Today in the And One, top five junior college prospect Langston Wilson is set to decide. Also, Bryce Hopkins is nearing a decision and a new Crystal Ball pick is in. Finally, the NCAA will soon be ruling on whether or not to grant participants in winter sports an extra year of eligibility and high school seniors need to understand how it could potentially impact them.
LANGSTON WILSON WILL ANNOUNCE HIS DECISION ON SUNDAY
Four-star forward Langston Wilson of Georgia Highlands College isn't just one of the best junior college players in America, he is emerging as one of the best feel good stories in the country.
Though his father Ron Wilson played at Villanova, health concerns prevented the 6-foot-9 sophomore from playing high school basketball while growing up in the Philadelphia area. After getting clearance to return to the floor, Wilson had moved to Georgia and was working a regular job when he was discovered in a local Pro-Am. He signed with Georgia Highlands where he showed flashes of brilliance due to his elite level athleticism and length while averaging just over 10 points and nearly eight rebounds per game. Was he inconsistent? Sure. But, his size, athleticism and raw potential set off a feeding frenzy given that he's only played one season of organized basketball and looks to have significant potential.
Now ranked as one of the top five junior college prospects in America, Wilson has earned over 40 scholarship offers and has a final list of 10 that includes Alabama, Alcorn State, Cal State Bakersfield Iona, Memphis, Mississippi, Oregon, Penn State, South Carolina and Texas A&M. He has also announced a decision date of this Sunday, October 18th.
If the Crystal Ball is any indication, then things are looking quite strong for Nate Oats and Bama. The Crimson Tide hold all of the predictions for Wilson and look to be in a good spot to add another piece to what is shaping up as a potential monster class. Currently, the Tide's class has five-star JD Davison and four-star Jusaun Holt and ranks No. 29 in the 247Sports Team Rankings, the addition of Wilson would move them to No. 13 while they are still very much for Composite five-stars Charles Bediako and Caleb Houstan plus a run at the top ranked class in the country.
ENTERING A CRYSTAL BALL PICK FOR BRYCE HOPKINS
When four-star forward Bryce Hopkins announced that he was decommitting from Louisville, Kentucky immediately emerged as the favorite to land the tough 6-foot-7 senior from Oak Park (Ill.) Fenwick who ranks No. 30 in the industry generated 247Sports Composite. That looked like a well-reasoned thought based on all indications.
The last week or so, though, well it has been a pretty wild one for rumors regarding Hopkins status and where he might land. Depending on who you talked to, any of the previously mentioned Wildcats, Illinois, Indiana or Providence were thought to be at or near the top to land him.
Hopkins had been thought to be very close to announcing a decision and he's now set his commit date for a week from today, October 20th. Also, it appears that John Calipari and his crew are emerging from the pack and after a week of uncertainty I've gone ahead and given them my Crystal Ball pick making it a clean 10 out of 10 predictions in favor of Hopkins joining fellow four-star Nolan Hickman in the Wildcats 2021 recruiting class.
HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS NEED TO WATCH LATEST NCAA VOTE
Perhaps as early as today, the NCAA is expected to vote on whether or not to grant participants in winter sports an extra year of eligibility as they have already done for those in spring and fall sports. Based on conversations that I have had with coaches from all around the country, the measure is expected to pass and it is the right thing to do. The end of the 2019-20 season was wrecked and Covid-19 is almost assuredly going to cause problems for the altered schedule that is already in place for the 2020-21 season. I'm all for giving players who want to return an extra year of eligibility and another chance to play should they want to return.
However, exactly what changes it could mean to scholarship limits for next season is something that many coaches I've spoken to are unclear on. Whether the limit stays at 13 or players deciding to stay an extra year don't count against the limit, it is going to have an impact on who colleges decide to pursue and high school seniors could suffer.
Blue chippers like Chet Holmgren or Patrick Baldwin Jr. have no reason to be concerned. But the fringe guys, or maybe those players hoping to play their way from a mid major to a high major scholarship had better have a strong understanding of what this means to them. Because, once this measure passes it is going to be harder than ever for high school seniors to experience a bump in their recruitment.
Anybody with a pulse should be aware of how much the grad transfer market has changed spring recruiting. Overwhelmingly, schools are starting to choose one year of an experienced 22 or 23 year old college player over potentially reaching on an 18 year old high schooler and hoping to develop him. Adding a bunch of players that should have exhausted eligibility after the 2020-21 season to the pool of available talent is going to create a transfer market unlike one we have ever experienced. No, not every player will choose to use that extra year. Many will want to move on or try their hand at the professional ranks. But, there will undoubtedly be many more experienced transfers on the market.
What that means to a currently undecided high school senior is that he had better be taking a hard look at his current options because there are already a lot of programs who have decided that they want to save scholarships for the expected avalanche of transfer options. I'm not saying that guys need to pick a place just to pick a place. But, if a high school senior has options that they feel pretty good about, then they need to sit down with their family and coaches and have a serious talk about the risk that could be involved with waiting things out until the spring. Is it a guarantee that options dry up? No. Of course not. But anybody thinking there won't be many high school seniors whose recruitments are negatively impacted by allowing an extra year to college players isn't looking at this from all angles.
As always, players need to do what they feel is best for them. I'd just advise to get ahead of the changes in the recruiting plans of college programs that is likely coming during the winter and spring.
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October 13, 2020 at 10:15PM
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The And One: Four-star JC Wilson deciding, Hopkins Crystal ball - 247Sports
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