Short Notes: The, ‘Where Will John Wall Play Next Year,’ Plot Thickens
April 22, 2009 by dwil
Top prep point guard John Wall (Word of God High School) is having a second visit with Duke next week. Throughout ESPNs telecast of the Jordan Classic Dykes and others at ESPN let it be known that Wall and Kentucky- John Calipari is a match made in heaven. Dykes continuously sang the praise of Kentucky and intimated that Wall would be “the perfect fit” for Wildcats “Coach Cal” and his drive-and-dish offense.
However, Wall, mentor and D-One Sports owner AAU coach, Brian Clifton (Clifton was also a certified sports agent for a year or so between 2007 and August 2008), and Wall’s former high school coach at Word of God, Levi Beckwith, are traveling to Miami this weekend for an official visit. But Hurricanes fans do not get your hopes up. This is only an “official” visit because Miami is a beautiful spot to hit for some R&R.
The only college in Florida with a chance to land Wall is ————— the University of Florida.
That’s right Billy Donovan and the Gators are in play for Wall.
While Wall’s mother, Frances Pulley, would love for her son to attend NC State and play for Sidney Lowe, while Mike Krzyzewski is kept in the Wall sweepstakes by Clifton, and while Roy Williams has not contacted Wall since his phone call to the point guard during UNC’s NCAA Tournament run (despite Pulley intimating that her son dreams of playing for the Tar Heels, but that’s another story for a later date), at present UF is at least on equal footing with Kentucky, Duke, and any other destination Wall has in mind .
But.
From the looks of things, though, right now Duke has a slight edge on other potential Wall destinations. Why Duke? Only Clifton and his young charge Wall know for sure
And right now, neither are talking.
Interesting that it would appear that Duke would be leading at this point. The Raleigh News & Observer has done stories on Wall this year, and one of his two advisers (Clifton and Beckwith), hated Duke as a destination. Both of the advisers want a place where Wall can showcase his talents and leave after one year. A free-flowing offense is what they both think that Wall would play best in. Wall has a tendency to argue at times, and a coach like Coach K, might not be the best for a player that does that. (Wall was cut from Raleigh Broughton because of his behavior during his sophomore year.)
Beckwith liked, Baylor, NCSU, and Memphis (when Coach Cal was still there anyway). His mom likes Sidney Lowe, and is an NCSU fan. Clifton’s brother, Dwon, who also used to to coach the same team, is now an assistant at Baylor. One of Wall’s best friends is enrolled at a JUCO in Waco, Texas.
Speaking of high school prospects, what do you think about Jeremy Tyler, D?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/sports/ncaabasketball/23prospect.html?ref=sports
[...] remained on the John Wall Sweepstakes schedule was an official trip to the University of Miami, as I reported Wednesday. Now, where Katz received his misinformation is anyone’s guess, but he and Brian Clifton [...]