I caught up briefly with C.J. Leslie while he waited for his plane at the airport after his weekend official to UConn.
Leslie said freshman big man Ater Majok was his host.
“It went good,” said Leslie, the No. 4 power forward in the Class of 2010. “They showed me the campus.”
According to the UConn forum, a group of students made up white T-shirts that read, “CJ Leslie Please Commit To UConn.”
“They showed me campus and that was it,” Leslie said.
UConn has struck out on elite guards Brandon Knight (Kentucky), Doron Lamb (Kentucky), Josh Selby (Kansas) and Cory Joseph (Texas).
Yet UConn coach Jim Calhoun made his pitch for the 6-foot-7 Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God forward.
“It was just like I would be a very good player and I would fit into his offense,” Leslie said.
Leslie is down to UConn, N.C. State and Kentucky.
His former high school teammate John Wall was a one-and-done at Kentucky and he is also close with Knight, the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2010 who has also committed to the Wildcats.
As for N.C. State, Lisa Leslie, C.J.’s mother, said her son has great respect for head coach Sidney Lowe.
“He’s looking at N.C. State because he’s known Sidney Lowe for four or five years,” Lisa said previously. “He has a good relationship with him. I would say they are pretty high on the list.”
As for when he will make a decision, C.J. said, “Pretty quickly.”
**See last week’s video interview with C.J. Leslie here.**
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tsmooth / April 25, 2010
UCONN desperately needs some more pop at the forward spot. CJ can replace Stanley Robinson effectively, and one point Adam missed out on is that Shabazz Napier will reclassify for 2010, so UCONN got their elite PG.
With that being said, this is a two horse race, and right now, the word around recruiting circles is that NC State was leading, but UK has regained the lead after a successful visit to the Leslie household.
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COOLCAT / April 25, 2010
Knight is going to Kentucky, C.J.’s next home, not Kansas.
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tsmooth / April 25, 2010
whoever said Knight or CJ was going to Kansas?
And don’t be so cocky, dude. This is a very close race. Closer than many think
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JonHuskyMS / April 25, 2010
Yeah UC definitely needs another big body in the frontcourt. That being said, I dont think there is a chance we land him. Based on the forums it sounds like he had a great time on the visit, but it def sounds like its down to NC St and Kentucky.
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COOLCAT / April 25, 2010
In the paragraph mentioning Wall Adam states that Knight has commited to Kansas.
I was happy to see Selby pick KU because it continues the trend that recruits who decommit from a school ever end up recommitting to that school. I can’t think of one that has ever done that and I sure hope C.J. is not the first.
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HuskiesNYC / April 25, 2010
Zags, I’m a fan of your blog but please tell me you have more insight than “it went good” and “they showed me the campus.” If that’s really all CJ had to say, why bother posting this? Heck, I got more information reading his twitter page where he said he had ‘hella fun at uconn’.
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UAWildcat / April 26, 2010
Jerryd Bayless and Solomon Hill both decommitted from UA and then recommitted to UA.
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Adam Zagoria / April 26, 2010
Huskies,
I got CJ for only a few minutes while he was at the airport and that’s what he had to say. Thanks.
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HuskiesNYC / April 26, 2010
I apologize Zags, I suppose any update is a good one. You can feel my frustration because I don’t think we’re gonna get him haha
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