Richard Peters of 2012
By Mark Knight
News today came out that Richard Peters would not be able to take an unofficial visit to the University of Washington, not because he is not interested in the University. But, that the trip would come out of his pocket as all unofficial visits do and the details weren’t put together in time to make the visit.
This just continues to re-iterate the point that Peters is in no rush to make this May 18th signing period deadline. And he said that he will try to make another unofficial visit soon (on another weekend) but every other weekend is after this final signing period for 2011 commitments.
Peters has been saying for a few weeks now that he was planning on being a 2012 recruit and not part of the 2011 class because of all that needed to be completed in order to reclassify to make the signing period deadline. This looks like it will be the case, that he will not be able to finish everything to re-classify by the May 18th deadline.
I spoke with Coach Bobby Bossman of Westwind Prep and he confirmed with me that the semester ends after the May 18th deadline and one of the stipulations was that Peters was to keep above a 2.5 GPA until the end of the semester. The NCAA rarely makes exceptions in these types of cases and thus Peters will have to remain classified as a 2012 recruit. Is there still a chance of him being a 2011 commit?
Sure, there is still a very slim possibility that an exception would be granted for him but it is not likely and it doesn’t even look like Peters will ask for an exception as he seems content on being a 2012 recruit.
What does this mean for Peters?
This just gives him another year to hone in on his potential and to shed some pounds to get closer to his target weight. He will be able to develop one more year to become even more ready to become a solid DIV-1 athlete. It also gives him more time to decide on his future college decision. Though, he has declared UW as his favorite and nothing has changed on that front.
What does this mean for UW?
Once again, UW needs to find a big man that is ready to compete or at least provide solid depth for this coming year. Daouda Soumaoro is visiting this weekend and look for him to leave with an offer on the table. There is also the possibility that at least one of the European prospects commits this week. Peters also will continue to be recruited for the 2012 class and the Huskies may be able to lock him up very early for next season’s recruiting period.