VISIT PREVIEW: Texas Hosts Shaka's Top Priority and Elite, Five-star Big
For over a month now, one weekend in particular has loomed in the distance, and stood out as the most important weekend of Texas’ 2017 basketball recruiting cycle. That weekend is finally here, and that means Texas will get its chance to host top priority, and maybe Shaka Smart’s most important recruit ever, Matt Coleman. No one has recruited Coleman longer and more intensely than Smart, who has known the lefthanded floor general since eighth grade.
But Coleman isn’t the only enormous hoops name that will be on the 40 Acres. As Orangebloods.com reported in last week’s War Room, five-star big man Mohamed Bamba, who also played under Smart for USA Basketball this summer, will also take an official visit to Texas this weekend.
Everything you need to know about both prospects, their recruitments, and their upcoming official visits:
MATT COLEMAN
Position – Point guard
Rivals.com national overall ranking – No. 32 overall, four-star
Size - 6-1, 175 pounds
School – Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia)
AAU team – Boo Williams
Twitter handle - @mattcoleman2_
The recruiting story – Where to begin? Let’s go way back, and lay it out all from the jump to put it in perspective how long Smart has been recruiting Coleman.
Briante Weber was one of Smart’s best players during his time at VCU, and is one of the best players to come out of the VCU program ever. He arrived at VCU with no stars beside his name – literally – and with fewer offers than fingers on one hand. Weber went on to be a multi-year starter, led the NCAA in steal percentage three out of four years (would have been four if not for a season-ending injury his senior year), and was a member of the Miami Heat last season after working his way up through the D-League. Weber and Coleman are very close – In a 2015 interview with Orangebloods, Coleman responded when asked if he and Weber were like relatives, “not like blood, but yeah we grew up together” - and Coleman attended VCU games to watch Weber, which is when he also met Smart.
Later when Coleman was able to be recruited, he became a top priority as early as possible for Smart at VCU. When Smart moved on to Texas, that didn’t change.
“Since eighth grade. It’s grown. It’s personal,” Coleman told Orangebloods in April about how long he’s known Shaka Smart, how that relationship has evolved, and Texas’ message to him. “We can talk about anything. It's more like a relationship off the court. ‘Matt we have much love for you, we love your personality and how you carry yourself’ and then they just said, ‘This would be your show. Come put on burnt orange with us.”
Coleman was the first 2017 prospect to hear from Smart as a Longhorn coach, and have his offer reaffirmed. On the first day in April that coaches could visit juniors that just finished their season, Texas visited Coleman the first minute it could, and since, Smart has made the trip to Virginia to watch and visit with the 6-1 lefty as much as the NCAA allows him to, including multiple times over the last couple of months and more than any other program. Each time the recruiting calendar shifts to a period when coaches can go on the road to visit recruits, Texas’ first stop has been to see Coleman. If you were looking to find Smart during an evaluation period during the AAU season, you’d find him at a Boo Williams game if it was playing, and Texas was even spotted watching his younger brother.
This past summer, the four-star point guard served as the starter for the Team USA U18 team coached by Smart that won the gold medal in Chile at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship. Now a few months later, he’ll take an official visit to Texas, his third along with Duke and Stanford.
So, it’s safe to say Smart has proven Coleman is as much of a priority to a coach and coaching staff as a recruit can be.
“I think with Shaka being there from day one, he's stuck with me. That's one thing I keep in mind,” Coleman told Rivals.com affiliate Virginia Preps in late July.
Texas’ pitch to Coleman has remained, as you can see a few paragraphs above, consistent. In a recent interview with Krysten Peek of Rivals.com about three weeks ago, the nation’s No. 32 overall prospect described Smart’s message to him about why he and Texas want him in the mix.
“He always texts me, ‘Practice went great today, but we’re missing one thing – that point guard. And that point guard is you.’ He was like, ‘The keys are yours. Are you willing to take them?”
And that’s no lie. The Longhorns haven’t recruited any other true point guard during the 2017 cycle, and this was Smart’s response at Tuesday’s Big 12 Media Day when asked if he has a true point guard on his roster.
“No. We don’t have a true point guard on our team…” he replied to open before talking about Texas’ approach to the position for the 2016-17 season.
Right now, Smart’s big battle this recruitment is against Duke. Coleman might list others schools, and he’s also visited Stanford officially while stating he wants to visit Kansas. However, this is a Duke-Texas battle.
Speculation throughout the summer tabbed the Blue Devils as leaders for five-star point guard Quade Green, and a major player for five-star combo guard Trae Young. They’ve reportedly remained linked to both (in addition to five-star point guard Trevon Duval). However, Green will very likely end up at Syracuse now, and Young chose not to take an official visit to Duke, which essentially eliminates it from the picture.
When the calendar turned to September at dominoes started to fall, Duke threw its hat into the Coleman recruitment, and on September 9th, the four-star point guard listed a top five of Kansas, Duke, Syracuse, Texas and Stanford. The Blue Devils are a big-time factor, especially after already getting Coleman on campus for an official visit (September 16th weekend) and recently last weekend on a one-day unofficial visit for Duke’s Countdown to Craziness. Those visits made an impression.
Coleman has acknowledged Duke jumped into the picture late, and has been working on building a relationship. “They do have to make up a little bit of ground, but growing a relationship and knowing that I can trust them and they trust me and my skill-set,” Coleman told Rivals.com affiliate Devils Illustrated three weeks ago at a USA Basketball Camp. “When Coach K called me, he was like ‘I’m sorry, Matt, for being such an idiot for recruiting you so late.’ I said, ‘It’s OK Coach, we all make mistakes.”
As for what matters most to Coleman when it comes to eventually picking a school, trust is something Coleman has mentioned repeatedly throughout his recruitment.
In a July interview with Jeff Greer of the Courier-Journal, the four-star floor general listed two key factors: “Am I going to come in right away and get the ball in my hands?” he said, and “Can I trust him? “Can he trust me?” regarding the relationship with his future coach.
He echoed that at USA Basketball this October in an interview with Scout.com’s Evan Daniels: “… At the end of the day, I want to see which coach is going to trust in me and I can trust them.”
And again mentioned something along those lines in the October story from our cohorts at Devils Illustrated. “The guys that play around you and the trust in the coach,” said Coleman about key factors when evaluating schools. “The coach that’s willing to let you play, let you make mistakes and he trusts you that you can grow from them - that’s really big.”
This weekend, as this recruitment looks like it’s nearing its final lap, the Longhorns will get a chance to make their pitch on their home turf, and get the 6-1 point guard on the Texas campus for a weekend (he took unofficial visits to Texas during the 2015 and 2016 summers).
In what has shaped up to be one of the most talked about recruitments of the 2017 cycle, what happens this weekend on the 40 Acres could go a long way in determining the future of Smart’s Longhorn program. The Texas head coach has never put as much time and effort into recruiting a prospect as he has Coleman.
Prospect Breakdown – In an era of basketball where they’re hard to find, Coleman is a true point guard that takes the floor with the mindset and skill-set to enhance the play of his teammates and get them the basketball. A lightning-quick lefthanded guard, Coleman controls pace and tempo very well, and is adept at picking-and-choosing when to turn on the jets and when to pull the ball back. He’s a solid passer, and also a solid slasher that flashes some crafty finishing ability, and a developing mid-range jumper with balance and elevation. Shooting from deep isn't a strength right now, but it’s improved noticeably since April. In the future, he should be a guard that’s outside shot has to be acknowledged and respected.
What stands out most about the Virginia native, though, is the mental makeup on the floor. He’s wired like a leader and a floor general, and the kind of one that could immediately become one of his team’s leaders when he steps on a college campus as a freshman. Coleman is very talkative on the hardwood, and extremely competitive. His intangibles are a clear plus.
Defensively, he can defend guards the length of the floor, and his instincts allow him to make aggressive plays on the basketball in the half-court and full-court.
OB in-person look – 2015 Nike EYBL session; 2016 Nike EYBL session; 2016 USA Basketball camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado; 2016 USA Basketball camp in Houston
Orangebloods.com's interviews and stories on Coleman:
May 2015 - Coleman stands out during EYBL session, discusses recruiting
April 2016 - Four-star PG not afraid to lead, updates recruitment
June 2016 - Talkative Coleman is someone others want to play with
June 2016 - Virginia native oozes intangibles at USA Basketball
July 2016 - Memorable camp experience was turning point for Coleman
July 2016 - USA Basketball scrimmage notes
Rivals.com October update - Coleman updates recruitment
MOHAMED BAMBA
Position – Forward, center
Rivals.com national overall ranking – No. 4 overall, five-star
Size - 6-11, 220 pounds
School – Westtown School (Westtown, Pennsylvania; from Harlem, New York)
AAU team – PSA Cardinals
The recruiting story – It’s rare or a prospect as highly rated and coveted as Bamba to go through the recruiting process and manage to keep out of headlines while keeping analysts guessing. But the 6-11 five-star prospect is unlike your average five-star prospect. An incredibly intelligent young man that does things like attend the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, Bamba, a product of New York City, thinks about recruiting differently. During a July USA Basketball session in Houston, we caught up briefly with Bamba’s older brother, Ibrahim Johnson, who revealed that Bamba’s recruitment hadn’t even really started.
“As for his recruitment, it’s a bit odd because there are a bunch of schools that offered, but my family isn’t comfortable with any specific school yet. When my family is consulted, and really tied into the schools, that’s when the recruitment process, as far as cutting down, will really begin for Mohamed,” said Johnson.
Since then, the focus has been on Bamba and his family developing relationships with coaching staffs, and specifically head coaches. After USA Basketball, Smart and Texas built on the budding relationship, and started to recruit the five-star prospect aggressively under-the-radar. A while back when coaches could first hit the road again to go visit recruits at their school or conduct in-home visits, Smart made the trip to Pennsylvania to see Bamba. That’s when it became clear that Texas was in the hunt.
Texas being “in the hunt” turned into Texas being a legitimate factor when OB learned last week about Bamba’s scheduled official visit to Texas. Michigan is the only other school that’s received an official visit. Michigan and Texas have something in common – terrific academics.
Academics will be a paramount part of Bamba’s decision-making process. Not only will he look for a place that he can excel on the floor, but he’ll look for somewhere that offers an elite academic opportunity that can open doors in the future. There’s a reason why Harvard is legitimately in the hunt for Bamba as well, who is reportedly considering seven schools – Michigan, Harvard, Texas, Duke, Kentucky, Connecticut and Syracuse. And from what we’ve heard, the relationship with the head coach will also be a principal part of the evaluation process. Sure, that applies in pretty much all recruitments, but Bamba is a uniquely intelligent player that has sincere interests beyond the hardwood that he’d want to be able to discuss with a coach.
Where is Bamba leaning? Good question. No one knows, and he's never really offered any hints on the record. He and his family have kept news very tight. Speculation lists schools like Kentucky and Duke in front. That being said, it's speculation right now. And there’s no doubt that Texas has a chance this weekend to establish itself as a real force in the recruitment, particularly if Smart and Bamba accelerate the growth of their relationship and if the city of Austin and the University of Texas appeal to Bamba in the ways he's looking for.
Prospect Breakdown – At 6-11 with a 7-9 wingspan, Bamba has elite length and doesn’t move in a clumsy manner despite being a young player that possesses so much size and length. He’s a tremendous shot-blocking presence, and also has the agility to use his length and close out in the mid-range or perimeter. In any style of defense, Bamba is a force that can change the complexion of games on just that end.
On the offensive end, Bamba shows a good skill-level, and the ability to make multiple moves as a low-post scorer in order to get a bucket. The nation’s No. 4 overall player also possesses impressive touch, which is immediately visible at the free throw line. He’s not quite there yet, but Bamba’s shooting mechanics and touch suggest he could be a set shooter from three or maybe a pick-and-pop player down the road.
OB in-person look – 2016 Nike EYBL session in Brooklyn, New York; 2016 USA Basketball Camp in Houston