SUWANEE, Ga. — Two of the standouts on Saturday morning at Session Four of the Nike EYBL Circuit in Suwannee were Michael Porter Jr. and Trae Young, as they catapulted MOKAN Elite to a 101-81 win over the NJ Playaz.
The 6-foot-9 Porter Jr. out of Columbia (MO) Father Tolton finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, and Young finished with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists in the win.
After the dominant performance, Porter spoke about his list of five schools, as well as how his father, Michael Porter Sr., who just took the assistant coaching position at Washington, will effect his position on choosing a school.
“With me moving up to Washington, everyone thinks that I’ll be going there,” Porter Jr. said. “I’m still definitely considering all of the schools on my top five [Oklahoma, Missouri, Virginia, Indiana and Washington]. I don’t know when I’m going to commit though because I want to see all of those teams play this year, especially Virginia. One of my best friends, Kyle Guy, is headed there, and I want see how they use him.”
Porter did say that location is something that he will be looking hard.
“It does effect my decision,” Porter said tentatively. “For example, if I was still in Missouri, Kansas would probably still be on my list. I don’t necessarily have to stay close to home, but it’s something that I would like to do.”
When Porter Jr. cut his list a week ago, he trimmed Duke, Kentucky and Kansas.
As for teaming up with Young, his Mokan Elite point guard, Porter Jr. said that it is something that both are still looking to do.
“I think we definitely make each other look better,” Porter Jr. said. “I’d love to go to the league together. I think that we complement each other really well on the court.”
Porter Jr. also broke down each school in his top five.
Washington:
“I really like Coach [Lorenzo] Romar and how he develops guards. He’s sent a lot of players to the league, and I’ve sat in on their player development and it’s amazing.”
Oklahoma:
“They like to get their wings the ball. They don’t really through their big men, and I feel like I could flourish in that system.”
Virginia:
“I love the atmosphere over there. Coach [Tony] Bennett is an amazing guy. There’s nothing really like it.”
Missouri:
“It’s my hometown school. I used to work out there all the time. I don’t feel like I owe them anything, but I did grow up there, and there’s something to say about going back and playing in front of the students and being the star player there.”
Indiana:
“I grew up in Indiana. Coach Crean and I have known each other for a long time, love that guy.”
Trae Young Talks Schools, Visits
The 6-1 Young out of Norman (OK) North spoke about his schedule for how things will go down in the next month or so in terms of his recruitment, as well as where he stands on visits.
“It’s going well,” Young said. “I’m going to cut it down to five schools here in about a month, or shortly after that. I’m starting to focus on a few schools that I’ll be taking visits to.”
As for Kentucky, Young says that he will definitely take an official there.
“They’ve made me a priority since day one,” Young said. “They’ve come down to my school twice already this year. I’m definitely going to take an official visit there. As for playing for Coach Cal, He’s had a lot of very good point guards, [Eric] Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, the list goes on and on. He says he sees me coming in and being able to start right away, and be the lead guard from Day 1. I haven’t looked at all of the official visits I’m going to take, but Kentucky will definitely be one.”
The Wildcats have De’Aaron Fox coming in as a freshman this year and Isaiah Briscoe returning as a sophomore but both could be gone after the 2016-17 season.
Young says that the schools that are working hard for him are schools that are currently on Porter’s top five.
“The schools that are on his list are also recruiting me,” Young said. “Missouri, Virginia are two schools that I’ll be looking. Oklahoma as well.”
Young did say though that no schools are working harder than others.
“A lot of the schools on my list of eleven are working hard right now,” Young said. “I couldn’t just pick out five. All of them are working really hard.”
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