When big man Henry Ellenson announced that he would play basketball at Marquette on Thursday morning, he became only the fourth player ranked in the top 11 of our 2015 composite rankings to select a school for next year and beyond. While players have flown off the board in the top 100, the top of the rankings largely consist of uncommitted players. The higher ranked you are, the longer you’re allowed to wait to make your college choice.
College basketball recruiting roundup: Official visits are bringing picture into focus
Here’s the latest news on targets for Kentucky, UConn, UCLA, Kansas, Michigan State and plenty of other schools.
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It adds to the intrigue with college basketball season now less than five weeks away. While several of the top prospects are bound to wait until the spring to make up their minds, a flurry of official visits in the coming weeks will leave an impression with the best players in this class. With that in mind, here’s a look at the latest news involving the highest-rated players in 2015:
Isaiah Briscoe
The five-star prospect met with Kentucky assistant Barry “Slice” Rohrssen on Tuesday after visiting Rutgers, Seton Hall, UConn and Kentucky, according to Adam Zagoria. The guard informed NJ.com that his decision is imminent, and he has two official visits coming up with Missouri and St. John’s. Briscoe told Zagoria that his visits to Lexington and Storrs “went really well,” and that his interest in both schools is “almost a tie.” In Isaiah Briscoe’s latest player blog for USA Today, he said he’d “have to give Kentucky a 10 out of 10.” Kentucky has a great chance to land Briscoe, made clear through his comments on the school and his changing his commitment date from the spring to fall, knowing the Wildcats would likely not wait for him.
Carlton Bragg
Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA and Illinois are the schools in the mix for Bragg, one of the best big men of 2015. Recently, Arizona notified Bragg’s mentor, according to ZagsBlog.com, that the school would stop recruiting him. The site also reported that Illinois is recruiting the forward the hardest out of the schools on his list. The forward will visit Kansas on Oct. 10, then Kentucky a week later before visiting UCLA on Halloween. His mentor also mentioned that he will visit the Illini “later on in the year or after Carlton’s high school season.” At this point, it’s hard to tell the favorite in Bragg’s recruitment, especially because he will commit in the spring.
Elijah Thomas
The 6'9 power forward has visited SMU, LSU, Illinois and Oklahoma State, and he will visit Texas A&M this weekend, according to CBSSports.com. Most consider Oklahoma State and Illinois, the two schools Jawun Evans came down to before making his decision to commit to the Cowboys, to be the favorites. Evans and Thomas have stated in the past that they would like to play with each other in college and relayed to Zagoria in August that a package was "possible." The Crystal Ball on 247Sports supports the prospect of the package deal, giving Oklahoma State a 54 percent chance and Illinois a 21 percent probability at landing the four-star recruit. Thomas plans to visit Illinois in the spring, and announced on Twitter that he will make his college decision Oct. 21.
Diamond Stone
The five-star prospect will trip to Oklahoma State and Maryland in October for official visits. UConn, Wisconsin and Duke will have Stone on campus for officials in the future. The center told Evan Daniels of Scout.com in July that he will make his college decision on Nov. 12, which is the first day of the NCAA early signing period. Malik Newman, a five-star guard from Mississippi, expressed to ZagsBlog.com in July that UConn, Kansas, Kentucky, N.C. State and Miami are possible schools for a package deal with him and Stone. Since UConn is still in the mix for Diamond Stone, it is possible he commits there with Newman.
Caleb Swanigan
Swanigan is another elite recruit who will make his college decision in the spring time. The 247Sports Crystal Ball predicts there is a 95 percent chance Swanigan attends Michigan State and a 5 percent likelihood of Louisville. The five-star recruit will visit Kentucky on Oct. 10 for the school's scouting combine, according to Paul Biancardi of ESPN.com, and Arizona on Oct. 18 for the Red-Blue game. Biancardi also reported that Swanigan will visit Arizona, Chicago State and Michigan State in the fall. Michigan State had an in-home visit with the 6'8 center in September.
Thomas Bryant
Huntington Prep star Bryant is coming off a visit to Syracuse and will visit Missouri on Oct. 10, then Indiana from Oct. 17-19. His high school coach, Arkell Bruce, told ZagsBlog.com that his top schools are Missouri, Indiana and Syracuse, and said he’d make his college decision “whenever he is ready.” The 6’9 forward told the blog that Missouri is recruiting him the hardest and that Bryant has a solid relationship with Rob Fulford of Missouri, the former head coach at Huntington Prep before accepting a job on Kim Anderson’s staff this summer. Bruce said that Bryant’s connection with Fulford is the main reason he is thinking about Missouri as an option for college. In the Crystal Ball by 247Sports, Syracuse and Missouri are tied with a 44 percent chance of landing the big man.
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