College basketball coaches from Kansas, Iowa, Connecticut, Utah and Illinois have caused quite a stir in the tiny town of Tripp, S.D.
"Definitely. There are 650 people here. You will notice when somebody is driving through town in a rented Cadillac," said Jared Reiner, a 6-foot-10, 240-pound major college basketball recruit.
The Tripp-Delmont High senior center, his mother, Joanne, and brother, Ryan, have spent the past couple weeks entertaining coaches in their home in the city located in southeast South Dakota near the Nebraska border.
"It was fun," Reiner said. "Everybody brought tapes except Utah. It was like a two-hour dinner. Utah was here five hours."
What did coach Rick Majerus do for five hours?
"Talk," Reiner said with a laugh.
The rotund Majerus also ate four bowls of his mom's chili.
Coaches from Iowa and Utah concluded the in-home portion of Reiner's recruitment on Monday night, stopping by for the second time.
Now Reiner enters Stage Two, setting up campus visits. He's already made an official visit to Iowa and will visit UConn for the Huskies' Midnight Madness on Oct. 15.
"Most of the coaches want me to wait until practice has started," Reiner said. "It will probably take about a week to decide when I'll visit the schools and if I'll take all five visits (allowed by NCAA rules)."
Reiner said KU is still in the mix, despite reports that Iowa is the heavy favorite. Coach Steve Alford has made seven trips to Tripp and the family has admitted Alford's interest has been flattering.
"It went well," Reiner said of his in-home with Williams. "I saw the highlight film and listened to him. It was interesting.
"It's not really wearing on me," he said of the recruiting process. "Once I got it narrowed down, it hasn't been difficult."
As a junior, Reiner averaged 20 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks per game. He has a 3.7 grade point average and has attained a qualifying score on the ACT. He had a great summer, being named to the top-30 all-star team at the ABCD camp in Teaneck, N.J., and the all-tournament team at the Las Vegas Big Time Tournament.
"It gave me a lot of confidence," Reiner said of the summer.
Oregon travails: Kansas has ventured to Portland, Ore., to scout both a senior and junior high school player.
Brandon Brooks, a 5-11 senior point guard, and Aaron Miles, a 6-0 junior, both from Jefferson High, have attracted the attention of major colleges. Brooks, however, doesn't figure to qualify academically.
"If he does qualify I think every school with an available scholarship (in spring) will come after him," Jefferson High assistant coach Richard Fortson said.
So far, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Fresno State, Marquette, Washington State, Oregon and Oregon State have shown the most interest.
Of Brooks, Fortson noted: "He has Mark Randall's heart and Jacque Vaughn's speed in a 5-11 player."
Kansas will probably recruit a point guard next year, not this year, thus Miles could become a major target.
"He's Jacque Vaughn with a jump shot," Fortson said. "He is a 3.8 student. He's already posted a qualifying score. He's in student government. He's a leader. Even before Roy Williams and others like Arizona and Duke were interested, we were comparing him to Jacque Vaughn."
Miles played well at last summer's Nike camp and the Peach Jam in Augusta, Ga.
"Aaron is a different kind of kid, very independent. He has a strong will," Fortson said. "On the court he's as talented as anybody in the country. Off the court he is one of the great young students in the country. It's refreshing. A kid with this kind of talent knows he's a twisted ankle from having it end.
"Academics will be a stronger part of his college experience. He's going somewhere to graduate."
Bryant still likes KU: Travon Bryant, a 6-8 forward from Long Beach Poly High, turned some heads by wearing a Kansas hat at the Double Pump Tournament in Long Beach last weekend. He was named MVP after scoring 29 points in the title game.
Later he told a West coast recruiting service he had a great second in-home visit with KU coach Williams. He will visit KU for Late Night With Roy Williams. KU, UCLA and Missouri are believed to be his top three schools.
Pick up games continue: The Jayhawks continue to play pick-up games as the Oct. 15 Late Night approaches. Freshman Drew Gooden missed some games with a bruised quad. Junior Luke Axtell also missed some games with tendinitis in his ankle. Gooden has resumed playing while Axtell has worked out on his own. X rays showed no broken bones, so he's slated to resume pick-up action soon.
-- Gary Bedore's phone number is 832-7186. His e-mail address is gbedore@ljworld.com
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.