By ADAM ZAGORIA
James Bouknight, the 6-foot-5, 185-pound shooting guard from the MacDuffie School (MA) and the PSA Cardinals, took his first official visit to Virginia Tech this week.
“The visit went well,” he said. “I had a good time, they have a nice campus and a great staff. I like what they have to offer there.”
With Buzz Williams’ program losing several seniors, Bouknight could play a key role.
“I would have a big role,” he said. “They have four seniors leaving so there’s a lot of playing time. But I’m still going to continue to go on theses visits. I still haven’t made any decisions.”
Bouknight, who returned just before Peach Jam from a torn meniscus suffered in January, next visits Miami (Sept. 7-9) and UConn (Sept. 14-16).
He has a final five of Virginia Tech, Miami, VCU, Indiana and UConn.
Final 5 @TiptonEdits pic.twitter.com/nvtdoJWrWH
— James (@jam3s210) August 10, 2018
“Most of the schools recruiting me right now said I’ll come in and play right away and I’ll be an impact player so that’s mostly the schools I’m looking at,” he said recently.
As for Miami, he said, “It’s a great campus, great coach, great staff. And they just want me to come in and play, and be an impact player.”
Bouknight has already visited UConn unofficially.
“[They say] that I’m one of their No. 1 priorities and they would love to have me come in and play right away tremendous minutes,” he said.
? James Bouknight highlights from 33 point performance at Summer Jam Fest #HGJamfest@jam3s210 @PSACardinals @MacDuffieHoops pic.twitter.com/XwU6EeDs9q
— Hoop Group (@TheHoopGroup) July 21, 2018
After returning from injury and then dropping 33 points at Summer Jam Fest, he really helped his recruitment.
“Yeah, I think I had a great end of the summer,” he said. “When I started to play coming back from the injury, the expectations for me weren’t as high as I thought they should be. So me coming in an putting up big numbers and scoring the ball a lot, I think that was a big plus for me.”
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