Naz Reid, the 6-foot-10 Class of 2018 big man from Sports U and Roselle (N.J.) Catholic, enjoyed his first official visit to LSU this past week.
“It was good,” he said.
LSU landed a pledge from 2018 point guard Javonte Smart this past week and Smart is working on getting Reid to join him. The two know one another from USA Basketball and an adidas select team that traveled to Italy.
“We’re real close,” the 6-4 Smart told NOLA.com. “That’s my man and I’m just trying to get him to come over here with me.”
The No. 11-ranked player in the 2018 ESPN 60, Reid now lists a top seven of Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Seton Hall and UCLA.
“His recruitment is just really starting to get to a point where he’s got to start making some decisions on a bunch of different things and really start to look at this seriously,” RC head coach Dave Boff said recently on The 4 Quarters Podcast.
“Nazi’s a kid who doesn’t really get caught up in all that stuff, but it is now a time, I just spoke to him [Wednesday], it’s coming to a point where he’s gotta get serious about the decision-making process and starting to think about what he’s looking for in a program. He’s got some tremendous national programs looking at him. He also has got a couple of the local schools that he’s excited about, so he’s just got to go through that list and start trimming it down as we move forward.”
Roselle Catholic, of course, produced former Kentucky guard Isaiah Briscoe, who is now looking ahead to the NBA Draft.
As for Reid, he’s been wowing coaches on the AAU circuit with his ability not only to score, but to pass and make his teammates better, too.
“The thing with Nazi, the skills have really been developed over the last couple of years,” Boff said. “I think what’s really happened is he has combined the skills and just the natural ability that he has with a high motor and it seems like there’s more consistency in his decision-making and stuff like that.
“He’s always had a great basketball IQ. I’ve always said he’s one of the smartest basketball players we’ve had. He knows what to do with the ball, where it’s supposed to go, but we worked with him this year on taking less chances and making more high-percentage decisions and it looks like that stuff ist starting to take shape. When he’s making good decisions and playing with a high motor, combined with his size and skillset, I mean it clearly makes him one of the top handful of players in the country.”
