NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing 2020 F Taj Thweatt’s final 8 teams

Taj Thweatt is a rising prospect in the 2020 NCAA Basketball recruiting class. Which programs are in the running to land the small forward?

With only around 100 or so four and five-star prospects in each annual NCAA Basketball recruiting classes, most programs have to rely on discovering and developing three-star players to build on for future years. The most recent Final Four participating teams were evident of that, including former three-star recruits Jared Harper or Auburn and Jarrett Culver of Texas Tech. There’s a possibility that Taj Thweatt could eventually become that kind of NCAA Basketball star as well.

The Wildwood Catholic product is coming off a big junior season of high school to get himself on the national radar, with a number of power conference programs having interest in signing him.

Thweatt is a 6’6 small forward who is comfortable with the ball in his hands on the perimeter while not being afraid to go down in the paint. He has a decent stroke on his jumpshot and is a good defender. An argument can be made that Thweatt isn’t elite at any particular skillset but has no glaring weakness to his game. That’s a great starting point for someone who projects to be a 3-4 year NCAA Basketball player. With the right coach and system, there’s no reason why he can’t succeed with continued development.

A lack of quality competition in high school could have something to do with his low overall ranking used by 247sportsComposite. But teams looking for a diamond in the rough candidate are still after Thweatt and what he has to offer. And knowing that he’ll be around (barring an unexpected monster season as a freshman) for a few seasons, teams won’t have to worry about the small forward position for a while.

Recently, the wing prospect has shortened his list to eight teams. Most are around the east coast to his home in New Jersey, although Rutgers failing to make the cut is a sting for the program who needs to keep as many Jersey products around to remain viable. But as for the rest, each of them has a case to make for his services. Here’s a look at Thweatt’s potential fit with each program.