Since decommitting from Arizona State in March, Brendan Bailey has opened up his recruitment and taken an unofficial visit to Utah and official visits to San Diego State and most recently UConn.
The 6-foot-8 Bailey out of American Fork (UT) is ranked the No. 12 small forward in the Class of 2016 according to 247Sports.com.
“They’re all working hard, from my standpoint anyway,” Thurl Bailey, the former NBA player and Brendan’s father, told SNY.tv from the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, Va. “He’s taken two officials, one to San Diego State and one to UConn. I think they’re all doing a good job of working hard and letting him know that they want him but they’re not overbearing.”
Thurl Bailey has known UConn coach Kevin Ollie for many years dating to their NBA careers.
“I’ve known Coach Ollie and his history, not just in the league but even as a coach, he’s a fantastic man,” the elder Bailey said. “He’s a coach for all the right reasons, meaning he’s been there basketball-wise but he cares about the kids.”
Thurl Bailey said it was especially important given the distance between their home in Utah and Connecticut to have a coach be “someone you know and can kind of take care of him and teach him.”
He added: “I think [Brendan] wouldn’t have taken an official visit if he wasn’t seriously considering [UConn], but as a parent the kids need to have all the information. And at the end of the day you make your list of pros and cons. He’s not the kind of kid that distance really matters to him. He knows his parents will be able to see him one way or another, so in the end it’s going to be his choice.”
As for San Diego State, they also have positives.
“We just like what they represent,” Thurl Bailey said. “Coach [Steve] Fisher is just a top-notch guy and that whole coaching staff, you can tell there’s a lot of knowledge about basketball. And you know when a sales pitch is not genuine, and fortunately we haven’t come across that yet. It’s a great place to play and they are in the mix basketball-wise every year. His playing style fits what they do. that’s important with all the schools, but historically that’s a good place to be.”
The elder Bailey believes his son will thrive in a more structured environment on the basketball court.
“He’s a player with still a young body, he just turned 18,” he said. “His body’s still growing. He’s 6-8 right now but he’s still got some growing to do.
“He’s a very cerebral player, does very well in structured situations. In today’s game there’s a lot of kids that can put the ball on the floor and go one-on-one. He can do those things but he’s a lot better when he’s in a structured situation defensively and offensively he’s able to really be a high -IQ player.”
As for a timetable on a decision, Bailey plans to be patient the second time around after committing early to former ASU coach Herb Sendek, who was replaced by Bobby Hurley.
“He committed early to ASU, but now that he’s going through the process he’s going to take his time,” Thurl said. “It’ll go past July, I’m sure. Maybe in August we’ll sit down and put a timeline on it as to when he’s going to make a decision.”
