Ahhhh… I saw that. I’ve heard heard good things about Kessler. Forgot about him almost coming to Cville. ACC is gonna be tough next year
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Would that move have taken JAR’s roster spot (at the time)?
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Oh I think they would have still worked it out and gotten Jabri. Frankie leaving was kind of a foregone conclusion. My suspicion is Kessler wasn’t as close to choosing UVA as our side thought. To reclassifying, sure. When the UVA noise was at its loudest, I couldn’t help but notice 7 different college coaches showed up to see him in the state tournament. That was a red flag for me. The crowd should have shrunk. He had everyone believing they were gonna get him.
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See where Noah Collier committed to Pitt last night. Great pick up for them. I know we flirted with him a long long time and was a little surprised we didn’t push back in when it was clear Coleman wasn’t coming. I assume that is only b/c staff sees better options in '21 at that PF
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Bennett is headed to Huntington Prep (WV) this evening, mostly for 2020 forward Jaemyn Brakefield. They’re very familiar with him because he played this past summer with Reece Beekman.
I wouldn’t get too hopeful about it but these are the type of 2020 recruits they’ve been flirting with. If it works great, if not no skin. Well it looks like Brakefield has at least given them enough positive response to send the boss in. He has official visits lined up to Louisville Michigan and Olel Miss. He’s recently been to WVU and Auburn. Ole Miss is considered the favorite for the the MS native.
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His game looks awesome! Totally Bennett’s style!
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He does have a lot of game. Interesting that Coach Bennett is going to see him
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So CTB offered in person tonight. Must think traction is Possible. Will be interesting to see if we can get a visit?
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Assistant at Pace Academy in Atlanta. 2021 wing Matthew Cleveland is the big prize. They’re also interested in under-recruited '21 PG Madison Durr.
Great to have @GreenWaveMBB @UVAMensHoops stop by the castle to watch workouts!!#CantStopWontStop pic.twitter.com/0D8YdopbGP
— Pace Academy Men’s Basketball (@Pace_Hoops) September 25, 2019
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Efton Reid officially visiting Ohio St this weekend. No idea what the draw might be there.
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This is as good of place as any to drop updates on top targets.
Jaemyn Brakefield
This one is fuzzy, fluid, and honestly a little weird. Here’s what I know. Virginia was not the only school he reached out to. Duke for sure, where AAU teammate Jalen Johnson is committed. As of Monday, he hadn’t agreed to a visit date. Tony Bennett was scheduled to go back to Huntington earlier this week, but that’s been put on hold for now.
Here’s my take on it all, which admittedly could be totally wrong. I think Brakefield was gauging what opportunities might be available should he hold off until the April signing period. He was probably surprised Virginia jumped in so fast. Bennett isn’t interested in a prolonged recruitment when there’s a perfectly good signing period next month. Besides, we’d like to move on to 2021 targets if this isn’t happening. My guess is there’s either a visit scheduled very soon or we move on.
Efton Reid
What I’m paying the most attention to with 2021 guys right now is which head coaches visit them. Offers can come easy, an assistant’s time is cheap, but head coaches visit their priorities. Patrick Ewing, new VT coach Mike Young, and Ohio State’s Chris Holtmann have been in so far, along with Tony Bennett of course. As Foresthoo pointed out above, he’s taking his first official to Ohio State this weekend.
Trevor Keels
Head coaches from Maryland, Georgetown, VA Tech, Ohio State, Notre Dame, along with Bennett have been at PVI. Villanova is who I’m paying attention to here. Jay Wright and all three assistants visited yesterday with Max Christie and SG Langston Love at Montverde (FL). They’re only going to get one from that group of three, so let’s hope they continue to spend energy elsewhere. I’m pretty sure Williford visited with Love while in Florida recently. He mentioned UVA interest over the weekend.
Keels has been busy taking visits. Following his UVA official, he’s been at Villanova and Maryland the last two weekends. He’s also mentioned an upcoming trip to Ohio State, which I suspect will be this weekend with Reid.
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Thanks for that. Sucks on Brakefield, thought we had a lot of boxes checked there. Would hate to see him go to Louisville
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Everyone’s rushing in now. Brakefield just announced an offer from Duke.
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CTB is gonna beat K head to head for a recruit soon, not sure if it’s this kid but one of them is gonna see the light
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I think Bennett smelled this out and walked away. Could be wrong of course. But his canceled trip back to Huntington combined with this paints the picture. I’m a little surprised Duke went ahead and offered. It’s no secret they wanted another player like him, but I thought they’d try to string him out while giving the bigger fish more time.
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K is actually looking to build a sustainable roster, that’s annoying. Only one sure OAD in their 20 class so far.
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While I imagine you cannot ignore overtures from a player of Brakefield’s quality, as a 2020 recruit, how clear was his path to early playing time? Next fall, wouldn’t he be competing with both Hauser and McKoy for minutes? And, they would have the benefit of more experience than he. Additionally, I’m still a bit curious as to the ways Shedrick will be utilized. Presumably, Virginia will have a front court of Caffaro, Huff, Shedrick, Hauser, & McKoy. It seems to me that early minutes for Brakefield would be sparse. If he imagines himself as a guard, will the opportunities be much better? If he is looking for an early path to the NBA, and that might be the case, Virginia’s 2020 recruiting class probably wouldn’t be the ideal.
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Oh I think Brakefield would have been fringe rotation his first year at UVA, but then a large role in year 2. And yeah he’s definitely planning a quick path to the NBA. His choices (Prep, AAU) show he likes playing with other top players, is fine with not necessarily being featured. I think he’s a guy that always assumed Kentucky and Duke would recruit him. Was an easy choice when they offered.
The idea for Shedick is a Mamadi 4/5 type role. He’s not quite the run/jump athlete Mamadi is, but he’s incredibly agile for his size. He’s very gifted but that’s the one thing that really makes him special. I think he’s the most talented big man Bennett has signed, at least as it relates to what we ask of bigs.
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Caleb Furst is at Indiana today for “Hoosier Hysteria”. Corey Evans of Rivals mentioned in an article this week that he believes UVA and Indiana are best positioned with Caleb. I thought it was a little surprising that he’d have Indiana and not Purdue there.
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Interesting “keep an eye on Virginia” mention in today’s Corey Evans column in relation to 2020 Montverde (FL) wing Moses Moody.
Williford was down there a couple weeks ago (Corey too). Montverde also has 2021 guard Langston Love who we’re definitely interested in. As for Moody, he’s a guy they flirted with for a VERY long time. I’m pretty surprised this would come up now and have doubts anything will materialize. He’s close to wrapping things up. But hey if Corey says we should keep an eye on it, I am.
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