NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing final 6 teams for four-star C Jazz Gardner

Texas Tech Red Raiders

The starting center for Texas Tech this season is Utah Valley transfer Fardaws Aimaq, who will be gone after this season. It’s pretty wide open for the year after, with reserve Daniel Batcho the only player on the current roster capable of playing at the five-spot. So Gardner can come in and depending on what the team does in the portal next offseason, could very well be the starting center.

While the Red Raiders aren’t the most explosive offense, they’re an elite defense and have become a consistent NCAA Tournament program under Chris Beard and now Mark Adams. And the ability to get a lot of playing time at a good Big 12 program is a very appealing situation.

USC Trojans

USC’s starting center will be five-star freshman Vincent Iwuchukwu, who could be a “one and done” prospect or stick around for multiple years. That’s something Gardner will have to consider if he picks them but there are still backup minutes early on potentially before taking over a year later as the starter.

Gardner can be in the Los Angeles area and play for a program that has been very friendly to frontcourt players and eventually has a big role himself. And if he’s around long enough, can end up playing at the Big Ten as well.