Top prospects won't let the emotional connection to a school they grew up watching outweigh finding the right fit for their future.
Between weekly AAU events, camps and showcases, Welsey Yates hasn’t relaxed in the friendly confines of his actual home in a long time.
“I’m always moving,” Yates says. “And it’s just gonna get busier from this point on.”
Such is the life for one of the country’s most sought-after hoops prospects doing their due diligence in the recruiting process. Yates has already taken three official visits to Auburn, Washington and Stanford, with four more on the horizon to LSU, Baylor, Arkansas and Gonzaga.
“After that, that’s it,” Yates says. “I need a rest after that. I’m not planning to take any more (visits).”
Unless …
“Well, if Duke offers and wants to get me down for a visit then I’m definitely going,” says Yates, a scoring guard at Beaumont (Texas) United. “That’s my dream school; that’s the team I was going for every time they played. They reached out to me recently, so we’ll see where that goes. If they want me to come for a visit, I’m gonna do that. Got to.”
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Yates’s sentiments are echoed by elite hoops prospects around the country who contend that the balance between fandom and fit is less arduous than one might think.
“You can’t make something fit,” Sunrise Christian Academy (Belair, Kan.) wing Scotty Middleton says. “If it’s not right, it doesn’t matter if it’s your dream school, you’re not gonna go there.”
History has proven this theory.
This spring, Baylor Scheierman, the prospect in the transfer portal, told SI he grew up a “big” Kansas fan and got a call from Bill Self three weeks after he won the national title trying to convince Scheierman to help him repeat. Scheierman ultimately picked Creighton.
Former Duke All-American and national champion turned ESPN host Jay Williams grew up a fan of sworn enemy North Carolina and made his adolescent allegiance known via Twitter when Roy Williams retired as the Tar Heels coach last spring.
A year later, Jay Williams famously trolled the Tar Heels for losing to Kansas in the national title game.
“At the end of the day, it’s about the vibe I get on a visit,” Yates says. “Duke is my dream school, but that can’t be it. If it’s not the right situation, then it’s just not.”
Word of God Christian Academy (Raleigh, N.C.) forward Brandon Gardner grew up a devout Kentucky fan and "just loved that blue color they wore,” he says.
He vividly recalled nearly being starstruck when John Calipari reached out to him last June to express interest in him.
“We talked for about eight minutes, and, man, I just couldn’t believe I was talking to him,” Gardner says. “He wanted me to come on a visit, but he wanted me to commit. I just couldn’t do that because I needed to go through the process. Nothing really came from it after that.”
Call it saturation or success, but, by and large, the dream offers are launched from blue blood campuses. Duke, for example, has the awe of the No. 1 players in the 2024 and 2025 classes respectively.
Overtime Elite (Ga.) wing Naasir Cunningham, a rising junior, and Nokomis Regional (Newport, Maine) wing Cooper Flagg, a rising sophomore, are completely unabashed about their Blue Devils allegiances growing up. A month ago, Flagg walked into his house fresh off a workout when his mother told him someone was waiting to talk to him on the phone.
“It was Coach (Jon) Scheyer and I was just kinda in shock,” Flagg says. “I had to do a doubletake. It was amazing. I’ve always been a diehard Duke fan; bleed blue, baby. That was how I felt growing up, but now with all of these options I have it’s important to me to go through the process.”
North Carolina assistant coach Jackie Manuel has seen his fair share of dream offers while working for and against the Tar Heels and said “communication is the key” when dealing with these situations.
“If we’ve got a guy that we really want who considers us his dream school of course that helps,” Manuel says. “That means a lot of work has been done by the brand. But you can’t depend on that. We come at him just as hard as if we weren’t the dream school. If he has another school that’s his dream school, then you have to talk to him and everyone in his circle to make sure he’s genuinely open. At the end of the day, it really all comes down to relationships and fit.”
Gardner couldn’t agree more. Last week, he committed to St. John’s, a team he admittedly “didn’t watch a whole lot growing up.”
“And they turned out to be a dream school for me in the end,” Gardner says. “Honestly you just have to watch the game. Yeah, it’s your dream school, but is it the right system? Are you gonna thrive there? Is the coach gonna help you get to the next level? When you get to college all that hype is gone. Yeah, it’s your dream school, but are you their dream player? That’s the real question.”
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