Morning Power Bar: Can Rutgers Keep Local Star in State?

The Big Ten Tournament is coming up, and recruiting has taken even more of a backseat than it usually does. Regardless, coaches are still evaluating prospects and contacting their top targets.

We haven’t seen a commitment in either the ‘17 or ‘18 classes lately, but there have been some key offers and visits from within the conference. Notably, Rutgers, Penn State and Michigan State have seen some developments with some of their top targets.

Let’s take a look at those recent moves in the world of Big Ten recruiting.

-Rutgers Looking to Keep Reid In State:

Nazreon Reid is a five-star, national prospect. Yes, he’s from New Jersey, but he is absolutely not the type of prospect you’d ever expect to see sign with Rutgers. The 6’9, 220-pound forward is the 14th ranked prospect, regardless of position, in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite Rankings for the class of 2018.

With offers from schools like Kentucky, Kansas, Louisville, Maryland and Villanova, amongst others, the odds of him ending up at a struggling Rutgers program that plays in a conference consistently as tough to compete in as the Big Ten appear, at least from the outset, to be slim.

Well, maybe this one’s different.

In a piece by Scout’s Brian Snow ($), Reid is quoted as saying that the Scarlet Knights are pitching him as a potential program changing prospect.

“They are contacting me and staying up on my season and just telling me how I could change the program if I came to their school,” said Reid of Rutgers.

Reid’s 247Sports Crystal Ball, at least for now, is split between St. John’s and Kentucky. According to the same article by Brian Snow, Rutgers continues to contact Reid regularly. Could their persistence pay off down the road? We’ll have to wait and see. But, you can be sure that Rutgers would love to be able to pair him up with four-star 2018 center Mamadou Doucoure in the front court for a year or two.

-Penn State Offer 2019 Philly Guard:

2019? Woah. Shoot...2019. 2019?

Yeah, twenty nineteen. In football recruiting, you aren’t even thinking that far ahead. In basketball recruiting, though, you are.

Penn State offered 2019 shooting guard Seth Lundy. Lundy is 6’4, and comes from the same school that produced Tony Carr, who is already on track to be the best basketball player in Penn State history.

2019’s signing day is a ways away, but Penn State is already looking to lay down local offers and gain as much visibility as they possibly can in state.

Lundy does not have a star-rating from any of the four major recruiting sites.

-Jason Whitens Visits Michigan State

Of the four major recruiting sites, Scout is the only one to have a recruiting profile for 2017 Powers North Central (Powers, MI) forward Jason Whitens. Here’s the thing, though: it’s a football profile.

Yeah, Whitens is a forward by winter and tall wide receiver by fall. According to Inside Prep Sports, he’s a two-time state football champ, along with being a two-time state champion for football.

Whitens isn’t rated by any of the sites, and has yet to report any scholarship offers, but he is a talent. He visited Michigan State over the weekend for their game against Wisconsin.

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Check out the BTPowerhouse Morning Power Bar each Friday morning.