Isaiah Whitehead failed to make the cut for the U17 World Championship team in Colorado Springs, Colo. He did, however, hear from Kentucky, his dream school.
Clearly, it was an up and down weekend for Lincoln’s star sophomore.
Sunday night, he was dropped from consideration by USA basketball for the team, which is scheduled to compete in the FIBA U17 World Championship in Lithuania.
“They said they didn’t have a position for me,” Whitehead said. “I’m a 1 or a 2, and I needed a position. I was disappointed. I had confidence I was going to make it.”
Whitehead’s recruitment has picked up with the start of unlimited text-messaging and phone calls allowed for college coaches with prospects who have finished their sophomore years. He’s heard from Iowa State, UConn, Rutgers and Syracuse, all of whom have previously offered him a scholarship. Kentucky head coach John Calipari also called him.
“They said they heard good things about me,” he said. “They’re close to offering. I just have to keep playing well.”
It will be a busy summer for Whitehead, with the Juice All-Stars and competing at the LeBron James Skills Academy in Las Vegas July 6-9. He plans to visit Iowa State, Syracuse and UConn in August.
McCullough lands Memphis offer, shines in Top 100: Memphis joined the ever-growing list of top Division I schools earlier this week when it offered Team SCAN dynamo Chris McCullough of The Bronx.
After the 6-foot-9 forward’s scintillating performance in the NBA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, Va. Last weekend, it made perfect sense. One of three New Yorkers in the event, McCullough led his team to the showcase’s championship and averaged double figures in the event.
“It means a lot to be noticed by NBA players and coaches,” he said. “At the end of the day, I was working hard and playing my game. It paid off.”
“That’s the biggest thing, to go up against the quote-unquote top kids in the country,” SCAN coach Terrence (Munch) Williams added. “It’s good for him; it’s a different experience where you’re not the marquee player. It’s good representation for New York City. It’s a statement to his hard work. He’s turning into the face of New York City for his class, him and Whitehead.”
McCullough won’t be home for long – he’ll be in Chicago, Ill. starting Sunday for the Kevin Durant Skill Academy. He will be busy the next few months, with SCAN on the AAU circuit in July and taking several unofficial visits in August.
Williams said McCullough will see Syracuse, St. John’s, Memphis, Miami and Kansas, among a few others that have yet to be set up. The plan is for him to cut his list down to six by sometimes early in the fall.
“I want to go to a winning program with a great coach, solid education, quality developmental program, great fan-base and play in a conference that produces pros,” he said.
Loads of interest, offers for Team SCAN standouts: The city’s top 16U team isn’t just winning titles; Team SCAN’s stars are picking up Division I interest by the boatload. Cardinal Hayes guard Shavar Newkirk has heard from Stanford, Harvard, Yale, St. John’s, Siena and Drexel to go along with a handful of existing offers from Providence, Seton Hall, Manhattan, Iona and Iowa State, Williams said.
“Shavar’s picking up a ton of interest and that should materialize into offers,” Williams said.
Friends Central (Pa.) guard Conrad Chambers is blowing up as well, with looks from Harvard, St. John’s, Dayton, FIU, Delaware, LSU, Radford and Siena, according to Williams. Manhattan and Siena have called for Archbishop Stepinac guard Naim Thomas, Williams said.
St. Joseph’s (Conn.) Quincy McKnight, a 6-foot-3 combo guard, is drawing interest from St. Joseph’s, Drexel, Dayton, Quinnipiac , Manhattan and Siena.
Our Savior New American 6-foto-9 rising freshman Cheick Diallo didn’t play with SCAN during the April recruiting period, but he’s already gotten looks based off of May and thus far in June. Miami, Dayton, Manhattan, Rutgers, Washington and Iowa State plan to recruit him, Williams said.
“He’s going to be either a top three kids in New York City or wind up [right] behind Jesse Govan [of St. Mary’s] in his class,” Williams said.
Williams expects several of the aforementioned players to take unofficial visits to a variety of schools in August.
NOTES: Former Lincoln center Jordan Dickerson of IMG Academies (Fla.) is currently on an official visit to SMU with his uncle Darrell Crawford, he said. The 7-foot-1 Dickerson has already been to Auburn and Providence. A decision, Crawford said, should come “soon.” … Curtis forward Hassan Martin of New Heights has picked up recent interest from Oregon State and George Washington, and will visit Rhode Island on Thursday. … New Heights point guard Tyler Wilson of Cardinal Hayes is still awaiting his first offer, but has drawn significant interest from Texas at Arlington, Marist and Quinnipiac, per a source. … Christ the King shooting guard Isaiah Lewis will take an unofficial visit to Seton Hall on Thursday, a source said. … New Heights guard Mike Bourke visited Boston University for its elite camp recently and will see Bucknell shortly, a source said.