Here's the latest from my sources:
• St. John's big man Mo Keita just finished his USF visit and should decide soon between Tulsa, USF and Fordham. Inside scoop from Russ Wood, taken from our portal thread:
Mohamed Keita's USF visit has ended. I spoke with him while he was at the airport. He came by himself, not unusual for African players in the portal, and said he saw everything he wanted to see but his main focus on the visit was about basketball.
Keita is now in decision mode. I asked him if he would be making the decision himself or if he will seek input from someone and he said that he will discuss his options with NBA Africa Academy coaches.
He said that he expects to make an announcement "before the weekend," but I wouldn’t be surprised to see an announcement sometime tomorrow evening.
I asked him about his knee injury while at St. John’s and he said that his right knee swelled up so St. John’s had it scoped and drained the fluid. Nothing was torn and he is ready to go for the next season.
Keita’s relationship with USF assistant coach Desmond Oliver might put USF over the top here. Oliver was the head coach at East Tennessee State and was the first coach to offer Keita when he was in high school. Keita built a relationship with Oliver and visited ETSU before ultimately committing to St. John’s.
• TU will likely pass on Texas A&M big man Ashton Smith for non-basketball related issues. Don't know if that is grades, credit transfer issues, injury, or something else.
• 6-9 NMSU transfer Issa Muhammad has received a call from TU coaches. Don't know if it's gone any further at this point.
• Tulsa is still recruiting high school point guard Tyshawn Archie, but it's unclear how serious that is at the moment.
• Possible new targets could be Charlotte big man Dishon Jackson and UMass forward Wildens Leveque, but I think there could be issues with getting Jackson immediately eligible. Possibly with Leveque as well. Jackson had been in the portal and committed to Charlotte, but then his main recruiter left the coaching staff, so he's back in the portal. Leveque transferred from South Carolina to UMass after three seasons, and now he'll transfer as a grad transfer.
Leveque started 25 games and appeared in 28 for the Minutemen last season, averaging 5.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game. He set a new Myrtle Beach Invitational record for blocks in a game with five in a win over Colorado (11/17) … Posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards at South Florida (11/29) while knocking down a career-best two 3-pointers … Made a season-high six field goals on nine attempts for 12 points at George Mason (2/1) … Shot 4-of-6 with 11 points and five boards at Fordham (2/8) … Recorded nine points and seven boards against Dayton (2/22) … Posted 11 points and five boards with three blocks in regular season finale against St. Bonaventure (3/4).
Jackson was sidelined at Washington State for the entire 2022-23 season due to an undisclosed medical concern. The 6-foot-10, 250-pounder appeared in 49 games over the past two seasons. Hit the portal in March and committed to Charlotte. Now back in the portal.
• St. John's big man Mo Keita just finished his USF visit and should decide soon between Tulsa, USF and Fordham. Inside scoop from Russ Wood, taken from our portal thread:
Mohamed Keita's USF visit has ended. I spoke with him while he was at the airport. He came by himself, not unusual for African players in the portal, and said he saw everything he wanted to see but his main focus on the visit was about basketball.
Keita is now in decision mode. I asked him if he would be making the decision himself or if he will seek input from someone and he said that he will discuss his options with NBA Africa Academy coaches.
He said that he expects to make an announcement "before the weekend," but I wouldn’t be surprised to see an announcement sometime tomorrow evening.
I asked him about his knee injury while at St. John’s and he said that his right knee swelled up so St. John’s had it scoped and drained the fluid. Nothing was torn and he is ready to go for the next season.
Keita’s relationship with USF assistant coach Desmond Oliver might put USF over the top here. Oliver was the head coach at East Tennessee State and was the first coach to offer Keita when he was in high school. Keita built a relationship with Oliver and visited ETSU before ultimately committing to St. John’s.
• TU will likely pass on Texas A&M big man Ashton Smith for non-basketball related issues. Don't know if that is grades, credit transfer issues, injury, or something else.
• 6-9 NMSU transfer Issa Muhammad has received a call from TU coaches. Don't know if it's gone any further at this point.
• Tulsa is still recruiting high school point guard Tyshawn Archie, but it's unclear how serious that is at the moment.
• Possible new targets could be Charlotte big man Dishon Jackson and UMass forward Wildens Leveque, but I think there could be issues with getting Jackson immediately eligible. Possibly with Leveque as well. Jackson had been in the portal and committed to Charlotte, but then his main recruiter left the coaching staff, so he's back in the portal. Leveque transferred from South Carolina to UMass after three seasons, and now he'll transfer as a grad transfer.
Leveque started 25 games and appeared in 28 for the Minutemen last season, averaging 5.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game. He set a new Myrtle Beach Invitational record for blocks in a game with five in a win over Colorado (11/17) … Posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards at South Florida (11/29) while knocking down a career-best two 3-pointers … Made a season-high six field goals on nine attempts for 12 points at George Mason (2/1) … Shot 4-of-6 with 11 points and five boards at Fordham (2/8) … Recorded nine points and seven boards against Dayton (2/22) … Posted 11 points and five boards with three blocks in regular season finale against St. Bonaventure (3/4).
Jackson was sidelined at Washington State for the entire 2022-23 season due to an undisclosed medical concern. The 6-foot-10, 250-pounder appeared in 49 games over the past two seasons. Hit the portal in March and committed to Charlotte. Now back in the portal.
