Also worth noting that Jones made a second visit to GW last week after he visited Charlotte. I take that as a promising sign.
From a purely academic standpoint, Cal seems like the choice although I think from a winning standpoint there is more upside at Charlotte or GW. It's crazy that I'm saying that as neither team has been any good recently, but Cal has become a bottom feeder in the Pac-12, a conference that quite honestly might only be slightly better than the A10 this year. Cal's roster this year looks rough, and it's not a good sign that one of their best players left for UC Santa Barbara this offseason, a program that's probably better than Cal at this point. I like Fox as a coach but it's an uphill battle to even get talent to Cal right now. They had a four star guard committed for next year only to watch him decommit a few weeks later. Last year's GW team on paper might have had more top-end talent than Cal had. Charlotte is moving up to the AAC next year, but with Cincinnati, Houston, and even UCF leaving I think the A10 has a chance of overtaking the AAC in basketball.
The three priorities right now seem to be Autry, Hutchinson, and Jones. All three have visited officially. If we can land at least two of those three that would be huge. Hutchinson and Autry recently followed each other so I'm wondering if maybe there's a chance of a team-up happening behind the scenes.
Autry is also considering Rhode Island and Cincinnati. I get the feeling he's regarded as more of a fallback option at Cincinnati. The Rams recently had a player decommit but their backcourt looks rather crowded right now. GW definitely seems like the best place from a playing time perspective.
Hutchinson is additionally considering James Madison, New Mexico State, and VCU. I like his game a lot. A lot of high-majors started prioritizing other players because he is somewhat inconsistent as a shooter but he is a really good playmaker, which is something this team could really use next year and beyond. Both James Madison and New Mexico State are also changing conferences, with the Dukes moving to the Sun Belt this year and the Aggies moving to the C-USA next year. Both moves were made for football and I think it will hurt basketball. JMU has good facilities but the Sun Belt is definitely a step lower than the A10 in basketball. NMSU has dominated the WAC, but who knows how they will fare when changing conferences. They probably still be one of the better teams, but the C-USA will become even more meh in basketball with teams like UAB, North Texas and as mentioned earlier Charlotte leaving. I don't get the sense VCU is too interested as he's only taken an unofficial so far but I guess we'll see.
I believe we are trying to get Isaiah Watts on a visit as well in the future. He recently visited Fordham. His footage didn't really pop during Peach Jam when he was playing with Seattle Rotary but he has good size and potential. Part of the problem was that he was not a primary option on his EYBL team, and hopefully his move to the East Coast to play at South Kent will allow him to showcase his game more.
Florida Colonial wrote:
