Karim Mane is perhaps the hottest NCAA Basketball prospect in Canada and several major programs including Kentucky is taking notice.
Kentucky became the latest NCAA Basketball program to reach out to 2020 Canadian prospect Karim Mane, according to Adam Zagoria of ZAGSBLOG. Kentucky coach John Calipari has sent his assistants to Greece to watch Mane play for Canada’s U19 in the FIBA World Cup.
“Kentucky has reached out, their assistants are there,” Shane James, the co-director of Under Armour Canada Elite told Zakaria by phone from Toronto on Wednesday. “They want Coach Cal [John Calipari] to see him play probably later on in July. There’s quite a bit of schools out there.”
The 6-5 combo guard has displayed a well-rounded game in helping Canada (2-1) reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup. He opened the tournament with a 23-point and five-rebound performance against Australia and then registered a double-double in the final game of the group phase versus Latavia. Overall, Mane is averaging 13.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists despite shooting 38.8% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc (8 of 24) through four games.
Mane is ranked as a three-star prospect and ranked 122nd nationally by 247Sports Composite but he is slated as a four-star recruit and No. 30 in the country by 247Sports regular site. The Montreal native is extremely athletic and possesses a solid feel for the game. He is also strong and long, with a 7-0 wingspan, and can really shoot the ball with range. However, the 19-year-old is at his best when attacking the basket.
Kentucky is not the only major program pursuing the Vanier College product as Maryland, Kansas, Texas, Illinois, Xavier, Providence, Oregon, Wake Forest, Seton Hall, and Arizona State are also involved. Maryland, Texas, Xavier, and Kansas are currently making him a priority. He took an official visit to Maryland on June 1 and plans on taking some more this fall.
Maryland doesn’t currently have a scholarship available for 2020 with 6-0 point guard Marcus Dockery (Washington, DC), who committed to the Terrapins on Sept. 20, 2018. However, point guard is a position of need for the Terps so it is not a surprise they are looking for an upgrade. Xavier could add some backcourt depth but the Musketeers already have commitments from a pair of 2020 class members Dwon Odom, who is a consensus top-60 prospect, and C.J. Wilcher, who is a consensus three-plus star recruit. Kentucky and Texas both have plenty of room to add talented players.
Jaylen Fisher selects Grand Canyon University
In a semi-surprise move, former TCU point guard Jaylen Fisher will play at Grand Canyon University next year. The grad transfer selected GCU over New Mexico, Buffalo and Boston College.
Fisher dealt with knee issues last year and during his sophomore campaign. When healthy, the 6-0 sparkplug has demonstrated that he is capable of running a team as well as knocking down shots from long distance. He averaged 12.1 points, 2.7 assists, 3.3 treys, and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 41.2% from the field and 44.1% from beyond the arc in nine games last year. The 21-year old has accumulated 125 assists and 40 turnovers over the last two years and is 40.9% 3-point shooter for his career.
Fisher left TCU in January and is seeking a waiver to play immediately, otherwise, he will have to sit out a year. He could have two years of eligibility if he is granted a medical redshirt for last year.
The Antelopes went 20-12, including 10-6 to finish third in the WAC, last year and will get leading scorer Carlos Johnson (14.3 ppg) back. GCU has made five postseason appearances under seventh-year head coach Dan Majerle and the Antelopes have not finished lower than third place in conference play.
Jalen Green garners interest from UNC
Consensus top-five 2020 recruit Jalen Green is currently seeking his third gold medal with USA basketball as he is with his U19 teammates at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in Greece. The 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup MVP has struggled from beyond the arc in this tournament but he has been tremendous in transition and a menace on the defensive end. He has scored in double figures in three of the U.S.’s (4-0) first four games, averaging 11.0 points along with 1.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 20 steals and posting a plus/minus + 13.8 overall. The 17-year-old is shooting 42.9% from the field — making 65% of his 2-point shots — although he is just 2 of 15 (13.3%) from long distance, and 12 of 14 (85.7%) from the charity stripe.
“I think I’ve been playing solid,” Green told Evan Daniels of 247Sports. “My shot is not really falling, I’m trying to find ways to impact the game in other ways, defensively. But overall as a team, we’re pretty good, the offense is going and we play good defense, get a lot of stops.”
“My main mentality when I come out on the floor is just defense,” he added. “I’m coming off the bench, so I’ve got to have energy somehow, so I just step up on defense and let the offense come.”
On the recruiting front, the 6-5 wing said is pretty much the same as it has been with Kentucky, Memphis, Florida State, Oregon, Alabama, and California still prioritizing him. However, North Carolina is now kind of in the picture as Green said that assistant Hubert Davis facilitated interest while at the U19 training camp two weeks ago. The Tar Heels have not offered a scholarship yet.
“He was talking about how he loves the way I play,” Green said. “He contacted me in Colorado Springs. He said he loved the way I played out there and he wants to get in touch and build a relationship.”
Assistant coaches from Kentucky, Alabama, and Cal are currently taking in the action in Greece.
The Fresno (Calif.) native plans on visiting Oregon and possibly Alabama sometime soon. He already has taken official visits to Florida State and Memphis.
Ithiel Horton expected to make a decision soon
Delaware transfer Ithiel Horton is expected to make a decision between Pitt and Arkansas in the “next week-and-a-half,” per Adam Zagoria of ZAGSBLOG. He took an unofficial visit to Pitt on Sunday and an official visit to Arkansas on Monday. Both programs have made the rising sophomore a priority.
Pitt seemingly has the edge with a couple of scholarships available and the likely departure of Xavier Johnson after the upcoming season. While Verbal Commits lists the Razorbacks already having used their allotted 13 scholarships, Nikki Chavanelle of HawgBeat is reporting that coach Eric Musselman still has one left to give out.
Regardless, I still believe that Horton will choose Pitt.
Other recruiting tidbits
- The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets offered a trio of prospects a scholarship on July 3 including 2022 small forward Julian Phillips (Columbia, SC), 2021 four-star forward Joshua Taylor (Decatur, GA) and 2021 four-star shooting guard Kowacie Reeves Jr (Macon, GA). Taylor is of major interest to the Yellow Jackets although he holds 14 total offers. Reeves holds eight offers while Phillips has six offers.
- Northwest College (Wyo.) Lagio Grantsaan has landed at Morgan State. The 6-8, 240-pound forward averaged 13.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists while shooting 47.9% from the field and 30.2% from beyond the arc. The Netherlands native has two years of eligibility remaining.
- Eastern Kentucky grad transfer Dujuanta “Tay” Weaver transferred to Saint Louis on July 3. He averaged 10.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists last season for the Colonels last season. Weaver reportedly chose St. Louis over Arizona and New Mexico.
- Former Nebraska small forward Nana Akenten has transferred to Southeast Missouri State. Akenten averaged 4.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in 12.8 minutes over 28 games last year for the Cornhuskers. He has two years of eligibility left after sitting out this coming season.
- PSU offered 2021 point guard Jalen Warley (Philadelphia) and small forward Jadun Michael (Burlington, NC) on July 3. Warley now has six offers with Clemson and Temple being the only other power-7 schools. Meanwhile, Michael has 11 offers and picked up offers from Texas A&M, Providence and DePaul over the last two weeks.
- 2019 6-7 forward Bakari Simmons (Chicago, IL) signed with Texas A&M on July 3. He is the sixth player in Buzz Williams first recruiting class with the Aggies although the only one to sign a National Letter of Intent, thus far. The Aggies recruiting class is currently ranked 37th in the nation by 247Sports and features five three-star recruits — Cashius McNeilly, Emanuel Miller, Quenton Jackson, Yavuz Gultekin and Andre Gordon. Jackson is the only non-freshman of the group as he is a rising junior after transferring from Central Florida College. Texas A&M still has one scholarship remaining.
- Reggie Miller (Houston, TX) received an offer from Chicago State on July 3.
- 2020 forward Sam Thomson (Brooks, MA) received an offer from Elon on July 4.
- 2019 Schoolcraft College (MI) center Alex Ismail has transferred to Bethune-Cookman on July 4.
- Cleveland State transfer Tyree Appleby canceled his visit to Arkansas on Tuesday.
- Coach Bruce Pearl is still looking to fill out the Tennessee Volunteers roster for 2019-20 campaign as he has one scholarship available following redshirt freshman D.J. Burns decision to enter the NCAA transfer portal.