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NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing Scottie Barnes’ final eight

By Lukas Harkins

CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 20: A general view of chairs on the sideline before the game between the Georgia Bulldogs and Michigan State Spartans during the second round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Time Warner Cable Arena on March 20, 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 20: A general view of chairs on the sideline before the game between the Georgia Bulldogs and Michigan State Spartans during the second round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Time Warner Cable Arena on March 20, 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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GAINESVILLE, FL – JANUARY 14: Coach Fox of Cal while at Georgia. (Photo by Scott Iskowitz/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FL – JANUARY 14: Coach Fox of Cal while at Georgia. (Photo by Scott Iskowitz/Getty Images) /

California Golden Bears

California has not been the most consistent program in the country over the past few years but they are listed in Scottie Barnes’ top-8 and that means something. The Golden Bears have been heavily involved in this recruitment and it would be a massive addition to the team. Cal has not reached the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three seasons and has only 16 combined wins over the past two seasons. That would likely change immediately if Barnes were to commit. He is simply that special.

This recruitment is also extremely interesting from the Cal perspective due to the fact that they now have a new head coach. Former Georgia head coach Mark Fox now holds the top position in Berkeley and it will be interesting to see how that changes the recruiting process. Cal seems like a quality fit for Barnes in many ways but there are also plenty of holes as well. At the core, though, is the fact that Cal is the least likely program to make a national title run in Barnes’ only college season. It will take more than just two years for Coach Fox to turn around this program so Barnes may lean in another direction for that reason.

With that said, though, nothing would speed up the rebuilding process more than landing a top-5 prospect. Landing Barnes would be a tremendous way to bring the program back to relevancy but it seems unlikely, in my opinion. That could easily change in the coming weeks or months but this list is filled with absolute powerhouses and Cal is not one of them. In addition, he has hinted in the past about possibly wanting to stay closer to home and Cal would not be able to offer that.

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