C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
Stone could make decision soon
Brandon Stone is working through two big decisions right now with his official visits still on the docket.
Right now the class of 2019 forward still has to make not only his college decision but which class he enrolls in out of school.
Stone, originally in the 2018 class, reclassified when transferring schools to where he is now at Christ School in North Carolina.
He’ll take an official visit soon, he said, to South Carolina and decide after that and a few more visits if he wants to reclassify back to the 2018 class.
“Really depends on how I develop and if any schools jump on me late,” he said. “If I don’t make a decision in April I’ll play the two live periods in AAU, see what happens and make a decision.”
Stone visited campus for the football game against Vanderbilt and watched the basketball team practice.
His coach, Jeff Depelteau, said Stone’s really working on developing his three-point shot, and can transition into a wing player if he can get that shot to consistently fall. That’s something the South Carolina coaching staff likes about him, too.
“They think I fit in real well,” he said. “Right now Maik Kotsar can step out and hit the mid-range jumper, but I think getting another big man who can step out and space the floor more can help them.”
Along with USC, Stone will take some official visits to Pittsburgh and Penn State and he maybe could take one to Duquesne.
Here’s what he had to say about those programs.
USC: “You can’t get much better than Frank Martin. He’s going to help you develop. He makes guys pros. I love the way he coaches. The coaching staff is unbelievable. Like Brian Steele, Frank Martin said he’s going to make a great head coach one day. He’s a Pittsburgh guy, too, so I have a good relationship with him.”
Pitt: “It’s my hometown school. I live about 50 minutes from there, so I grew up watching Pitt.”
Penn State: “I have a good relationship with their coaching staff. One of their assistants, Coach (Jim) Ferry was the head coach at Duquesne when they first offered me and Coach (Pat) Chambers is a great coach. They’re a young team right now and I think they’re going to make some pushes to win the Big 10.”
DJ Burns continues to get good looks at South Carolina
Stone recently went up against DJ Burns, who’s also being recruited by South Carolina. Burns, a top 100 recruit in the 2019 class, got the best of Stone that day.
It was my second time seeing Burns play in-person and I left pretty impressed. He has really good post moves and is a really big body on defense. Depelteau saw the same thing and was really impressed with one of the better bigs he’s seen in recent memory.
“He’s a load, man,” he said. “He’s got some of the best touch for a big guy that I’ve seen as far as the arc. Those makes, those were impressive. We haven’t see too many of those big guys that were able to finish that well.”
Burns has taken multiple visits to South Carolina, most recently on Jan. 20 for the Tennessee game. The Vols are another school he’s visited a lot and he left impressed with South Carolina and the atmosphere.
“That was a lot of fun,” he said. “That was a good game. For a second I didn’t know who was going to win. That was a good game, it was a lot of fun to watch and it was a great atmosphere. South Carolina packed that game out.”
Burns doesn’t have any more visits set up and didn’t have any big plans for his recruitment moving forward but said regardless of where he’s visiting he’s looking for the same thing.
“Pretty much still seeing the same thing: who plays the style that I want to play, where would I be able to fit in and who’s going to be there when I make my decision,” he said.
Brandon Stone is working through two big decisions right now with his official visits still on the docket.
Right now the class of 2019 forward still has to make not only his college decision but which class he enrolls in out of school.
Stone, originally in the 2018 class, reclassified when transferring schools to where he is now at Christ School in North Carolina.
He’ll take an official visit soon, he said, to South Carolina and decide after that and a few more visits if he wants to reclassify back to the 2018 class.
“Really depends on how I develop and if any schools jump on me late,” he said. “If I don’t make a decision in April I’ll play the two live periods in AAU, see what happens and make a decision.”
Stone visited campus for the football game against Vanderbilt and watched the basketball team practice.
His coach, Jeff Depelteau, said Stone’s really working on developing his three-point shot, and can transition into a wing player if he can get that shot to consistently fall. That’s something the South Carolina coaching staff likes about him, too.
“They think I fit in real well,” he said. “Right now Maik Kotsar can step out and hit the mid-range jumper, but I think getting another big man who can step out and space the floor more can help them.”
Along with USC, Stone will take some official visits to Pittsburgh and Penn State and he maybe could take one to Duquesne.
Here’s what he had to say about those programs.
USC: “You can’t get much better than Frank Martin. He’s going to help you develop. He makes guys pros. I love the way he coaches. The coaching staff is unbelievable. Like Brian Steele, Frank Martin said he’s going to make a great head coach one day. He’s a Pittsburgh guy, too, so I have a good relationship with him.”
Pitt: “It’s my hometown school. I live about 50 minutes from there, so I grew up watching Pitt.”
Penn State: “I have a good relationship with their coaching staff. One of their assistants, Coach (Jim) Ferry was the head coach at Duquesne when they first offered me and Coach (Pat) Chambers is a great coach. They’re a young team right now and I think they’re going to make some pushes to win the Big 10.”
DJ Burns continues to get good looks at South Carolina
Stone recently went up against DJ Burns, who’s also being recruited by South Carolina. Burns, a top 100 recruit in the 2019 class, got the best of Stone that day.
It was my second time seeing Burns play in-person and I left pretty impressed. He has really good post moves and is a really big body on defense. Depelteau saw the same thing and was really impressed with one of the better bigs he’s seen in recent memory.
“He’s a load, man,” he said. “He’s got some of the best touch for a big guy that I’ve seen as far as the arc. Those makes, those were impressive. We haven’t see too many of those big guys that were able to finish that well.”
Burns has taken multiple visits to South Carolina, most recently on Jan. 20 for the Tennessee game. The Vols are another school he’s visited a lot and he left impressed with South Carolina and the atmosphere.
“That was a lot of fun,” he said. “That was a good game. For a second I didn’t know who was going to win. That was a good game, it was a lot of fun to watch and it was a great atmosphere. South Carolina packed that game out.”
Burns doesn’t have any more visits set up and didn’t have any big plans for his recruitment moving forward but said regardless of where he’s visiting he’s looking for the same thing.
“Pretty much still seeing the same thing: who plays the style that I want to play, where would I be able to fit in and who’s going to be there when I make my decision,” he said.
