Basketball: Why Wilcox Chose Washington
"It just felt right."
That's how Craig Wilcox described his son's decision to commit to the University of Washington on Sunday night.
C.J. Wilcox, the high-scoring and highly recruiting shooting guard from Pleasant Grove High, ended a rather heated recruited battle between Washington and Utah -- other schools came strong into the picture later -- by choosing the Huskies over the weekend and announcing it on Monday.
Craig Wilcox, who played for BYU in 1990s, said C.J. was leaning toward Washington for a few days, so he tried to sell the strong points of some of the other programs to his son "just to see where he stands and how committed he was."
Turns out, C.J. held true to that initial feeling about UW and coach Lorenzo Romar and now he's on his way to Seattle after what should be a phenomenal senior year at Pleasant Grove.
Craig Wilcox spent much of Monday talking to coaches about from programs that had recruited C.J., including BYU's, and said they all handled it with class.
He acknowledged that he called Utah coach Jim Boylen with the news, rather than C.J.
Craig Wilcox said Boylen was "very disappointed" but was told he didn't do anything wrong C.J.'s recruitment. It was just that C.J. had a better feeling about Washington, which entered the fray late.
"I personally believe coach Boylen is going to do something special at Utah," Craig Wilcox said.
-----------------------------------
Some people have wondered how Wilcox's announcement today will effect the decision of Lone Peak's Tyler Haws, considered the state's other top recruit. The answer: not at all.
However, it could affect the choice made by Provo's 6-foot-8 Brandon Davies. The thinking is that Utah will now go hard after Davies, not wanting to be left out of the in-state sweepstakes this year.
BYU already has a commitment from one member of the class of 2009, Lone Peak's 6-10 Nate Austin. Utah's still in the running for Haws, of course, but it is looking more and more like the battle for his services will be between BYU and Stanford.
I talked to Davies tonight, and he was not aware of Wilcox's decision. So much for that theory.
Davies said he still has offers from Utah, BYU and Utah State, but no out-of-state offers, although Boise State seems highly interested.
"Me and C.J. are good friends, so it might make [his decision] a little harder," Davies said after learning about Wilcox's plans. "It would have been nice to play in college with him, but Washington isn't recruiting me, obviously."
Davies, who had a strong state tournament in helping Provo win the title, has not had a stellar spring, according to several sources. He will go to camps at BYU and Utah State with his Provo teammates, and will go to some July tournaments with his club team, Utah Pump N Run.
"I'm still trying to get my name out there more," he said.
Asked if he planned on committing soon, Davies hesitated.
"I have some things I need to take care of first, schooling and stuff," he said.
-----------------
My colleague who covers University of Utah football, Lya Wodraska, has a blog up about the unfortunate situation regarding Ute recruit Keni Kaufusi, the Cottonwood High product who had made such great strides in his life recently to become a recruitable Division I athlete. Go to http://sltrib.com/utes/index.htm
That's how Craig Wilcox described his son's decision to commit to the University of Washington on Sunday night.
C.J. Wilcox, the high-scoring and highly recruiting shooting guard from Pleasant Grove High, ended a rather heated recruited battle between Washington and Utah -- other schools came strong into the picture later -- by choosing the Huskies over the weekend and announcing it on Monday.
Craig Wilcox, who played for BYU in 1990s, said C.J. was leaning toward Washington for a few days, so he tried to sell the strong points of some of the other programs to his son "just to see where he stands and how committed he was."
Turns out, C.J. held true to that initial feeling about UW and coach Lorenzo Romar and now he's on his way to Seattle after what should be a phenomenal senior year at Pleasant Grove.
Craig Wilcox spent much of Monday talking to coaches about from programs that had recruited C.J., including BYU's, and said they all handled it with class.
He acknowledged that he called Utah coach Jim Boylen with the news, rather than C.J.
Craig Wilcox said Boylen was "very disappointed" but was told he didn't do anything wrong C.J.'s recruitment. It was just that C.J. had a better feeling about Washington, which entered the fray late.
"I personally believe coach Boylen is going to do something special at Utah," Craig Wilcox said.
-----------------------------------
Some people have wondered how Wilcox's announcement today will effect the decision of Lone Peak's Tyler Haws, considered the state's other top recruit. The answer: not at all.
However, it could affect the choice made by Provo's 6-foot-8 Brandon Davies. The thinking is that Utah will now go hard after Davies, not wanting to be left out of the in-state sweepstakes this year.
BYU already has a commitment from one member of the class of 2009, Lone Peak's 6-10 Nate Austin. Utah's still in the running for Haws, of course, but it is looking more and more like the battle for his services will be between BYU and Stanford.
I talked to Davies tonight, and he was not aware of Wilcox's decision. So much for that theory.
Davies said he still has offers from Utah, BYU and Utah State, but no out-of-state offers, although Boise State seems highly interested.
"Me and C.J. are good friends, so it might make [his decision] a little harder," Davies said after learning about Wilcox's plans. "It would have been nice to play in college with him, but Washington isn't recruiting me, obviously."
Davies, who had a strong state tournament in helping Provo win the title, has not had a stellar spring, according to several sources. He will go to camps at BYU and Utah State with his Provo teammates, and will go to some July tournaments with his club team, Utah Pump N Run.
"I'm still trying to get my name out there more," he said.
Asked if he planned on committing soon, Davies hesitated.
"I have some things I need to take care of first, schooling and stuff," he said.
-----------------
My colleague who covers University of Utah football, Lya Wodraska, has a blog up about the unfortunate situation regarding Ute recruit Keni Kaufusi, the Cottonwood High product who had made such great strides in his life recently to become a recruitable Division I athlete. Go to http://sltrib.com/utes/index.htm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home