Josiah Turner decommits from ASU

[Russ Smith]

From the Rivals site:

"I have a lot of respect for Arizona State and Coach Sendek, but I never really had a chance to go through the recruiting process," Turner, who is currently competing with his Pump 'N Run [Elite] AAU team in Los Angeles, said. "So I'm opening things up. I'm definitely still considering Arizona State; I definitely want everyone to know that, but I need to be able to compare other schools and find what the best fit is for me."

At the time he committed to Arizona State, reports were that the Sun Devils, Cal, and UCLA were the leaders for him, with Marquette and Santa Clara also having offered plus Oregon State and USC being in the mix. This is a kid whose list and number of offers are only going to increase but who seems to favor the west coast and Pac-10.



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[HooverDam]

On the one hand this isn't too surprising, the kid committed early and now has blown up and probably wants to feel the love of the recruiting process. On the other hand everything I read made it sound like he was helpful in getting Kyle Caudill to commit, so its somewhat strange.

Im slightly worried ASU will lose him, but the Devils are probably still in the drivers seat. I wonder how the recruiting and possible commitment of Nick Johnson will effect Turner. Scout has Johnson as their #5 PG (even though he may be more of a combo guard presently) and Turner as #12. I hope Turner isn't turned off from ASU because he's worried about having to split time w/ Johnson at the 1.

 

[Russ Smith]

Yeah when I first reported this rumor I didn't think for a second it would impact UCLA largely because I (and most everyone) thought UCLA would probably end up with Gelaun Wheelwright, so while they probably thought Turner was the better prospect, they were so thin on scholarships they didn't figure to be in a position to get Turner. Most assumed Wheelwright would wait on UCLA but he surprised most and picked USC earlier in the week.

So I think that's a large change in Turner's situation, it's entirely possible that UCLA didn't offer Wheelwright after their elite camp because they were aware that Turner was close to reopening and they wanted to wait rather than offer Wheelwright, he commits, and then Turner opens up and they can't pursue him.

There's a host of PG's all interconnected, UCLA might have gone after 2010 Stephen Holt from Portland thinking Turner and Wheelwright were both gone in 2011 and they needed a PG. Or they might have gone after Spencer Dinwiddie in 2011 who's just now blowing up the way Turner did a year or so ago. Now with Turner open I'm betting UCLA makes a big push for him, and I would expect UA and Kansas to also. and of course UCLA is involved with Nick Johnson too.

He could very well end up at ASU anyways but the situation changed quite a bit because of Wheelwright verballing to USC, Turner is now one of 3 clear priorities for most of the Pac 10 him and Dinwiddie and Johnson.

 

[CatBoxBackFan]

Per Devil Digest, he has not de-committed to ASU but since other schools are now interested I'm weighting my options.Take it for what it's worth,he's 16.

 

[Russ Smith]

Per Devil Digest, he has not de-committed to ASU but since other schools are now interested I'm weighting my options.Take it for what it's worth,he's 16.

The quote from Rivals is a direct quote from Turner that he's reopened his recruitment, ASU is still in the running, but he's open. That's what de-commit means to me, he's no longer verbally committed to ASU. He hasn't taken them off his list and he still could wind up at ASU, but he's not verballed there anymore.

I can't read the comments by "Hode" because I don't subscribe to DD premium but the rivals site is directly quoting Turner, and it was confirmed to people on the UCLA site(BRO).

If Turner told Hode he's still committed, then he changed his mind again.

He is 16 and like I said back in May, if he changes highschools as is rumored, it will be his 3rd HS in 3 years. He's clearly not sure what he wants to do right now wouldn't surprise me at all if after this hit the net he changed his mind again, but then I can't read the bit on Devils Digest so I don't know what he told them.

 

[HooverDam]

This:

He is 16....He's clearly not sure what he wants to do right now

is why this is a good idea:

I can't read the comments by "Hode" because I don't subscribe to DD premium but the rivals site is directly quoting Turner, and it was confirmed to people on the UCLA site(BRO).

I cant' believe people pay for 'insider' info on places like that. It has to do with 16 year old kids, when I was 16 all I knew was I wanted Frosted Flakes as often as I could get them. These kids change their mind all the time, and half the top secret info those sites espouse (i.e. ASU was going to hire some 3 headed coaching staff including Larry Marmie after Koetter was canned) is either completely made up or embellished greatly.

As soon as actual news breaks, it leaks immediately, even on their own sites, so paying $100 a year for the privilege to know at most 12 hours ahead of time is quite silly.

 

[Russ Smith]

This:


is why this is a good idea:


I cant' believe people pay for 'insider' info on places like that. It has to do with 16 year old kids, when I was 16 all I knew was I wanted Frosted Flakes as often as I could get them. These kids change their mind all the time, and half the top secret info those sites espouse (i.e. ASU was going to hire some 3 headed coaching staff including Larry Marmie after Koetter was canned) is either completely made up or embellished greatly.

As soon as actual news breaks, it leaks immediately, even on their own sites, so paying $100 a year for the privilege to know at most 12 hours ahead of time is quite silly.

I pay for BRO premium largely because the free message board is bad but the premium one is better. I have to agree with your comment though, anything that appears on the pay board appears for free in a matter of hours. You get some scoops but most of the people I know pay for premium to filter out a lot of the message board nonsense.

That said in this economy I've been debating paying even for that.

I personally think there needs to be an age limit, let's say 17, before that you can't take even a verbal. The problem is verbals are somewhat fake, coaches can't comment on a kid until he's signed an LOI, so they can't even confirm verbals no matter what the age. A kid can claim he's verballed when he's not and the school can't say a thing about it, and a kid can renege on a verbal and the school can't even confirm it. It's just too early for a kid to make such a big commitment, more often than not kids that commit that early are being pushed by a parent IMHO.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

So maybe Russ did know what he was talking about this whole time...

Turner plays for the Pumps so I'd look for Adidas schools to be the favorites.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

And the guy from ASU's scout website is mainly a football writer with few hoops sources so his takes should be taken with a mountain of salt.

 

[Russ Smith]

And the guy from ASU's scout website is mainly a football writer with few hoops sources so his takes should be taken with a mountain of salt.

From what's on BRO today I think Turner did tell Rivals(the Cal site reported it) that he had reopened, and I think he did tell Devils Digest that he did NOT decommit. I think he's confused enough that he doesn't know what he's doing right now and is still making up his mind.

That's precisely why I wish it was against the rules to take even a verbal commitment until a kid begins his junior year of HS, they're just too young and have too many adults pulling them in too many directions, it's completely unfair to the kids.

 

[AZBALLER]

ya, ya...the plan is for Turner to play the point and for Johnson to play at the 2...The plan may or may not happen, but to say that Turner has decommited isn't correct(soft verbal/semantics I guess)...although I do agree that the rivals board usually has better info when it comes to basketball.
As far as paying for "premium" info, either you have the money or you don't. There's nothing stupid about spending the money that you have. Your money isn't worth anything after you're 6 feet under...

 

[Gaddabout]

Does Chris still run the Rivals site? He's a basketball junkie with good col bball resources.

 

[Russ Smith]

ya, ya...the plan is for Turner to play the point and for Johnson to play at the 2...The plan may or may not happen, but to say that Turner has decommited isn't correct(soft verbal/semantics I guess)...although I do agree that the rivals board usually has better info when it comes to basketball.
As far as paying for "premium" info, either you have the money or you don't. There's nothing stupid about spending the money that you have. Your money isn't worth anything after you're 6 feet under...

Actually right now nobody knows if Turner is committed or not, at least among recruiting folks that is. Scout is reporting his status is "undetermined", they concede that he did in fact tell people he'd decommitted from ASU, but there are conflicting reports he didn't, and Turner currently isn't talking to anybody about it.

FWIW one of the BRO guys reported that Turner actually decommitted 2 months ago, he told one of the BRO guys it face to face, I've reopened my recruitment, I'm not committed to ASU anymore, but please keep it quiet until I am ready to make it public. 2 days later he called ASU and said I changed my mind again I'm still an ASU verbal. He then told the BRO guy the same thing and he never reported it until last week when the rumors broke Turner had decommitted again. I think he was 15 when he verballed to ASU so his indecisiveness should surprise nobody. He's a good kid with a bunch of adults pulling him in multiple directions.

There are persistent rumors he might go to Mater Dei next season. Recruiting within an area by highschools is bad enough but recruiting a kid from Sacramento to go play in Orange County is ridiculous.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

If he stays with the Pumps and goes to Mater Dei one owuld assume he'll likely end up at UCLA. Arizona doesn't have the best relationship with Mater Dei anymore after the sudden firing of Miles Simon and the mishandling of Reggie Geary.

 

[CatBoxBackFan]

If he stays with the Pumps and goes to Mater Dei one owuld assume he'll likely end up at UCLA. Arizona doesn't have the best relationship with Mater Dei anymore after the sudden firing of Miles Simon and the mishandling of Reggie Geary.

AU isn't in the mix anyway,but thanks for putting your two cents in.

 

[Russ Smith]

AU isn't in the mix anyway,but thanks for putting your two cents in.

They will be if he officially opens up, at least they're on the list of teams thought to be involved if that happens.

Since I brought the bad news on Turner here I'll bring some good news.

Joel Francisco says sophomore-to-be 7-footer Isaiah Austin from Arlington (TX) Grace Prep High School (and he has been playing AAU basketball for both Texas Assault and Team Texas Elite) "has as much upside as any prospect in the country." He is the son of former Arizona State and NBA player Alex Austin and the nephew of former Arizona State and NBA player Ike Austin.



Evan Daniels says he thinks ASU has a pretty good shot at this kid because of Alex and Ike.

I haven't seen him play but Evan Daniels of scout makes him sound a lot like John Henson who will be a freshman at UNC this year.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

I only brought up Arizona as Russ mentioned Mater Dei and UA historically had the leg up on players out of that high school basketball program. That's not the case anymore.

Of course Turner in all likelihood ends somewhere other than Arizona for several reasons. The most glaring being that Miller already has basically a silent commitment from another just as highly-rated 2011 PG and the Adidas-backed Pumps are apparently taking over this recruitment.

 

[Russ Smith]

http://scouthoops.scout.com/2/879611.html

Bad news for ASU Turner made it official today says he's talked it over with Sendek who agreed it was the right thing to do because Turner was so frustrated with the process. Said he wants to go through the recruitment process, doesn't have a favorite school, still likes ASU.

If USC hadn't gotten Wheelwright I'd say that UCLA wouldn't be a factor but with him off the board I expect UCLA to go hard after Turner. I don't know if UA has another kid locked up as Mao hinted but I fully expect they will be in contact with Turner, I think the whole Pac 10 will now.

Dinwiddie is apparently blowing up and UCLA is apparently quite high on him but I would expect UCLA to make a major push for Turner too. I would also expect Turner to not commit again for awhile, I'd say probably not until after his junior season.

 

[DWKB]

KU might be a late entry for Turner? I've not heard or read anything official from the program.

Josiah Turner, a 6-3 point junior-to-be from Sacramento (Calif.) High, this week decided to re-open his recruiting. He committed to Arizona State on Sept. 9, 2008. Rivals.com says Turner had planned on attending Self’s Elite Camp this summer, but was unable to make it. Turner told Rivals that if KU’s coaching staff came calling, he would be very interested.

 

[overseascardfan]

KU might be a late entry for Turner? I've not heard or read anything official from the program.

KU may have a shot but, I really think this kid has UCLA on his mind. Like Russ said, after USC got the Wheelwright kid, UCLA re-shifted their focus to Dinwiddie (sp?) and Turner, that's when Turner made his de-commit official. I think U of A has a slim shot like KU if they were to start to contact him, but again I think he ends up ay UCLA.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

He's connected to the Pumps/Adidas (therefore UCLA) AND he's been rumored to be transferring to a SoCal school. So unless something changes with that I'd be shocked if he did not end up a Bruin. Although KU could also be in there for those reasons.

 

[Gaddabout]

ASU just needs to bail on this kid now and go after the best available options. Better to bring in a B-/C+ player than to whiff on the B+ player and not have a back-up plan.

 

[Russ Smith]

KU might be a late entry for Turner? I've not heard or read anything official from the program.

When is their skills camp? One of the first signs that the rumors had legs was Turner agreeing to play at KU's skills camp. I assumed that already happened since most of the Pac 10 has had theirs, don't know the date on KU's.

 

[Russ Smith]

ASU just needs to bail on this kid now and go after the best available options. Better to bring in a B-/C+ player than to whiff on the B+ player and not have a back-up plan.

I don't think you ever give up on a kid like Turner until he says no thankyou. Look at Bayless and UA a few years ago, he reneged, UA fans were convinced he was gone, and he wound up at UA.

You can't put all your eggs in one basket of course but until a kid says I'm not considering you, I don't think you quit on him when he's that good. Turner is REALLY good.

 

[DWKB]

When is their skills camp? One of the first signs that the rumors had legs was Turner agreeing to play at KU's skills camp. I assumed that already happened since most of the Pac 10 has had theirs, don't know the date on KU's.

The Camps were June 7th through 14th. The quote above says Turner had planned on attending Self’s Elite Camp this summer, but was unable to make it.