Amile Jefferson Could Decide By End of January

Amile Jefferson could make his college choice by the end of January, his father told SNY.tv Tuesday during an exclusive interview.

“At the end of the week we’ll have a conversation and I think he could wrap this up in the next few weeks,” Malcolm Musgrove said by phone. “I’m thinking by the end of January he will know.”

Musgrove said his son, a 6-foot-7 forward from Philly Friends Central, is still considering Duke, Kentucky, N.C. State, Ohio State, UConn and Villanova. Stanford and Temple are no longer being considered.

Duke is the latest school to offer Jefferson and is very much alive in the recruiting process.

“Yes,” Musgrove said, “they got involved about a month ago. They offered him so he’s added to them to his list.

He added: “I think he understands who Duke is as a program and a school so I think that’s a program that most kids would consider. I think he’s trying to get to  know the staff and hear what Duke has to say and he’s been doing that. They talk quite frequently.”

Asked if Jefferson speaks directly with Coach K, Musgrove said he did.

“He’s been to visit Duke a few times,” Musgrove said. “He’s been there as a freshman, he went there his junior year. He’s been on the campus a ton of times with AAU. He knows a little bit about the school.”

Kentucky, which has a three-man class currently ranked No. 2 nationally, is also a factor because of their ability to develop talent.

“That’s another classic program,” Musgrove said. “A lot of folks just think they bring talent in but I’ve seen the growth of the talent that they’ve brought in.

“I’ve had an opportunity to see the freshmen that are there now last year and watched them grow. There’s no doubt that they were going to be special players but you can see improvement in their games from a year ago to now and that just doesn’t happen by mistake. I know that there’s development going on there.

“He needs thats so that intrigues him.”

He added of Kentucky: “They play at a high level all the time. They continue to bring in dominant players and are always going to compete at the highest level. All that matters to him.”

N.C. State is another school that figures prominently and Jefferson himself has noticed the strong three-man recruiting class they have signed.

“I think they have a great program going there,” Jefferson told FiveStarBasketball.com of N.C. State. “Coach [Mark] Gottfried and his assistants are great. Then being able to get those players there and recruit … They definitely have a future. That’s a school on the rise and having those guys [T.J. Warren, Rodney Purvis and Tyler Lewis] really means something.”

Villanova is the local school and UConn and Ohio State are also options.

“He and I have been sitting down and talking about schools,” Musgrove said. “I believe that he’s going to have a conversation with each of the coaches of the schools that he’s interested in.”

He added: “He’s doing his homework and will make a decision that’s good for him and that he won’t second guess down the line.”