Tag: 2023 basketball recruiting

Florida basketball adds Australian center to 2023 recruiting class

The Gators earned a commitment from 6-foot-11 center Alex Condon from Australia this week.

Todd Golden has landed his second commit from the class of 2023, 6-foot-11-inch Australian center [autotag]Alex Condon[/autotag], according to 247Sports.

Condon took an official visit to the University of Florida in January and couldn’t believe the atmosphere in an SEC area. Seeing Gators fans cheer on the Orange and Blue as they beat the Missouri Tigers was enough to convince him that Gainesville was home.

“I chose Florida because I believe that it was the best fit for me,” Condon said. “They are great people and the new coach is young and enthusiastic. Everyone was really welcoming and I got to meet all of the boys. It was an impressive school from the start of the visit to the end.”

Although it may take some time for Condon to find his footing at Florida, he’ll join the team right after it loses [autotag]Colin Castleton[/autotag], who is also 6-foot-11-inches. Replacing the size is good for Golden and Co., but even better is that Condon sees himself stepping into Castleton’s role seamlessly.

“They got Collin Castleton who has done really well at Florida at been super successful,” he said. “They play through him quite a lot, which I saw in the Missouri game, so he said he sees me who can follow in his footsteps and they want to play through me a lot, through passing in the post, making moves off the dribble and things like that. Also, it’s a fast style they play and so for a 6-foot-11 guy, I move pretty well. He (Golden) thinks I can play serious minutes next season, as well.”

Condon joins three-star power forward [autotag]Thomas Haugh [/autotag] in the Gators’ 2023 recruiting class. While 247Sports has yet to give Condon a rating, he’s known as a high-IQ player who screens and rolls to the rim with finishing ability. He’s also a strong rebounder, which should come naturally with his height.

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Texas Basketball: Experts project five-star AJ Johnson to the Horns

Texas basketball is close to a second Top 15 commitment.

Texas basketball is having itself a great week. On Wednesday, the Longhorns defeated the No. 2 Gonzaga Bulldogs, 93-74. The signature win appears to have caught one five-star shooting guard’s attention.

AJ Johnson, a combo guard from Southern California, is trending toward Texas following its Gonzaga dismantling.

Two predictions were made in favor of the Longhorns this week. Rob Cassidy and Keenan Womack have Chris Beard adding the elite talent. Beard has already earned a commitment from Ron Holland, the No. 10 overall player in the 247Sports composite.

Johnson has room to fill out his frame, weighing 160 pounds at 6-foot-5. Clearly, his build isn’t keeping him from national recognition.

Adam Finkelstein of 247Sports had the following to say about the dynamic player in his scouting report.

He shoots a good ball from the outside and has a tight handle with both combination moves and stop-and-go change of pace.

The California native is the No. 2 combo guard and No. 15 overall player in the 247Sports composite. He would become the second top 15 recruit for the Longhorns in the 2023 class.

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Five-star point guard set to decide between LSU, several others

Woodland Hills, California, prospect AJ Johnson will announce his commitment Monday. He has visited LSU and Texas.

The Tigers have a pair of basketball commits in the 2023 class in forward [autotag]Corey Chest[/autotag] and guard [autotag]Mike Williams[/autotag], but they will hope to add an elite player to that group.

Five-star point guard [autotag]AJ Johnson[/autotag] is set to announce his decision on Monday at noon CT. Johnson is a 6-foot-5, 170-pound player from Southern California Acadamey in Woodland Hills, California, and he ranks as the No. 14 player on the 247Sports Composite.

On3’s composite rankings list him at No. 16 nationally.

A combo guard who primarily plays the point, Johnson has already taken official visits to Texas and LSU, and he has also received interest from programs such as NC State, Louisville and USC. The Longhorns are currently seen as a heavy favorite, being given a 93.2% chance to land him.

Coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] signed the No. 16 recruiting class in the country last cycle. His haul in 2023 currently ranks just 45th, but adding a player like Johnson could certainly change that.

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Alabama MBB signs four recruits during early National Signing Day period

On Wednesday, four recruits signed with the Alabama basketball program during the early signing period.

Four Alabama commits made it official on Wednesday as they signed their letters of intent. The Crimson Tide inked signatures on early National Signing Day from shooting guard Davin Cosby Jr., point guard R.J. Johnson, power forward Mouhamed Dioubate, and power forward Sam Walters. At this time, Alabama has the No. 13 overall class in the country, according to 247Sports’ recruiting rankings.

Head coach Nate Oats likes to add players to his system that can stretch the floor, play multiple positions, and hustle on the defensive end of the floor. It appears that this class is going to bring that to Tuscaloosa.

Not to mention, the coaching staff is also pushing to add four-star small forward Kaden Cooper, as well. The Oklahoma native recently announced that he will be making his college decision on Saturday, Nov. 12.

One thing that should stand out about this class is its versatility and length. Each of the four recruits that the Tide have signed are 6-foot-3 or taller. That can certainly present challenges on the defensive end of the floor for opposing teams. Coach Oats’ emphasis on the recruiting trail has worked in years past. It will be interesting to see how this class performs when they arrive on campus.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama basketball as well as Alabama basketball recruiting news.

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LSU makes the final three for four-star point guard Jizzle James

James is the son of former NFL star Edgerrin James.

[autotag]Jizzle James[/autotag] is a 6-foot-1, 180-pound point guard in the class of 2023. The four-star prospect and son of former NFL star Edgerrin James recently announced the final three schools he is considering committing to, and the Tigers made the list.

They join the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Georgia Bulldogs.

Coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] has come into Baton Rouge firing on all cylinders as he has totally rebuilt the entire team for this season and he is now working on building the best class possible for next year. He recently got his first commitment for the 2023 class in four-star power forward Corey Chest from Branson, Missouri.

James plays for Olympia High School in Orlando. He averaged 25 points per game and five rebounds per game in 28 games played. The Titans finished last season 21-8 with a loss in the regional semifinals of the Florida 7A tournament.

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LSU to host top-75 2023 basketball recruit next month

Kaden Cooper will be on campus from Sept. 8-10. He also has visits set for Alabama and Kansas in September.

LSU basketball coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] is looking to build on his 2023 recruiting class after landing his first commitment earlier this month in four-star Louisiana prospect [autotag]Corey Chest[/autotag].

He and the Tigers in the mix for another top 2023 recruit in [autotag]Kaden Cooper[/autotag], a small forward from Ada, Oklahoma, who plays for The Skills Factory. Cooper is the No. 57 overall player in the country, per the 247Sports Composite, and he will be taking an official visit to LSU this fall from Sept. 8-10. He will also take trips to Kansas (Sept. 1-3) and Alabama (Sept. 22-24).

The news was initially reported on Twitter by 24/7 High School Hoops.

Cooper picked up an offer from LSU in April, and in July, he released a top 10 that also includes Gonzaga, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Kansas, Texas, Alabama, Memphis, and Georgia Tech. Cooper has already taken official visits this summer to Spokane to see the Zags and to Norman to meet with the Sooners.

“The LSU coaches and I have a really great bond and I’ve had a great time understanding how they see me and what they expect from me, which is to come in and kill,” he told On3. “Talking about their visit is an exciting thing.”

LSU is not without competition for the blue-chip prospect, and it will have to beat out some geographically closer schools like the Oklahoma teams, Kansas and Texas, but it seems to be squarely in the mix here. If McMahon can hit on just one or two more of his top targets, this could be a special class for the Tigers in spite of the slow start.

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Tigers make the final seven for four-star shooting guard

The Tigers are in the mix for one of the top players this cycle.

[autotag]Davin Cosby[/autotag], a top-100 recruit in the 2023 recruiting class, recently dropped a list of the final seven schools he is considering committing to, and LSU made the cut.

Cosby is a 6-foot-5, 190-pound shooting guard and four-star recruit from Richmond, Virginia, where he plays for Word of God Christian Academy.

The Tigers join Alabama, Auburn, NC State, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wake Forest in the hunt for the talented shooting guard. Cosby is ranked as a four-star shooting guard by On3, which lists as the No. 90 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class.

New head coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] will enter his first season as the head coach of LSU this winter. He has already landed a talented group of players for the 2022-23 season, and he is making his mark on the recruiting trail for the 2023 cycle, as well.

He recently landed four-star power forward [autotag]Corey Chest[/autotag] from Branson, Missouri. Chest is currently the only commitment of the 2023 recruiting class, but there is still plenty of time for coach McMahon to land some more great players.

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LSU lands first basketball commitment in 2023 class

The Tigers landed the top prospect in Louisiana in power forward Corey Chest.

LSU’s wait to add the first name to its 2023 recruiting class has come to an end.

On Tuesday, the Tigers landed four-star Eleanor McMain (New Orleans) power forward [autotag]Corey Chest[/autotag] over Houston, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Overtime Elite. Chest is the top-ranked player in the state of Louisiana and the No. 75 player overall, per the 247Sports Composite.

Chest has said LSU feels “like home” and praised the family aspect and style of the new coaching staff under coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag].

He picked up an offer from the Tigers on Dec. 21 and officially visited on June 8. Kansas got in the mix late with an offer on June 18, but it wasn’t enough to pull Chest away from the flagship program in the state.

The 6-foot-8 player is known for his physical playstyle, which should help the frontcourt tremendously in the years to come.

With only one commitment, LSU’s class ranks just 41st in the country, as things currently stand. But McMahon is far from done, and the Tigers are in the mix for several other recruits in the class.

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Tigers a finalist for top-50 2023 shooting guard

The Tigers are listed as the favorite by On3 to land the elite backcourt player.

New LSU basketball coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] is still searching for his first commitment in the 2023 class, but the Tigers are in the mix for a number of top prospects.

One of those players, four-star Beaumont United (Beaumont, Texas) shooting guard Wesley Yates, cut his list of teams down to nine, and LSU made the cut. The Tigers are joined by Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Gonzaga, Houston, Stanford, Texas and Washington.

Yates is a 6-foot-4, 200-pound player who ranks as the No. 31 overall recruit in the 2023 class. He’s considering a number of schools in his home state of Texas, but he’s also considering a few SEC programs.

“It’s close to home, and I got a real good relationship with the coaches,” Yates said of LSU, according to On3. “Coach (Casey) Long is my guy, and you got Coach (Matt) McMahon, the head coach, who developed Ja Morant. It’s just crazy to know he did that at Murray State, and he still talks to Ja today. They have shown me how I can develop my game and how they can develop me into a pro. They play in the SEC, which is a big stage. I got a visit set with them on September 10; it’s the week LSU plays Southern in football, so it’ll be fun.”

On3 lists LSU as a slim favorite for Yates, giving them a 27.7% chance of landing him, ahead of the Longhorns, Auburn and the Cardinal.

McMahon did an impressive job this offseason replacing a roster that had largely dissipated following the season. He landed the No. 15 class in 2022, and though he’s still waiting for his first pledge in the bump class, landing a player like Yates would quickly ease any concerns.

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Gators power forward commit shows out at youth tournament

This 2023 MBK commit stood out among his peers in competition this week.

Florida pledge Thomas Haugh, a power forward from Pennsylvania, is playing a big part in his team’s efforts at the USA Basketball Finals this week.

Haugh, a three-star recruit in the 2023 class, recently committed to play in Gainesville. He’s ranked as the 199th player in the nation by the 247Sports composite, but his upside as a stretch four is immediately evident. He fits the profile of a modern big, standing at 6-feet-9-inches with a medium build and a weapons-grade shooting stroke. Clearly, the Gators staff values his archetype to pull him from so far north of the Swamplands.

He’s immediately making their decision look like a smart one, impressing national talent evaluators at the UAA Finals. In his game against West Coast Elite, he hit four shots from behind the arc during the first half. He’s also able to get to the rim vertically in-game, putting up both dunks and blocks on Tuesday.

Despite a wide palate of schools making offers on Haugh, the only school that may have threatened Florida was Maryland. In the landscape of Big Ten hoops, the Terps are a roughly equivalent team to the Gators. However, Haugh’s style of play fits Golden’s style better than the grinding toughness and clock management that take precedence for Maryland.

Haugh’s name isn’t one you’ll be seeing on a jersey in Gainesville next season, but he’s worth keeping an eye on this year. His skill set is fun and he’s a good candidate to rise up rankings as 2023 recruiting gains steam.

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