PF Brooks decommits USC, visits Washington basketball scrimmage

PF J’Raan Brooks decommitted from USC in the FBI investigation aftermath. His first stop was to check out a Washington Basketball court scrimmage

The University of Southern California had a solid basketball recruiting class for 2018. But how much of that success employed tactics currently under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation?  We had discussed how the Washington Basketball program might benefit from the FBI investigation.  Now, we may witness that in effect.

Previously committed power forward J’Raan Brooks decommitted from USC recently as a result of that investigation.

"“”Due to unforeseen circumstances stemming from the recent news that has come to light in regards to the Trojan basketball program – I have decided to reopen my commitment to examine other options”"

So, does anyone else find it curious that the first unofficial official act for Brooks was to check out a Washington Basketball scrimmage game just 9 days after decommitting from USC?

The word is out, Huskies hanging with Hopkins

There is a comfort level in maintaining a status quo. But comfort settles things down too. Everything falls to background noise audio, or grass level visually.  There is no spark.

Related Story: How will Washington basketball team handle Coach Hopkins

But Coach Hopkins is changing all of that for the Washington Basketball program.  We recently focused on the team and the coach, how the early indications are that he is the right guy at the right time for this team.  His focus on crafting a team mentality does two very significant and positive developments now.  First, it eliminates the perception that a star is better than the squad. No single player in any team sport is greater than the team. Now the coach is pushing that reality back upon the framework.

But the second thing is that it creates a clique. A team which genuinely likes one another, who supports one another, is a powerful recruiting tool.  So far, we’ve seen the results, the latest is power forward Nate Roberts.

Can J’Raan Brooks be next?

By now, Washington basketball fans have to be wondering if many more can commit? Well, the limit on scholarships is 13.  In 2018, we know that the team will have four from 2017 and four from 2018.

That’s eight.

The team will lose two seniors: guard Dave Kingma and forward Greg Bowman. The team may lose two of the three juniors.  That’s four players. And right now, the team has four committed players for 2018.  Will the team lose more?

Next: Washington Basketball Coach Hopkins recruits PF Nate Roberts

It’s hard to pick that out from the current roster. But this team could be special. Can the team lure more to the program? Well the team has had plenty of momentum so far. And there could be some tricks up the sleeve. I didn’t see room for PF Nate Roberts. But I am ecstatic that he did. Now, can he find room for Brooks?

Perhaps. There is always room for more. And the Washington Huskies will make room for a special type of player.