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Friday, September 25, 2009

Knight, Bradley On Campus

Brandon Knight and Michael Bradley are on campus this weekend for official visits. Spoke to both of them today at Gampel while the rest of the team played pick-up games. Here's a little of what each had to say:

***Knight hasn't whittled his list down to five schools yet, but insists that the six or so schools that are at the top of the list (UConn, Kansas, Kentucky, Florida, Miami and UCLA) are all on equal footing right now. His only official visits so far have been to Kentucky (last week) and UConn. Knight isn't sure when or where his next official might come. He's not sure if he'll attend anyone's Late Night Madness festivities, since they all fall on Pine Crest School's Homecoming Weekend.

***Knight, the No. 1 recruit in the nation per Rivals.com and the reigning Gatorade National Player of the Year, re-iterated what his Pine Crest coach, Guilford's Dave Beckerman, told me earlier in the week: he'll likely make his commitment in the spring. Knight is a 6-foot-3 point guard, but he's very versatile – averaging 31.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists last season at Pine Crest.

"I can play the two and the one," Knight said. "I don't want to limit myself to say I’m a point guard. I think I'd be a bigger point guard."

***So, the $64,000 question is: Could Knight play together with Kemba Walker next year, assuming Walker doesn't decide to go pro. Knight didn't answer that exact question, but insisted he's not worried about who's still on whatever team he commits to.

"I'm not really concerned about who's going to be there," he said. "I'm more concerned about who I'm going to be playing with, not competing for a spot (with). I don’t really care about players that might be there at my position, because I'm just coming to compete for a spot and get better. I feel if I'm good enough, I'm going to play."

***What does Knight like about UConn, which he's visited twice before on unofficials?

"Great place, great history. I like Coach Calhoun. He gets his point (across). He doesn't tell you what you want to hear. I like that, because my dad's like that a lot. I respect that kind of person that doesn't feed you B.S. I respect that about Coach Calhoun."

***Knight is here with his parents, Efrem and Tonya. They have always stressed academics, and Knight has responded, boasting a 4.2 GPA at challenging Pine Crest.

"I try my best," said Knight, "That's what my parents pride me on first: academics first. If you don't have your academics, you can't get on the court."

***Knight, who suffered a stress fracture in his right foot a short while ago and just got out of a boot cast about a week ago, didn't take part in today's pick-up games. He may do so tomorrow.

So who is Michael Bradley, anyway?

Nope, though I always thought this ex-Villanova star would have a better pro career.

Nope.

Yup, that's him, a 6-10 power forward out of Chatanooga, Tenn. Not as polished or as talkative as Knight, Bradley is, nonetheless, another top-notch student. He's taking some AP courses at Tyner High, and will likely start off his college career with plenty of course credits right off the bat. He'd like to major in pharmacy.

***Bradley is simply looking for "somewhere I'm comfortable." He's made official visits to Georgia and Drake, and has others lined up with Virginia Commonwealth and (possibly) Boston College.

***Bradley envisions himself at the four – a position at which the Huskies could need some depth next season. He played a bit in today's pick-up games but didn't do a whole lot.

In other news …

***Stanley Robinson recently had deviated septum surgery and won't participate in contact drills/pick-up games for another few weeks. He continues to work out and should be fine for the start of practice on Oct. 17.

***I just know there's a bunch of UConn fans out there who are upset that Jim Calhoun wasn't one of the answers in this Sporcle quiz.

8 comments:

  1. Dave -

    Seriously.....what is going on here? You can try to spin it anyway you like, but obviously something is awfully amiss here when we are in great shape and then days later can't even make cut of 6 or 7 of some of these kids the staff have invested tremendous time and resources in.

    What is going on??????????????????????????????????????????????????


    TS

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  2. While it may seem a bit disconcerting that some top-notch recruits aren't putting UConn on their final list, I wouldn't worry just yet. If Brandon Knight commits to UConn (which I think is a distinct possibility, though more of a hunch than anything), will Husky fans really feel bad about missing out on Selby, Irving, etc.? I don't think so. In fact, if anything, I think the fact that other top guards are going to other schools improves the chances of Knight coming to Storrs. One of the reasons Knight is likely to wait until spring to commit is that he wants to see where other top recruits end up.

    There are certainly some factors weighing against UConn when it comes to recruiting: lack of a practice facility (which is in the works), and the potential for pending NCAA sanctions (which I don't think will be severe, if at all). But remember that the top recruits in the Class of 2010 (Knight) and 2012 (Andre Drummond) could both be in the fold. If UConn strikes out with both of them, then I'd start being concerned.

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  3. Knight dropped Duke recently.

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  4. Yes, I know Knight dropped Duke. A little surprising, but then the Blue Devils do have a mass wave of top-notch incoming recruits for 2010.

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  5. I think John Wall will leave after 1 year, so that will clear the way for Brandon Knight to come in and dominate at Kentucky next season.

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  6. Is there any update on Brandon Knight and what schools his is considering?

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