Division 1 men’s basketball coaches take to the road this weekend, which is an Evaluation Period for Division 1 men’s basketball. The period begins today and lasts through April 12, and there are three major AAU events coaches will be able to take in.
The Nike EYBL Circuit heads to Hampton (VA), while the Adidas Circuit will be in Dallas. The Under Armour circuit will be in New Orleans. All three UVa class of 2016 recruits will be in action, with combo guard Ty Jerome in Hampton, combo guard Kyle Guy in Dallas, and forward Sacha Killeya-Jones in New Orleans. Expect UVa coaches to be at all three events. No doubt they will be checking in on the committed players, but finishing off the 2016 Class in strong fashion is obviously a main focus. The staff will be scouting current targets and finding new ones in the days and weeks ahead.
TheSabre.com will be in Hampton tomorrow for the EYBL. The plan to follow Jerome, who is suiting up for the PSA Cardinals, but I’ll be tracking some UVa targets as well. Here are some of the AAU squads I look forward to seeing.
– Boo Williams
As Hoo fans surely know by now, class of 2017 point guard Matt Coleman is high on Coach Bennett’s wish list. Class of 2016 big Khadim Sy, a 6’9″ prospect out of Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, VA), is on Virginia’s radar for sure (no offer yet though) and is supposed to suit up for BWSL this spring and summer, but last we heard he would not be in Hampton this weekend. Sy attended a Virginia game this past season.
– MacIrvin Fire
UVa has offered Illinois power forward Nick Rakocevic, who is listed on the MacIrvin roster. Haven’t heard much in terms of how interested he is in the Hoos, but I plan to find out.
– MOKAN Elite
The MoKan Elite features top forward prospect and UVa target Michael Porter. Porter, who is only a sophomore, is a close friend of Virginia recruit Kyle Guy.
– NJ Playaz
The Playaz feature Jersey City junior point guard Temple Gibbs, who UVa offered earlier in the process. He does not appear to be a priority right now, but Bennett reportedly scouted him in February and you never know…perhaps Virginia gets serious again further down the road. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see the Playaz go against the PSA Cardinals Saturday evening. Gibbs and Ty Jerome are good friends.
– Team Takeover
UVa has offered athletic Paul VI (Fairfax, VA) junior small forward V.J. King, who attended the Cavaliers’ home win over Louisville this past season. Hoping to catch up with King for the latest on his recruitment. Blue Ridge (St. George, VA) class of 2016 power forward/center Mamadi Diakite is also supposed to suit up for Team Takeover. He has been high on Virginia’s wish list since last August, and recently Scout.com reported that he will take four official visits – Georgetown, Southern Cal, Virginia and Washington.
Other players of note on Team Takeover include sophomore shooting guard/small forward D.J. Harvey and sophomore point guard Aaron Thompson. The latter attended UVa’s Elite Camp last August and could be a name to remember.
There is a preview of those players I plan to follow tomorrow. Here is a look at the recruiting calendar following this weekend…
A recruiting Dead Period follows from April 13-April 16 before a Recruiting Period takes place April 17-April 22. From April 23-July 5 there is a Quiet Period with the following exception…
– April 24-April 26 – Evaluation Period for certified events only.
– May 21-May 29 – Dead Period
From July 6-July 31 there is a Dead Period with three exceptions…
– July 8-July 12 – Evaluation Period
– July 15-July 19 – Evaluation Period
– July 22-July 26 – Evaluation Period
