Monday, November 1, 2010

Another top ten recruit decommits from Texas

For the second time in the last four months, Rick Barnes has lost an elite recruit committed to his Texas Longhorns.

Over the weekend, it was Myck Kabongo that backed on his commitment.

Kabongo, a Canadian who is widely regarded as the best pure point guard in the class of 2011, spoke with ESPN's Dave Telep about it:

"In life you want to make sure that the decision you make is right," Kabongo said. "In life, you can't just get married to the first girl you meet. You have to see if it's right. My sister and my brothers, I asked my family and they told me to see if it's the right thing and I should see other places."

For Kabongo, winning is everything and you'll notice the schools he intends to build relationships with have a habit of winning games.

"I have to be most comfortable with being able to come in and make an impact and win. I want to be able to impact and win a national championship."

Kabongo will only be looking at five schools -- Duke, Syracuse, Kentucky, UNC, and Texas. Its interesting that the Longhorns are still in play; generally, when a prospect decommits, a bridge gets burned. Kabongo is a high-character kid, and that is probably a testament to the quality of his personality.

But perhaps its because Rick Barnes knows that a) he really needs Kabongo and b) he still has a good shot to get him. You see, if Kabongo does go elsewhere, he will be royally screwing Barnes. Kabongo originally committed back in January of 2009, and since that time, every elite point guard in the country with the exception of Quinn Cook and Ryan Boatright have gone on and committed else where. Texas hasn't exctly been recruiting either of those players, as Kabongo likely would have joined the talented Cory Joseph in the Texas back court.

And Barnes still has a chance to get him. Kabongo will be going to Austin for an official visit, Texas is a program with a reputation for producing good lead guards ("Texas has done well with point guards at the next level," he told Telep. "They're still going to be up there."), and the Longhorns already have Joseph and Tristan Thompson -- fellow Canadians and former AAU teammates of Kabongo.

As I mentioned earlier, this is the second top 10 recruit that Barnes has lost in four months. Back in August, DeAndre Daniels, a talented 6'7" small forward, reopened his recruitment.

Anyway, here is a solid mixtape of what Kabongo is capable of. I see him collecting a lot of broken ankles in college.



No comments: