The Florida Gators have pulled themselves out of the recruiting race for Brandon Knight (PG/SG, 6’3″, 2010), the star scorer who is down to a handful of schools. This move by Florida leads us to believe that Florida knows Knight is headed elsewhere, and right now all signs point to the Kentucky Wildcats; however, that still remains to be seen, and with Knight taking his time, anything can happen.
It also means the Gators may be making more time to focus on getting Austin Rivers (PG/SG, 6’4″, 2010) to completely commit to Florida. The recruiting situation with Rivers is odd; he continues to say he’s committed to Florida while also evaluating Duke. That means he’s not committed at all.
Brandon Knight (PG/SG, 6’3″, 2010) still has to announce, and several schools are watching as close as possible, not the least of which being Kentucky. It’s expected that Kentucky will lose PG John Wall after this season and possibly lose Eric Bledsoe as well. Knight would be a welcome addition to fill in, especially if Bledsoe returns and Knight can play some off guard. According to our old pal Adam Zagoria, Kentucky may have the inside track with Knight’s parents.
The future is very bright for Brandon Knight (PG/SG, 6’3″, 2010) , who is still weighing his college basketball options between Kentucky, Syracuse, Connecticut, Florida and Kansas. Knight is one of the top players in the 2010 class and has just repeated as the Florida Gatorade Player of the Year , his home state:
Already named to the McDonald’s All-American and Jordan Brand Classic All-American teams, Knight’s stellar senior season has put him in position to repeat as the Gatorade National Player of the Year.
Although a late season injury prevented Knight from a three-peat of the state title, top programs around the nation are eagerly awaiting where he’s going to commit. He’s recently stated that he will announce after the McDonald’s All American game is out of the way later this month.
Two big things are about to happen for Brandon Knight (SG, 6’3″, 2010); first, he’s going to play in the biggest high school basketball showcase, the McDonald’s All American game on ESPN. Then, he’s going to pick his college destination.
And he’s going to both on television.
After recently eliminating Miami from contention, the super scorer will pick from Connecticut, Syracuse, Kentucky, Kansas and Florida. Knight’s scoring ability is his calling card, and a team that lands him should get instant offense. However, it remains to be seen which guard position he’ll play.
With the John Wall recruiting hype over, and Lance Stephenson looking like he hopes somebody will pay him some money to play somewhere, we move on to the biggest names for 2010.
First, let’s talk about the top players who aren’t committed, and leading that pack is Harrison Barnes (SF, 6’6″, 2010), followed by Brandon Knight (PG, 6’3″, 2010), Josh Smith (C, 6’9″, 2010) and Kyrie Irving (PG, 6’1″, 2010).
Right now, Barnes is considered the top player and he just completed a visit to the campuses of Duke and UNC (which isn’t hard, considering they are only eight miles apart). He already has offers from both schools, as well as Kansas, Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma and just about anywhere else he wants to play. Harrison Barnes is currently the number one player we’re tracking for 2010.
Barnes is a good outside shooter and has the size and handles to legitimately play the 2 in the pros if he continues to develop. He has a guard’s court vision and can slash as well, although he needs to be able to develop the ability to create his own shot and finish his slashing moves better. His first step is very, very quick and he uses it to get to the basket extremely well.
One thing I really like about Harrison’s game is his stroke. I would like to see him display a little more athleticism for a 6’6″ guy around the basket, because it could be an issue when he’s going against big 6’9″ guys in the paint every night in college. But I’m going to see a lot more of Barnes before then.