Mid-Major Basketball: 3-star point guard Evan Nelson down to three schools

Mid-Major Basketball does not get the publicity that it deserves so I will try to help facilitate a change, starting with this recruiting article. In this first edition of mid-major basketball recruiting I will take a look at Evan Nelson, Eli Wright, and Lafayette Dorsey.

2020 three-star recruit Evan Nelson recently revealed that he is down to three schools, which is UC Santa Barbara along with Harvard and Rice. Nelson holds 19 total offers with most of the overtures coming from programs in the west, including Colorado State, Pacific, Loyola Marymount, Cal Poly, and BYU.

The 6-2 point guard possesses a high-basketball IQ and is an excellent scorer. He is a good shooter, strong passer along with being a solid defender.

Nelson had an excellent season at Salpointe Catholic this past season. The Tucson (Ariz.) product showed tremendous improvement in his shooting and ball-handling in his junior campaign compared to his sophomore year. He averaged 19.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.2 turnovers as well as 2.5 steals a game last season. Nelson also shot 54% from the field, 46% from beyond the arc (70-152) and 83% from the charity stripe.

Nelson is rated as a three-star prospect by both 247Sports and Rivals. He is ranked 197th in his class by 247Sports and 280th by 247Sports Composite.

Examing the three finalists

Harvard: The Crimson were the last team to offer Nelson. Obviously, Harvard has a huge academic reputation and the Crimson have been really strong on the court under head coach Tommy Amaker. Amaker is 230-131 overall and 116-52 in Ivy League action over 12 seasons at the Cambridge (Mass.) school. The Crimson has captured a share of the Ivy League in each of the past two seasons and has claimed seven regular-season titles overall under Amaker. They have also participated in a postseason tournament eight times, which includes four NCAA Tournament appearances.

Harvard will have two other point guards on its roster next season with sophomore Spencer Freedman and freshman Luka Sakota. Freedman saw action in 16 games last year, averaging 2.8 points and 1.2 assists although he shot just 31% from the field and 33% from the 3-point line. However, the Crimson will need to replace 6-0 guard Bryce Aiken, who averaged 22.2 points in 18 contests in 2018-19, next year.

Rice: The Owls have not had much success on the basketball court, having last made the NCAA Tournament in 1969-70. The Owls have accumulated just two winning seasons this decade. However, they did earn six more victories in coach Scott Pera’s second year than the seven that they won in year one.

Rice recently offered Nelson on June 15. The Owls could really use a lead guard and a scorer. At the present time, the club will only have two-point guards on their roster next year — Quincy Olivari and Reed Myers (walk-on). Rice does have one 2020 commitment, 6-5 wing Cameron Sheffield, and is projected to have three more scholarships available.

UC-Santa Barbara: The Gauchos have been keeping tabs on Nelson the longest of the trio of finalists, having offered him back in March. The Gauchos have been one of the most consistent programs in the Big West over the last decade. Since making consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in 2010 and 2011, UCSB has won at least 19 games in six of the eight campaigns, totaling 45 victories over the last two years under head coach Joe Pasternack.

Nelson may not walk into the starting lineup like he perhaps could for Harvard and Rice as the Gauchos will still have  6-0 Devearl Ramsey and 6-4 Jaquori McLaughlin on the roster. However, Nelson should see some time behind those two as UCSB does not have much depth and he should be an impact player in year two.  The Guachos is expected to have two open scholarships available in 2020 with 10 open offers.

Prediction: I believe that Nelson could pick any of the three schools, so it is basically a toss-up. But if I were to order them, I would say Harvard is No. 1 followed by UCSB and then Rice.

Other recruiting tidbits

• Abilene Christian received its first commitment from the class of 2020 when 6-8 power forward Jameson Richardson (Mangum, Okla.) verbally committed on Aug. 17. Richardson held seven offers overall including Louisiana Tech, Air Force, and Northern Colorado.
• 2021 guard A.J. White (Alpharetta, GA) received an offer from Winthrop on Aug. 18. White also has offers from Kennesaw State and Presbyterian along with an overture from Division- II North Alabama.
• Winthrop also offered 6-6 small forward Chase McKey (Johns Creek, Ga.)  on Aug. 18.
• 2020 small forward Jordan Kwiecinski verbally committed to Drake on Aug. 16. The 6-8 Chicago native also held offers from Siena, Air Force, UIC, Presbyterian, and DePaul.
• 2021 6-5 shooting guard Chris Dockery (Las Vegas, NV) received his first offer which was from Southern Utah on Aug. 18.
• Former St. John’s guard Eli Wright has transferred to Western Kentucky. Wright spent two campaigns at Mississippi State, mainly seeing time off the bench. He saw minutes in 30 games in each of the two seasons, averaging 3.0 points and 2.2 caroms while shooting 40.2% from the field last season. The 6-5 shooting guard, who sat out last season after transferring to St. John’s,  will have two seasons of eligibility left.

• Pacific point guard Lafayette Dorsey has transferred to Nicholls State. Dorsey made significant strides in his sophomore season for the Tigers, seeing action in 32 contests which includes eight starts. He averaged 10.7 points, 2.8   rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.1 triples over 20 minutes a contest a season ago. Dorsey will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.