Blueblood Down Year Doesn’t Halt Interest From Top Prospects
Last week when Ypsi Prep (Mich.) shooting guard Dillon Hunter committed to Baylor he said one of the most attractive things about the Bears was their current success.
“You look up and they’re No. 2 and they’re a favorite to win it all,” Hunter said. “That’s big for me. That definitely made them look even better to me.”
It begs a, seemingly, logical question: If on-court dominance is making teams like Baylor more attractive to elite recruits, are the underwhelming showings of college basketball’s famous bluebloods turning them off?
RELATED: SI99 Basketball Rankings
From sub .500 records to being on the wrong ends of blowouts to head-scratching home losses, traditional blueblood powers like Duke, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina and Kansas are struggling, to put it mildly, through the pandemic season.
“It’s tough,” said Hamilton (Sussex, Wis.) wing Patrick Baldwin Jr. “This year just seems off for everyone on every level.”
Baldwin is the top wing and No. 5 overall prospect in the SI99 with a top 10 that includes Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina. He said that, despite the cringeworthy product at times this season, his interest in the schools hasn’t waned at all.
“I’m not gonna put too much stock into this season,” Baldwin said. “I know what those schools have been traditionally and even last season in most cases.”
Baldwin’s sentiments are shared by the vast majority of elite prospects who simply add the down year to the massive list of negatives racked up by COVID-19.
“I could only imagine how big it was not being able to get those freshmen together in the summer and not having a preseason,” Baldwin said. “Just not being able to bond for those months and practices getting cancelled can take its toll for teams with a lot of freshmen like those teams. This was almost to be expected in hindsight.”
Hillcrest Prep (Phoenix) forward Michael Foster agreed.
After playing against junior colleges for the past couple of years he knows firsthand what the jump is like between the two levels.
“It’s rough, even with JUCO teams,” said Foster, who is ranked No. 4 overall in the SI99. “We may have more talent, but it’s a different grind and it wears you down. The bluebloods were gonna need that time COVID-19 took from them to get ready this summer. That hurt them. You can’t really hold this year against them.”
Last week, North Carolina coach Roy Williams called St. Anne’s-Belfield (Charlottesville, Va.) shooting guard Justin Taylor to extend a scholarship offer to the star junior, a moment Taylor described as “surreal.”
“It’s hard to describe,” Taylor said. “Just to hear him make the offer was exciting. I don’t care what they’re doing this year, that’s North Carolina. That’s an honor to receive an offer from them. Look at their history and tradition.”
Still, while most recruits share the “chalk it up sentiment,” the bluebloods' lack of success this season has had a domino effect in some cases.
On Monday, George Harris Prep (Canada) center Enoch Boakye decommitted from Michigan State because the dismal year meant the frontcourt players were likely going to be sticking around by the time he arrives on campus.
“My thing has always been that I want to step in and play right away,” Boakye said. “I love Michigan State, but I have to go to what fits me best for what I want to do. They haven’t had the best year and because of that some of their younger bigs will probably be staying.”
Roselle (N.J.) Catholic point guard Simeon Wilcher is being pursued by a handful of bluebloods and said he knew early on that they would need the benefit of the doubt.
Wilcher could relate to the frustration of starting, stopping and postponing the season and practices. He and his team only started playing last month.
“This year is hard,” Wilcher said. “People don’t understand what all this stuff does to you mentally. You’ve gotta look at it like those guys are used to dominating and being on TV all the time with their fans screaming for them. Now, that’s all taken away just like that. Of course, it’s gonna be harder on them. You can’t hold this year against anybody, especially not them.”