Recruiting

Notebook: Jaylen Brown hopes to decide in April

Jaylen Brown hopes to make his college decision in April as rumors swirl regarding his recruitment. The No. 2 ranked prospect discussed his recruitment at the McDonald’s All-American game, including his thoughts on his Michigan trip. 2016 five-star Tyus Battle is also working on an official visit to Michigan and added Kentucky to his list.

Jaylen Brown told the Herald Leader in Chicago last night that he has “about a month” to go in his recruitment, adding that it was “fair to say” he could wait until after current college players announce their NBA decisions.

“If I choose a school within the next two weeks that I think I like the most, and they don’t have any NBA guys, then I won’t have to wait until whatever the NBA deadline is,” Brown told Next Cats. “But, if I do, then I’ll probably wait.”

Brown has used all five of his official visits – to Michigan, Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA and North Carolina – and also recently took an unofficial visit to Cal. Both in-state schools, Georgia and Georgia Tech, are also still in the mix.

Brown discussed his visit to Michigan with Scout.com:

Michigan, I have a lot of family. I’m based in Michigan so I could deflect a lot of stuff because my family is there, so Michigan is definitely going to be in the front runner of things. Talking to Coach Beilein, he’s like an offensive genius the way he gets these guys that aren’t really ranked high to be lottery picks in the draft is amazing. It’s definitely something that drew my attention. Also Michigan is a great education school. They have one of the top public universities in America with Cal-Berkeley, UCLA and North Carolina.

He also discussed what’s important to him in his decision:

I want to develop. People say I’m ready to go this year. People say I’ll be ready next year. To do what I want to do, I think it’ll take me at least two years. I don’t want to come into a situation like the NBA and have to develop for two or three years. When I come in I want to be a superstar. Coming in I want to be on superstar status. Coming in I don’t want to have to wait two years. It’s going to take development and it’s going to take hard work. I know I can make the business move and be a top five, top 10 or top 15 draft pick if I just had a solid year in college and left. I love the game too much to chase after the money. I know your heath is not secure, but I love the game. Your heath is never secure. You could get hurt anytime. I just want to develop and be the best player I can be. When I’m ready, I’m ready.

Brown has been tight-lipped about his recruitment, but rumors continue to fly. Cal is trying to pitch Brown on the idea of playing with Ivan Rabb (who will soon announce between Cal and Arizona) and fellow five-star Caleb Swanigan. Brown’s high school coach is a Georgia alum and still putting in the good word for the Bulldogs.

“I asked him if Georgia was still in the hunt or not in the hunt,” Patrick Hamilton told the AJC. “He said, ‘oh, yeah, they’re still in the hunt.’ So I do think we have a shot.”

Meanwhile Scout.com’s Brian Snow reports that Michigan could be one of Brown’s finalists, while Kentucky, Kansas and UCLA are still generating plenty of buzz. The 247Sports Crystal Ball still projects Kentucky as the favorite (42%) with UCLA (39%), Kansas (6%), Georgia (6%) and Georgia Tech (3%) also receiving votes.

Brown also told NextCats that nobody’s program that he saw was as good as Kentucky’s.

Expect Brown to be under the media microscope over the next two weeks as he finishes up McDonald’s All-American activities this week – the game airs Wednesday night on ESPN – before heading to the DICK’S Sporting Goods National Championships later this week.  Brown will also play in the Nike Hoop Summit (April 11th) and the Jordan Brand Classic (April 17th).

Tyus Battle planning official visit

Five-star guard Tyus Battle is set to take an official visit to Michigan this May, according to a report by Kyle Bogenschutz.

Battle, the No. 13 ranked player in the class of 2016, will be making a return trip to Ann Arbor after taking a multi-day visit for Michigan’s College Practice Camp last June.

The five-star guard had previously trimmed his list to seven schools, with Connecticut, Duke, Louisville, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Syracuse also making the cut. Battle has also setup official visits to Duke (April 17th) and Louisville (April 19th) and added Kentucky to his list, according to Evan Daniels.

Prospects are allowed to take five official visits.

Mike Edwards adding offers

Class of 2015 big man Mike Edwards is quickly rising up the board for many high-major schools. Edwards discussed his open gym visit to Michigan last week and took his second official visit to Georgia over the weekend.

Within the last week, Edwards has added offers from Auburn, Marquette, Pittsburgh and SMU along with interest from Purdue, Arizona, UCLA and Duke.

Cassius Winston comes up short

Cassius Winston got his U of D Jesuit squad to the state semifinals game, but came up short against eventual champions Detroit Western. Winston had 21 points on 4 of 12 shooting (12 of 15 at the free throw line) including four assists to five turnovers in the defeat.

The talented point guard told Scout.com that he hopes to take all five official visits before making a decision. Michigan State has been trending in Winston’s recruitment, but the four-star point guard has been on campus at Michigan several times over the last few months.

 

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