Elite 2022 Combo Guard JJ Starling to Decide ‘In the Next Two Weeks’
MANSFIELD, Texas – J.J. Starling is at that point in his recruitment where he can’t fathom taking another visit or watching another presentation about how the school plans to feature him in their offense.
After racking up the frequent flyer miles to Stanford, Northwestern, Duke, Notre Dame and Syracuse, Starling said he’s “fully in decision mode right now.”
“That’s the only thing on my mind,” said Starling, a senior combo guard at La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.). “I’m all done with all of that other stuff. I honestly don’t know where I’m leaning, but I’m planning to make my decision in the next two weeks in order to get it done before my season starts. I don’t want all of this stress going into my last year.”
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Need a gauge on the pressure?
When asked to rate the stress of his impending decision on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being at an agonizing level of stress, Starling laughed and said he was currently at a “20.”
“It’s really that tough,” Starling said. “People don’t get it, they think I have an idea about where I’m going, but I’m really still weighing it out. All of the schools on my list are great choices, so it’s just hard.”
Starling said that while his bond with the head coach will factor into his decision, personnel will weigh the heaviest.
“I want to make sure that I can count on the players around me,” Starling said. “I want to be close with the guys I’m gonna be playing with. I want to know that I’ll be able to count on them and I want them to know that they can always count on me. That’s really important to me.”
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Starling said the school’s recruiting class who’s drives home that point best just happens to be the top class in the SI All-American team rankings for 2022: Duke.
“They definitely come at me the hardest,” Starling said. “Dereck (Lively), Dariq (Whitehead), K Flip (Kyle Filipowski), all of them. They just keep coming too.”
The full-court recruiting press is understandable for a 6-foot-4 guard who can effectively play either guard position and remains in attack mode on both ends of the floor.
“I’ve just embraced being a combo guard,” Starling said. “I think you’re more dangerous when you’re able to do both, so I’m comfortable wherever I’m needed. This is gonna be a really tough decision, but I know that, in the end, I’m gonna make the right choice.”