Recruiting Report: Corey Bays (2016)

August 18, 2015

When we last spoke with C.M. Wright guard Corey Bays in March his recruitment was just beginning to start, with Hood and Mercyhurst the first to show interest.

Since then, one of those schools has dropped out, but he’s picked up many more suitors in the process.

“Hood is still very interested and I picked up some Division II interest from St. Thomas Aquinas in New York.  St. Mary’s is really interested, I just got back from a visit with them. Salisbury is interested, I’ll be visiting them later this month (Ausgust 31). Also Lynchburg College, Randolph College, Randolph-Macon is very interested, and Bridgewater College,” said Bays.

“I’ve also been to York College, that is another school that’s interested. I’m also going to visit Penn State-Harrisburg, they want me to come down in September, and I’m also going to visit Bridgewater in September.”

With his list of recruiters growing exponentially, we had the 6-foot-3 guard identify two schools that he feels are pursuing him the most.

“St. Mary’s basically offered, they said that if I do sign they’d hold a spot for me, they said I’m their number one guy right now and they really need a wing,” said Bays. “And then Salisbury is the other one I would say is after me the most.”

He spent his 17U offseason season playing with Crusader Nation, and defense is where he saw the most improvement.

“I would say defense is the main area I improved, I really worked on one-on-one stuff defensively and I really excelled during that,” he said. “And then ball-handling was the other thing I really improved, I played a lot of point guard.”

According to the talented 2016, his ball-handling will be critical to the success of the Mustangs next season.

“I’m going to have to do a lot more ball-handling, we lost some seniors and I’m going to have the ball in my hands a lot,” said Bays, who mentioned he will continue to build muscle as he preps for college ball.

“I’m going to try and get bigger and stronger, and just try and work on my body so when I do get to college I’m ready for the physicality.”

March 20, 2015

C.M Wright shooting guard Corey Bays knows that the summer leading into his senior year is the most important of his young basketball career, and he’s ready to take full advantage of the opportunity.

A 6-foot-3 guard, Bays — PHM’s 72nd-ranked 2016 — says he’ll spend his second summer with Crusader Nation and has a specific list of skillsets he’d like to improve.

“My coaches really want me to work on my ball-handling, they want me to be a better ball-handler and I really want to improve on my physical strength, I need to get a lot bigger and get ready for college,” said Bays.

”My AAU coach tells me this is when colleges really come out and and give the players looks and this is a very important summer for me — they really want to see how the players have improved over the winter. So I’d like to get a few Division II and Division III looks, I think those are very reasonable options for me.”

The talented junior says he averaged 15 points, six rebounds and three assists with the Mustangs this season and he was a do-it-all player for the team.

“I think I improved a lot where I needed to, I really had to step in and help my team rebound and scoring-wise and I really had to help with ball-handling, and I was our overall best defensive player, whenever we had a guy we needed to stop they would put me on him.”

His recruitment right now is light, something that should begin to take off during his ever-important 17U campaign on the grassroots circuit.

“My coach did say Hood College reached out to him about me, and Mercyhurst (PA) I heard came to one of my games too.”