College basketball recruiting roundup: Mitchell Robinson’s skipping school, landing spots for Zion Williamson
By Chris Stone
The Mitchell Robinson saga is over and where Zion Williamson could end up in this week’s college basketball recruiting roundup
We aim to bring you the biggest stories from the world of college basketball recruiting each week. This week’s column is highlighted by a resolution to the Mitchell Robinson situation, Wake Forest’s continued success on the recruiting trail and potential landing spots for Zion Williamson.
Mitchell Robinson leaves Western Kentucky for good
I don’t even know whether or not Mitchell Robinson qualifies as recruiting news anymore, but the 5-star prospect in the Class of 2017 who originally committed to the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers then left the program and flirted with other schools over the summer before returning to Western Kentucky has finally made the decision to skip college altogether and spend the season training for the 2018 NBA Draft.
There are lessons to be learned about decision-making and perhaps even essays to be written about the validity of virtually forcing NBA prospects into an unpaid internship for a season, but I’ll leave that to elsewhere. For now, what matters is that our long national nightmare has finally come to an end.
5-star wing Louis King commits to Oregon
For the second straight season, Dana Altman has landed a 5-star wing prospect. Hudson Catholic’s Louis King announced his commitment to the Ducks on Thursday evening. The 6-foot-8 forward chose Oregon over Kansas, North Carolina State, Purdue and Seton Hall. King is a really talented prospect who has the potential to be an incredibly versatile forward, but he’s still just scratching the surface of his potential.
Wake Forest lands Isaiah Mucius, currently owns top five class
Wake Forest head coach Danny Manning continued his work on the recruiting trail by landing 4-star wing Isaiah Mucius out of Brewster Academy on Monday. Mucius joins fellow 4-star wing Jaylen Hoard and 3-star guard Sharone Wright Jr. as members of the Demon Deacons’ 2018 class.
While it’s still early and there are several prospects still to commit, that gives Wake Forest a top five recruiting class in the nation right now. Not bad for a school that was struggling to find its rhythm on the court before Manning’s arrival in 2015. Manning hasn’t completed the full turnaround in Winston-Salem, but he did pulled of a winning season in 2016-17 and his recruiting wins have the team set up well for the future.
Ohio State lands Jaedon LeDee and Duane Washington Jr.
New head coach Chris Holtmann picked up a pair of prospects for the Class of 2018 this week, landing 3-star guard Duane Washington Jr. and 4-star forward Jaedon LeDee. Washington’s a 6-foot-3 guard who averaged 14.9 points per game during EYBL play last summer, but LeDee is the bigger prize here.
The 6-foot-7 power forward is projected to add a high-level interior scorer and rebounder to the Buckeyes’ roster, according to 247Sports’ Director of Basketball Scouting Jerry Meyer.
Northwestern lands 4-star wing Miller Kopp
Following up the school’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament by landing a 4-star 2018 recruit is a nice way to do it for Northwestern head coach Chris Collins. The Wildcats received a commitment from 6-foot-6 wing Miller Kopp out of Houston, TX on Thursday. Kopp told Scout that he’s developed a great relationship with Collins and that he’ll bring a good off the ball scorer to the Northwestern offense.
Recruiting experts rank potential landing spots for Zion Williamson
The Lexington Herald-Leader reached out to five recruiting analysts to get their thoughts on where consensus No. 2 prospect Zion Williamson will play his college basketball and although Kansas is currently pegged as the favorite in the 247Sports’ Crystal Ball, it was Kentucky who came out on top.
The logic for Williamson ending up with the Wildcats isn’t hard to follow. Head coach John Calipari obviously has a penchant for helping talented young prospects reach the NBA and Williamson’s friend Immanual Quickley, another 5-star talent, is considered a heavy Kentucky lean.
Next: Texas is a sleeping giant
Kansas picking up steam for David McCormack
Although it looks like some of the Williamson to Kansas talk may have died down, the Jayhawks are trending for top 50 prospect David McCormack, according to 247Sports. The 6-foot-9 power forward out of Oak Hill Academy is scheduled to officially visit Kansas next week.
The McDonald’s All-American game is headed to Atlanta
It may only be tangentially related to recruiting given that most of the players who suit up for it are already committed, but the McDonald’s All-American game represents a great chance for the general public to check out the incoming crop of college talent. For the past seven years, the game has been played in Chicago, but this season it’s headed to Atlanta.