashton-Langford but it seems that whoever gives a commitment first will end up becoming Louisville’s point guard of the future.
Butler brings Jerald Butler to campus today for his first official visit. The 6-foot-5 forward has some shades of younger Draymond Green to him. While he does need to get his body in line within the coming years, Butler is a fun one to watch. He can really create for others off of the bounce and has a glowing personality to him that would make him a fan and teammate favorite. Butler has remained a heavy sleeper out of the Sunshine State and while Virginia Tech and Vanderbilt are the other two high-majors to be involved with him, the others in the hunt come from the mid-major realm from within his region.
After visiting Fordham yesterday and releasing his top 12 list of schools, Lehigh will get the chance to host Walter Whyte today. The 6-foot-5 wing has glue guy written all over him. He does a lot of the small things for his squad but in the meantime, has bettered his all-around skillset in recent months. A fairly explosive athlete at the basket with a solid mid-range game, Whyte does all of the small things for his squad where he would be a tremendous haul for the Patriot League squad; he will also visit Penn and St. Joe’s on Wednesday.
Although not a member of the 2017 class, Notre Dame will attempt to make some moves in the 2018 class with the top prospect from the state of Illinois. Ayo Dosunmu, a 6-foot-3 lead guard and a prospect out of the Mac Irvin Fire program, gives a visit to the ACC bunch. An offer has not been dished out to Dosunmu yet from Mike Brey's crew, yet one could be on the way in the nearby future for the ultra competitive and gritty junior.
DEREK CULVER FINISHES THINGS OFF
Word began trickling out yesterday afternoon that Derek Culver, a 6-foot-9 power forward out of Warren G. Harding High School in eastern Ohio, would be making his college commitment at his school today at 5pm. Things have been confirmed and while we don’t like to speculate, we do like the chances for the WVU Mountaineers with the top-100 big man.
Looking the part with great size but also a tremendous feel for the game out of the power forward spot on the floor, Culver can rebound the ball, finish at the basket and through contact, hit the mid-range jumper, rim run, and also make the proper pass within the half-court setting. There is a lot of budding potential out of the Ohio Basketball Club product and while he does need to bring it more consistently and has been hindered some by injuries in the past, Culver is a type of a guy that has exceled for Bob Huggins in the past.
Others involved for Culver include Arizona, Kansas, and NC State as all of those in the hunt could easily come away with the top tier big man’s verbal this evening as Culver sets his eyes on a 5pm college commitment.
