I mean, no real inside info from the staff here, but just from reading the tea leaves going forward we're probably looking at:
Already Signed
Golden - solid player, probably not top 150 caliber but a good four year recruit
Likely Pitt Lean
Zegarowski - top 200 but both Stallings and I really, really like the kid, he's a little short but his shot is pretty and plays on the college level
So that's not the worst place to be in. I actually don't think that we're going to take another center because watching Golden this summer and the offers that we are handing out it seems like the priority after those two players is to land more wing offense but I could be totally wrong there.
Players that we really, really want and have at least some chance with
Jake Forrester
Nate Laszewski
Two totally different 4s but I bet that we would take both if they wanted to come since Forrester is a springy 4/5 and Laszewski is a stretch 3/4. I sincerely hope that we get at least one of the two since they're both legit top 100 prospects.
Total mystery men that we have offered and not heard a lot from but they also have no real leaders so...
Ignas Brazdeikis
Saddiq Bey
A couple of top 100 wings that we have offered and hung around but not really made any ground on. Nobody else really has either though so technically they are still in play. Neither are likely though.
Other priorities with mutual interest but mitigating factors
Lukas Kisunas - Total mystery with this guy, we have offered him but he has literally no recruiting chatter at all and I don't think any offers from anyone else. I really don't see how he and Golden can coexist anyway.
Dwayne Cohill - Nice combo guard who likes us but not as much as the local BigTen team. Pretty much the story of this recruiting class so far.
Amadou Sow - Springy 4/5 who had a nice summer and earned offers from us, Illinois and Cal. Probably in play right now but tough to land those California kids.
I mean, no real inside info from the staff here, but just from reading the tea leaves going forward we're probably looking at:
Already Signed
Golden - solid player, probably not top 150 caliber but a good four year recruit
Likely Pitt Lean
Zegarowski - top 200 but both Stallings and I really, really like the kid, he's a little short but his shot is pretty and plays on the college level
So that's not the worst place to be in. I actually don't think that we're going to take another center because watching Golden this summer and the offers that we are handing out it seems like the priority after those two players is to land more wing offense but I could be totally wrong there.
Players that we really, really want and have at least some chance with
Jake Forrester
Nate Laszewski
Two totally different 4s but I bet that we would take both if they wanted to come since Forrester is a springy 4/5 and Laszewski is a stretch 3/4. I sincerely hope that we get at least one of the two since they're both legit top 100 prospects.
Total mystery men that we have offered and not heard a lot from but they also have no real leaders so...
Ignas Brazdeikis
Saddiq Bey
A couple of top 100 wings that we have offered and hung around but not really made any ground on. Nobody else really has either though so technically they are still in play. Neither are likely though.
Other priorities with mutual interest but mitigating factors
Lukas Kisunas - Total mystery with this guy, we have offered him but he has literally no recruiting chatter at all and I don't think any offers from anyone else. I really don't see how he and Golden can coexist anyway.
Dwayne Cohill - Nice combo guard who likes us but not as much as the local BigTen team. Pretty much the story of this recruiting class so far.
Amadou Sow - Springy 4/5 who had a nice summer and earned offers from us, Illinois and Cal. Probably in play right now but tough to land those California kids.
Rasir Bolton - Almost certainly our Zegarowski fallback plan but could be a take anyway if we whiff everywhere and make moves before he ends up at a Virginia school.
This is a pretty decent bunch of players on this level and I would be happy to get one of them but they are all longer shots and again, I don't see Kisunas as a take.
Literal no star randos that we fill the class out with like this past one
If we have any of those in this class then we're in trouble.
Realistically if I had to take a total shot in the dark I would think that our class would be Golden, Zegarowski, Laszewski, and Sow and that's an okay class. Probably, as DT points out, that would be about 8th-10th in the conference but also one that we could be happy with. But we need to do at least that to have any chance of being competitive going forward, if we don't then next year's class is almost certainly a bloodbath.
Rasir Bolton - Almost certainly our Zegarowski fallback plan but could be a take anyway if we whiff everywhere and make moves before he ends up at a Virginia school.
This is a pretty decent bunch of players on this level and I would be happy to get one of them but they are all longer shots and again, I don't see Kisunas as a take.
Literal no star randos that we fill the class out with like this past one
If we have any of those in this class then we're in trouble.
Realistically if I had to take a total shot in the dark I would think that our class would be Golden, Zegarowski, Laszewski, and Sow and that's an okay class. Probably, as DT points out, that would be about 8th-10th in the conference but also one that we could be happy with. But we need to do at least that to have any chance of being competitive going forward, if we don't then next year's class is almost certainly a bloodbath.