NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top-40 forward AJ Casey top 8 teams

Marquette Golden Eagles

The departure of Dawson Garcia certainly hurts the Golden Eagles but it provides some clarity for future recruits. Senior transfer Kur Kuath is only around for one season, while the rest of the roster is fairly young. That includes the rest of the forwards such as three-star freshmen David Joplin and Keeyan Itejere.

On paper, Casey is better than both of them and with the young core of guards that’ll get better over time, Marquette can get better quickly with the addition of a top-50 prospect or two. And while head coach Shaka Smart underachieved in the win-loss column, he has gotten many frontcourt players drafted to the NBA. That’s a major selling point for a recruit like Casey.

Memphis Tigers

The Tigers are coming off the massive pickup of top-5 overall recruit Jalen Duren, a surefire one-and-done forward prospect for next season. He won’t affect Casey but Emoni Bates, another top-5 overall prospect who may pick Memphis and play there for two years, could. And there’s already the gluttony of forwards on the roster such as Chandler Lawson, Johnathan Lawson, Joshua Minott, John Camden, and potentially other forwards in the 2022 class.

The odds of Casey being able to start as a freshman here are slim and who knows what kind of starpower coach Penny Hardaway will be able to bring in next offseason to make the frontcourt even more crowded. Compared to the other options that have a much more open path to playing time, it’s hard to see the Tigers having a great shot at the end.