2012 Spring Signing Period: Men’s Basketball
By Jeff Taylor
This is an updated version of the post that went up on Tuesday night.
The spring signing period for Men’s Basketball is today, Wednesday April 11. And it will provide the most drama that the spring signing period has seen in years. The announcement of the top two in this class, Shabazz Muhammad and Nerlens Noel, will be aired on ESPNU and the rumors of where they go have been swirling. It seems as if no one has a real grasp on their decisions. They could both even go to Kentucky, though many think they will land at different schools.
Other than the signing of Mark McLaughlin of Tacoma Community College (and formerly Seattle U), the Huskies are not expected to sign anyone to Letters of Intent for a couple of more weeks at least. Most people are expecting the Huskies to sign two players in this class and save the third scholarship for the highly touted Class of 2013.
As for who else might sign, the decisions that they are waiting on are for recruits that haven’t even taken a visit to the University of Washington campus yet.
The Huskies are waiting for decisions from Anthony Bennett, who may not decide till May and seems to be favoring Florida and Kentucky. In fact, in a recent interview at the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Bennett is quoted as saying his list is, “Florida, Kentucky, UNLV, and Florida.” Yes, he listed Florida twice.
The truth is Bennett has had a terrible time of remembering his list all season long but it does help give an indication to where his mind is. NOTE: He also failed to mention Oregon.
UW is also waiting on Robert Upshaw, who is a 7’0 center who recently de-committed from Kansas State. He is spending time narrowing his list and taking the visits. He is also nowhere near a decision.
There is also Darrick Wood who has UW high on his list and is one of the top remaining guards left. He has been waiting to see who all leaves for the NBA, and he may also wait to see who commits where and then decide.
In addition, there have been persistent rumors about French forward William Howard, who supposedly was “hidden away” at a prep school. But, it has been all silent on all fronts, so no one has any idea what is happening with that one.
There are others out there that UW is looking at, but none of those recruits seem to be on the verge of deciding tomorrow. So kick back and watch the fans of the schools that don’t get Noel or Muhammad freak out and be thankful that as Husky fans you weren’t part of that heartbreak this year.