DMV Recruiting Updates

Over the next month, there will be a slew of events that we will be in attendance for and as always, will have content to follow. During this brief "break," it's good to share some recruiting nuggets from some of the top prospects in the DMV area as many 2023's look to either cut their list or make their college commitment sometime in the near future.    Hansberry is the top prospect in our 2023 MD/DC player rankings and further separated himself with a steady and dominant summer. He recently cut his list to a final five of Miami, Penn State, Illinois, Auburn and Virginia Tech. His last official visit occurred with Miami at the end of July and where normally we see prospects save the favorite for last, Hansberry's situation is a little different. Penn State spearheaded this one in the early goings and established a strong relationship with the 6-foot-7 big. While they've been the program recruiting him the longest, Illinois attempted to crash the party by coming in with an assertive mindset to take over as the favorite. Auburn is still lurking and a source tells Prep Hoops they're trying to pull strings in order to sway Hansberry a different direction, but it seems that the fit, conference and play style of Illinois is just better for the Mount St. Joe standout. A decision could loom at the end of August or early September, but I ultimately think the Fighting Illini get this one done.    Harris-Smith has established himself as a top-50 prospect nationally, which naturally attracts plenty of power five schools. You combine his overall skill with his relentless will to make winning plays on a routine basis and you have a guy who has potential to impact winning from the first day he steps foot on campus. The PVI standout recently cut his list to a final five of Xavier, Maryland, Villanova, Penn State and Indiana. He took an official visit to Xavier, but they recently received the commitment of 2023 point guard Trey Green, who will likely be their guy of the future and play with the ball in his hands often. Indiana received an official visit from Harris-Smith and while he had good feedback, it's likely he's going to stay closer to home. This one really comes down between Maryland and Villanova. Villanova has had a long history of dipping down in the DMV and getting top prospects on a year-to-year basis. New head coach Kyle Neptune has been active in keeping ties close with the area, but Harris-Smith has told me on a number of occasions that he's "not another PVI and Takeover guy that people can just assume is going there." He understands that they have a long history of winning at the highest level, a great culture and good player development. Maryland is the school making the serious push for his commitment. New head coach Kevin Willard and staff have made a splash getting local prospect to stay home with with [player_tooltip player_id='957025' first='Jahnathan' last='Lamothe'] and [player_tooltip player_id='999638' first='Jamie' last='Kaiser']. He has also been pitching to Harris-Smith that he would replace Jahmir Young as point guard when he comes in as a freshman and have a major role from the jump. This is going to be a battle between two new head coaches in their respective programs. While Maryland may have a slight edge at the moment, Villanova is going to make this one extremely interesting.     Commander had planned to do a post-grad prep season following his senior year at John Carroll. After a solid showing on the EYBL Circuit with Team Durant, Prep Hoops has learned that instead of doing a post-grad prep year, he will look to commit and enroll to a program for as a 2022. Commander took visits to Longwood, Loyola (MD) and Quinnipiac last week, but it seems this decision will come down between Loyola (MD) and Quinnipiac. The 6-foot-4 lefty is looking for a situation where he can come in right away and be leaned on as a scoring presence. Both programs have that to offer, but I think Loyola (MD) has the edge given it's closer to home and he can reunite with a former teammate from his Team Melo days in Deon Perry. There's been no announcement as to when this decision will be made, but it could come within the week.

Over the next month, there will be a slew of events that we will be in attendance for and as always, will have content to follow. During this brief "break," it's good to share some recruiting nuggets from some of the top prospects in the DMV area as many 2023's look to either cut their list or make their college commitment sometime in the near future.