A slew of high-major Division 1 college coaches will flock to see the New York Rens AAU team this weekend at the Adidas Gauntlet stop in Indianapolis.
Why?
Well, the Rens have not one, but two, high-major players in 2016 guards Rawle Alkins and Mustapha Heron, who decommitted from Pittsburgh last week.
Duke, Arizona, Kansas, Miami, Michigan, Villanova, Indiana, Cincinnati, N.C. State, St. John’s, VCU and Marquette all reached out this week to Rens coach Andy Borman to tell them they would be watching beginning on Saturday at 8 a.m. at Best Choice Fieldhouse.
Some schools have inquired about taking the 6-foot-5 Alkins and the 6-5 Heron as a package.
“Everybody’s interested in both,” Borman said. “They like them individually but there are obviously some people [interested in both]. It’s rare that two kids of that caliber even want to play AAU together. The common question is, ‘Would they consider going to school together?’ That’s been a fairly common question.”
And the answer?
“It’s completely up to the kids,” Borman said. “They really like each other and really get along but they’re going to do what’s best for them.”
Borman also pointed out that both players are completely wide open and that no school has the inside track on either.
“Mustapha Heron and Rawle Alkins are wide open,” he said. “They want to be recruited. They do not have any leaders in the clubhouse at this point in time. Anyone who says these kids are leaning toward a school doesn’t know. They want to be recruited.”
In his most recent player blog for givengobasketball.com, Alkins added a few thoughts on his recruitment:
Now I am going to touch upon my recruitment. I can’t emphasize it enough that my recruitment is open. I am not leaning toward one school and I don’t have any favorites. I am making sure that I hear everyone out. There was a time where I took a break with my college recruitment because I felt that I needed a break from all of it. I am starting to get back on it a bit and I recently picked up two new offers from VCU and Auburn. St. John’s new staff all came to visit me together. It was a cool experience getting to meet Chris Mullin for the first time. I spoke to one of their assistants “Slice” Rohrssen a good amount. St. John’s recruiting pitch to me is that they want me to stay home and play in front of my friends and family.
Everyone is coming at me very hard because it is that time of year where players are supposed to start thinking about college. Freshmen and sophomore year schools were coming at me, but not nearly as hard as they are now. They see that it’s that time of year to pursue me and they are all on me hard.
