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College basketball recruiting roundup: Naz Reid to LSU, Zion Griffin to Iowa State

By Chris Stone

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MARCH 16: Head coach Will Wade of the Virginia Commonwealth Rams looks on against the St. Mary's Gaels during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena on March 16, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MARCH 16: Head coach Will Wade of the Virginia Commonwealth Rams looks on against the St. Mary's Gaels during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena on March 16, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images) /
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Naz Reid’s commitment to LSU highlights the week of recruiting news

College basketball recruiting continues to trudge along with members of the Class of 2018 locking in their college commitments as others finally set up their official visits. Here’s a look at the biggest stories of the week.

Naz Reid bolsters LSU’s 2018 class

Will Wade’s impressive ability to get the job done on the recruiting trail in Baton Rouge despite having yet to coach a game for the Tigers was on display again this week as 4-star prospect Naz Reid committed to LSU. The 6-foot-9 power forward is the No. 15 player in the country, according to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings.

Reid will join guard Javonte Smart is the school’s 2018 recruiting class. He is also the third top 40 recruit Wade has landed since taking the LSU job in March.

Wade’s success on the recruiting trail is an important component of his effort to rebuild the Tigers’ program after the Johnny Jones’ era during which the team went to the NCAA Tournament just once. Reid should be an immediate impact player for the 2018-19 season due to his size and length. At 6-foot-10, he weighs in around 240 pounds and has a 7-foot-3 wingspan.

Summer breakout star Zion Griffin headed to Iowa State

On Tuesday night, Travis Hines at the Ames Tribune broke the news that 4-star prospect Zion Griffin had committed to the Cyclones. The 6-foot-6 wing out of Hinsdale South in Illinois is currently the No. 58 ranked high school player in the country, according to the 247Sports’ Composite Rankings, but it’s hard to imagine he wouldn’t be ranked higher had scouting services known about him prior to this summer.

Griffin exploded onto the scene during a pair of events in the Kansas City area back in July where he was tremendous against high level Nike EYBL programs like Howard Pulley, PSA Cardinals and MoKan Elite.

The lefty likely isn’t a one-and-done player, so his commitment will help shore up Steve Prohm’s roster going forward. Griffin and 4-star point guard Lindell Wigginton, a Class of 2017 recruit, should pair nicely and get Iowa State fans excited about the future.

Several other schools locked down top 100 talent

A few additional top 100 players came off the board this week as well, shrinking the pool of available talent for schools still looking to make an impact in the Class of 2018. 4-star point guard James Akinjo is headed to Connecticut while top 100 guard Dwayne Cohill verbally committed to Dayton.

Zion Williamson sets up some official visits

After spending the week conducting in-home visits, it looks like Zion Williamson has finally lined up the majority of his officials visits for this fall. The human highlight reel will head to Kentucky the weekend of September 23rd before visiting Kansas the following weekend for Late Night in the Phog.

After a short break, Williamson will head to Duke on October 20th for Countdown to Craziness and then UCLA the weekend after.

Darius Garland schedules his visits

Like Williamson, 5-star point guard Darius Garland is also making some headway with his recruiting, telling Scout he’s down to six schools and has scheduled four visits. Garland is still considering Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA and Vanderbilt.

The 6-foot-2 guard will take his first official visit to the hometown school, Vanderbilt, next weekend. He’ll follow that up with Big Blue Madness at Kentucky the weekend of October 14th and Indiana’s Hoosier Hysteria the weekend after that with a trip to Duke schedule for the weekend of October 28th.

Bol Bol reportedly sets visit dates

5-star big man Bol Bol has scheduled his official visits, according to Scout’s Evan Daniels. The 7-footer is expected to take visits to Arizona, Kentucky, Oregon, UCLA and USC with the Ducks getting the first trip the weekend of September 30th.

Kentucky will then host Bol for Big Blue Madness before he heads to Arizona, the presumptive favorite, the weekend after.

Quentin Grimes cuts his list to four, talks in-home visits

Quentin Grimes, a 4-star combo guard and the No. 17 recruit in the Class of 2018, broke down his final four schools for Scout this week. The 6-foot-4 rising senior is considering Kansas, Kentucky, Marquette and Texas with the Jayhawks considered the favorite.

Kansas is eager to land Grimes to play alongside either California transfer Charlie Moore or fellow top recruit Devon Dotson, if they can land both players. Texas has similar plans, hoping to pair him with 2017 recruit Matt Coleman, while Marquette could let him hoop next to Markus Howard. Kentucky, as usual, is selling its ability to get players to the NBA.

Next: All-time All-ACC mock draft

LaMelo Ball could sit out rather than play college basketball

The youngest Ball brother made headlines when the family brand released his signature shoe, calling into question his NCAA eligibility. That doesn’t appear to concern his father, LaVar, too much, though. Never shy from controver, LaVar suggested this week that the 16-year old could simply forgo college and train for the NBA Draft should the NCAA take issue with the shoe.