The state of recruiting
Top Memphis basketball targets discuss Hardaway
College basketball's first evaluation period of the spring came and went over this past weekend, and several top Memphis targets were in the Dallas area for events held by Nike, Under Armour and Adidas.
The Commercial Appeal caught up with many of the highly-regarded players coach Penny Hardaway and his staff are chasing to get an update on their recruiting process. Here's a sampling of what they had to say:
F/C James Wiseman, 7-0, Memphis
The top-rated recruit in the 2019 class said he’s been in contact with Memphis coach Penny Hardaway and Kentucky coach John Calipari “a lot lately.” He held in-home visits with both coaches last week and said the one with Hardaway went “great.”
Wiseman noted that Kansas, North Carolina and Vanderbilt also remain in the mix. He also mentioned that he's getting tired of answering questions about whether he will reclassify to 2018. Wiseman said he hasn't even looked into what he would have to do to graduate early, although he did not know whether he'd still be attending East High School next year.
"I don't think I'm reclassifying," he said.
F Chandler Lawson, 6-8, Memphis
Lawson said he spoke to Hardaway recently and officially received a scholarship offer from this new Memphis staff. Baylor also jumped into the mix with a scholarship offer last week.
Lawson’s father, former Memphis assistant coach Keelon Lawson, said his son’s top three schools at the moment are Memphis, Kansas and Georgia Tech.
“Being at home and playing for Penny, I already got a bond with him,” Chandler Lawson said Friday night. “Going to another school, you’ve got to re-bond and I’ve already got that connection with Penny Hardaway.”