Recruiting Report: Gary Trent Jr (2017)
Gary Trent Jr will leave Minnesota this month and head to Findlay Prep in Las Vegas for a year of prep school before heading off to play college basketball. Yesterday Gary Trent Jr released his final five schools and Gary…
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Continue ReadingGary Trent Jr will leave Minnesota this month and head to Findlay Prep in Las Vegas for a year of prep school before heading off to play college basketball. Yesterday Gary Trent Jr released his final five schools and Gary will always be a Minnesota kid so today we take a look at that top five.
Duke. Ah yes the team that everybody feels he will play for. Why? Because Tyus Jones went there and went to the same school as Gary did (they played together when Gary was a freshman), because that’s where many believe 5-star Wendell Carter will go and he and Gary want to play together it’s been said, because Coach K is team USA basketball, and because Coach K is Coach K, and Duke is Duke. That’s where all feel he will go. Do we? One of the Duke assistants was always at the games in Vegas the final open period week and Coach K came to the Peach Jam to see Gary and others and that was the only time he’s left Team USA for recruiting.
UCLA. Something about his recruitment makes me feel that UCLA will be an option, and could maybe pull it off. Why? Every time Trent Jr has spoke about a trip to the west coast or a trip to UCLA (he’s been there twice for visits) he has said many great things about it. Gary has also taken more trips to the west coast in the past 16 months than the Hollywood executives who spent time in the Twin Cities. Gary is heading west for prep school and the last kid from Minnesota that went west for prep school stayed there for college. I think UCLA is right there and has a shot.
Michigan State. Tom Izzo joined Steve Alford as the head coaches at the most games of Gary’s and Michigan State’s assistants have been very active in recruiting Apple Valley High School and being at all of the Howard Pulley games. Gary was born in Ohio and obviously East Lansing is just north so it would be somewhat close to where the rest of his relatives live and he would be playing for a tough, hard-nosed respected coach that will push him.
Kentucky. This one is interesting to me. Howard Pulley played six times before Sunday in Las Vegas (the games Gary missed to go home for a couple days) and I never saw John Calipari watching in the several games I was there. I did sometimes see an assistant there but UK didn’t have a big presence at the Pulley games. Kentucky has of course been talked about with Trent, it actually makes a lot of sense for him. But their effort to see him was not the same as the others put in when it comes to getting out and seeing a player.
Arizona. Sean Miller was at the Gary Trent Jr games often but many thought it was to see Tre Jones. The Wildcats have also been putting in effort to get Gary to stay in the desert, but just head east a bit and play in Tucson. Everyone knew the four that would be on Trent’s list, the fifth was Arizona or Ohio State but with Ohio State changing some of their staff members (the one or two that had a relationship with Gary Trent Sr and Gary Trent Jr) it was Arizona who made the list.