2020 Huntington Prep (WV) forward Jaemyn Brakefield had recently named a Top 10 while making clear he was still open to newcomers. Tony Bennett took him up on that this evening while visiting with him in Huntington.
Brakefield has made trips to Auburn and WVU this month. He has scheduled officials the next two weekends to Louisville and Michigan, and a late October date with perceived favorite Ole Miss. Bennett is surely trying to secure a trip to Charlottesville in between.
His home is in Jackson, MS but Jaemyn is actually a native of Milwaukee. He teamed up with UVA commit Reece Beekman this past summer for Wisconsin based Phenom University on the Nike AAU circuit. The ultra versatile Brakefield had a terrific summer averaging 16 points and 6 rebounds.
I’ve gotten a lot of messages and questions on this one.
Virginia’s chances probably aren’t that great but they’re better than it seems on surface. Early on he was considered a top 10 player in his class, probably bound for a short stay at Kentucky or Duke. He’s grown, filled out, lost a little of the flashy explosiveness. He’s gone from a big guard into more of a combo forward. He’s a very very good player, just not what some expected him to develop into.
A lot of the schools on his list aren’t actively recruiting him. I think the 5 he’s visited and planning to are the competition. And really only Ole Miss has been consistent over the long haul. He’s the classic falling stock in recruiting. Nothing wrong with that either. It creates an opportunity, just the same as a late riser.
Considering his connection with Beekman, who I’m sure they consulted with, this is just smart targeting by Bennett. At the perfect position where they’ve not yet gotten that involved with anyone in the 2021 class too.
Oh and PS as another question came in…I’d be surprised if he hasn’t already agreed to visit, some time next month. Bennett didn’t need to go to Huntington to decide whether to offer him a scholarship. In fact, I bet the mention of an offer came after talk of a visit.
Seems like Virginia is playing with house money WRT to the last 2020 grant. Meanwhile, it seems like there is a deafening silence concerning Furst’s visit. Did it happen? Or, does young Mr. Furst prefer to eschew the pitfalls of social media? I wouldn’t blame him if he did.
Furst was there this past weekend yep. And that’s about all I know lol He’s not a social media guy at all. Tweets offers, about it.
I doubt there’s much to tell about his visit anyway. They’re just trying to lay the foundation for next Spring. The fact that he chose UVA for one of his 3 early officials is really the story.
I’ve heard tidbits from two different folks on this now, so I feel good enough about it to pass along. The story here seems to be that Brakefield actually reached out to Virginia. He and Beekman are tight of course, so he’s been hearing good things and they like playing together. He’s not completely happy with where his recruitment is, probably because he expected some bigger fish to bite.
So we have a shot. but will need to survive his upcoming visits. Michigan and Ole Miss look like the top threats. Michigan has a real and immediate need for someone like him and Ole Miss to their credit has recruited him much harder than everyone else.
This is a good interview with Brakefield from Phenom Hoop Report on their open gym tour. It was done before Tony’s visit, so there’s no talk of Virginia. But there’s some insight into what he’s looking for. Two things stand out to me. He refers to himself as a guard, and talks about the importance of coaches “trust” in him. I think what he means by that is trusting him to be more than a traditional 4-man. Virginia’s one of the few teams that’s shown a willingness to go big with someone like him at the 3 spot.
Headed to Louisville for an official this weekend. As an aside, the Ville is hosting 3 official and 6! unofficial visitors this weekened…….seems like a questionable strategy to me, cant imagine they get personalized attention. I guess the YUM Center and Macks persona is just supposed to wow them. ha! Though it seems like Mack does offer a lot of dudes and gets them on campus.
Nope. Oct 12th for the Blue-White game would make sense though. It’s his only free weekend of the next 4. There’s no guarantee he’s going to sign early either. This could go on a while.
I don’t know how direct K was with Henry about this, probably wasn’t at all. But the Colemans are very savvy and there was plenty of evidence Duke was bringing in another similar player. They had to, no depth at all. Brakefield might end up being the best possible scenario for Henry. The other guys Duke was after were a lot better, Ziaire Williams and a reclassified Jonathan Kuminga.
