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With the New Year comes more recruiting news, and that statement held true with Big Ten prospects. Communications between coaching staffs and high school players have turned into unofficial, and official, visits in the first week of January.
I am pleased to present to you the Morning Power Bar for the first week of 2017. It only heats up from this point on, folks.
-DeJulius and Weems Visit Ann Arbor for Game with Penn State.
The Michigan Wolverines received a commitment from 2018 prospect, David DeJulius, on November 22nd and were excited to have him on campus Wednesday night for their game against the Penn State Nittany Lions, per Prep Hoops Michigan. Fortunately for the Wolverines, they were able to squeak out a 72-69 with DeJulius in attendance.
ESPN ranked DeJulius as a 4-star recruit and as the No. 22 point guard out of the 2018 class. It is safe to say that the Detroit product is a good pick-up for the Wolverines.
Alongside DeJulius was 2019 prospect Romeo Weems, who comes from New Haven, Michigan. ESPN gave Weems a 93-scout grade and has him as the top sophomore out of Michigan.
If the Wolverines were to land a commitment from Weems sometime next year, they could have a deadly future backcourt that is comprised of in-state talents.
-Indiana Competing with Nova for Top Recruit
The Hoosiers are battling with the defending NCAA champion, Villanova Wildcats, for 2017 recruit, Jordan Tucker. Listed as the No. 38 recruit on ESPN’s Top 100, Tucker has scholarships offered from all of the top basketball programs in the country.
At the end of November, Tucker took an official visit to Indiana, per Zagsblog, and then followed up with a visit to Villanova. He has yet to make a decision on his college plans, but we may hear a decision very soon.
-In-state Prospect Takes Visit to Illinois to See Win Over Ohio State
Illinois was another school that hosted a recruit at the beginning of 2017. Perry Cowan out of DePaul Prep sat in on the Fighting Illini’s game against the Ohio State Buckeyes, and Cowan was even able to witness an Illinois victory.
Cowan has a lot of time left in his recruiting process, but Illinois is smart for going after the Chicago-bred wingman early to get ahead of the rest.