Hey friends,
We need a good name for this piece. It's a place for basketball intel, which I'll be handling personally as we move forward ... with excellent assistance from The Assassin (@Cclemente) and The Intern (@Caleb Jones).
FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS:
As you all know by now, Tallahassee (Fla.) point guard Tre Donaldson is announcing his commitment Thursday. He's an interesting case because he's more highly rated as a football player, but we're told he'd actually prefer to play basketball in college. He worked exclusively on basketball this summer, playing in the Peach Jam despite suffering a torn meniscus during the second game of the event. He toughed it out after that. Donaldson recently had surgery to repair the tear and is expected to miss the next 4-6 weeks. That will keep him out of football (and basketball) for a while. We're told Donaldson hasn't ruled out a return to the gridiron in October if his team needs him.
Though Donaldson received an offer from the hometown Seminoles last month, we believe this is really a race between Auburn and the Gators of Gainesville. I'm taking the Tigers.
SECOND ORDER OF BUSINESS:
New Jersey shooting guard Zion Cruzalso is was preparing to announce his decision Thursday. Now he has elected to delay his decision indefinitely, which might be smart considering how this situation is playing out.
It's a difficult situation to assess insofar as Cruz loves Auburn and Auburn at least likes Cruz. Does Auburn actually love Cruz? That's the real question. We believe this to be a two-horse race between Auburn and North Carolina. That much is fairly certain. What isn't certain is if Cruz could have committed to Auburn on Thursday. I honestly don't know. Overall opinions on Cruz are a bit mixed, which may seem confusing when you consider Rivals has him as the No. 20 overall recruit. He's a five-star guy. Is he a good fit for Auburn's play style and basketball culture? It's not a perfect fit, but it may be good enough.
Auburn is aiming to sign three-ish players in the 2021-22 cycle. That number can change depending on what happens this season, sure, but that's the plan as it stands. If I'm looking at the Auburn roster and the needs it will have nine months from now, the ideal trio of signees for this cycle probably is Donaldson (point guard), Jarace Walker (power forward) and Nick Smith Jr. (combo guard).
Then you have to factor in the transfer portal, which represented a massive W for the Tigers this season. Steven Pearl's ardent pursuit of Kessler yielded a signed letter of intent while quick work also got the Tigers ahead in the race to sign guards Zep Jasper and Wen Green.
If the Tigers want to reserve room for some transfer-portal magic in May, they must be choosy when it comes to signing high school players. Donaldson is an immediate take. So are Walker and Smith. After that, it's difficult to know for sure.
THIRD ORDER OF BUSINESS:
Auburn will hold its Elite Camp on Sunday and some very important Class of 2023 recruits — all of them from Georgia — will be on campus competing and getting a better feel for the Tigers' program.
Collier and Carlyle are the two biggest names, though the 6-foot-6 combo guard Castle is one of the nation's most upwardly mobile recruits after impressing at the NBPA Top 100 camp in July. Collier is a five-star prospect while Carlyle, Johnson and Castle are four-star guys right now.
FOURTH ORDER OF BUSINESS:
The varsity will return to its off-season practice regimen next week after taking a few weeks off. In that mode, they go three times per week for approximately 90 minutes per session. The NCAA limits team work to eight hours per week at this time of year. They will return to an in-season practice schedule in September.
We need a good name for this piece. It's a place for basketball intel, which I'll be handling personally as we move forward ... with excellent assistance from The Assassin (@Cclemente) and The Intern (@Caleb Jones).
FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS:
As you all know by now, Tallahassee (Fla.) point guard Tre Donaldson is announcing his commitment Thursday. He's an interesting case because he's more highly rated as a football player, but we're told he'd actually prefer to play basketball in college. He worked exclusively on basketball this summer, playing in the Peach Jam despite suffering a torn meniscus during the second game of the event. He toughed it out after that. Donaldson recently had surgery to repair the tear and is expected to miss the next 4-6 weeks. That will keep him out of football (and basketball) for a while. We're told Donaldson hasn't ruled out a return to the gridiron in October if his team needs him.
Though Donaldson received an offer from the hometown Seminoles last month, we believe this is really a race between Auburn and the Gators of Gainesville. I'm taking the Tigers.
SECOND ORDER OF BUSINESS:
New Jersey shooting guard Zion Cruz
It's a difficult situation to assess insofar as Cruz loves Auburn and Auburn at least likes Cruz. Does Auburn actually love Cruz? That's the real question. We believe this to be a two-horse race between Auburn and North Carolina. That much is fairly certain. What isn't certain is if Cruz could have committed to Auburn on Thursday. I honestly don't know. Overall opinions on Cruz are a bit mixed, which may seem confusing when you consider Rivals has him as the No. 20 overall recruit. He's a five-star guy. Is he a good fit for Auburn's play style and basketball culture? It's not a perfect fit, but it may be good enough.
Auburn is aiming to sign three-ish players in the 2021-22 cycle. That number can change depending on what happens this season, sure, but that's the plan as it stands. If I'm looking at the Auburn roster and the needs it will have nine months from now, the ideal trio of signees for this cycle probably is Donaldson (point guard), Jarace Walker (power forward) and Nick Smith Jr. (combo guard).
Then you have to factor in the transfer portal, which represented a massive W for the Tigers this season. Steven Pearl's ardent pursuit of Kessler yielded a signed letter of intent while quick work also got the Tigers ahead in the race to sign guards Zep Jasper and Wen Green.
If the Tigers want to reserve room for some transfer-portal magic in May, they must be choosy when it comes to signing high school players. Donaldson is an immediate take. So are Walker and Smith. After that, it's difficult to know for sure.
THIRD ORDER OF BUSINESS:
Auburn will hold its Elite Camp on Sunday and some very important Class of 2023 recruits — all of them from Georgia — will be on campus competing and getting a better feel for the Tigers' program.
Collier and Carlyle are the two biggest names, though the 6-foot-6 combo guard Castle is one of the nation's most upwardly mobile recruits after impressing at the NBPA Top 100 camp in July. Collier is a five-star prospect while Carlyle, Johnson and Castle are four-star guys right now.
FOURTH ORDER OF BUSINESS:
The varsity will return to its off-season practice regimen next week after taking a few weeks off. In that mode, they go three times per week for approximately 90 minutes per session. The NCAA limits team work to eight hours per week at this time of year. They will return to an in-season practice schedule in September.
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