By ADAM ZAGORIA
Bryan Antoine, the 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Team Rio and the Ranney (N.J.) School, officially cut his list to five schools on Thursday.
Antoine, ranked No. 7 in the 2019 ESPN 60, lists Duke, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky and Villanova.
Rutgers, which he had recently mentioned, did not make the cut.
Top 5 Top 5 Top 5 ? Blessed ?? @HoopMajor pic.twitter.com/nTeHOc5INY
— Bryan Antoine (@BryanAntoine_) May 10, 2018
He broke down his five schools for Pat Lawless of PrepCircuit.com:
Duke: “With Duke, me and Coach Jon Scheyer text mostly every day,” said Antoine. “Joey Baker, who is committed there, me and him are best friends so, me and him talk a lot. It’s just Duke, they are always playing on national television and everyone’s eyes are on them. Coach K is an outstanding coach and during our in-home visit, he kept it real with me. He said a lot of things that opened my eyes and that is a big reason why they are one of my final five.”
2019 @BryanAntoine_ says Duke has been recruiting him the hardest. pic.twitter.com/peUgvM6k3U
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) April 29, 2018
Florida: “I’ve known Coach Mike White and the coaching staff for a while, ever since eighth grade,” Antoine said. “Freshman year I took a couple of visits down there and I enjoyed them. I have family down there and I think they are only like an hour away from campus so, I guess you can kind of say it’s my second home. It has a great vibe, great weather and I like the coaching staff and just the people at the school. That all has impressed me.”
Kansas: “Coach Bill Self and coach Norm Roberts are always texting me about Kansas basketball players, cool quotes and stats about them,” said Antoine. “Coach Self has a calm demeanor and I love how he and Kansas run their program from a basketball standpoint. That really stood out to me because this past year they had Malik Newman and Devonte Graham. Coach Self gave them a lot of freedom and that’s a great look for me.”
Kentucky: “Coach [John] Calipari as everyone knows is a great coach,” he told Prep Circuit. “He gets the job done with his players and I’m actually close with his son Brad. Talking to him, his father and coach Barbee has been great and I’m really close with them. Our sophomore year we visited down there and I loved the campus. We saw the dorm, the practice gym, Rupp Arena and it all was amazing.”
Villanova: “Villanova is close to home with it being only a couple of hours away,” he said. “What they have done in the past three years has been remarkable and just what Jay Wright has been doing with their players. He’s not known for one and done type players, but he does a great job developing his players. I really liked our in-home visit and I’ve known them since eighth grade. I feel like the friendship we have is very tight and Coach Wright will just call me to talk about normal stuff. It doesn’t have to be about basketball, sometimes he will just check up on me.”
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