College basketball is in the midst of a dead period right now, but recruiting is very much alive at Northwestern.
The Wildcats are busy trying to fill four scholarship slots in this class, and sources say that they are focused on three transfer targets: Javon Freeman (Valparaiso), Charlie Moore (Kansas) and Justin Pierce (William & Mary). The good news is that all three are Chicagoans who wouldn’t mind staying closer to home.
On top of all that, head coach Chris Collins is also trying to fill a coaching vacancy on his staff after assistant Billy Donlan left to become head coach at Missouri-Kansas City. In other words, it’s a busy time in Evanston, even if the dead period doesn’t get lifted until Thursday at noon.
None of the three transfer targets come as a surprise, given their Chicago area roots and Northwestern’s needs. NU coaches have already set up a visit for Freeman and are currently working to get Moore and Pierce on campus.
Moore, a point guard, is the newest name on the list, having just announced his intent to transfer from Kansas on March 31. A former Illinois Mr. Basketball winner at Chicago Morgan Park in 2016, Moore originally signed with Cal and had an impressive start to his college career, starting all 34 games and averaging 12.2 points a game his freshman year.
However, Moore decided to leave Cal after coach Cuonzo Martin left for Missouri. Stating he wanted to be closer to home because of his ailing father, he landed at Kansas, where he sat out the 2017-18 season as a transfer. The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder played sparingly this season for the Jayhawks, averaging just 13.1 minutes, 2.9 points and 1.3 assists per game.
“Charlie notified me yesterday (Friday) that he wanted to transfer and be closer to his family,” KU coach Bill Self said in a statement. “We appreciate Charlie’s time here at KU and wish him the absolute best moving forward.”
Moore was the No. 55 player in the country and the No. 1 prospect in Illinois after averaging 28.0 points, 7.0 assists, 5.0 steals and 4.0 rebounds as a senior at Morgan Park in 2016. He initially committed to Memphis before flipping to California.
Northwestern and DePaul are the two major-conference schools that would be closest to home for Moore. Sources say that Illinois, which was in the hunt for Moore out of Morgan Park, is not interested this time around.
WildcatReport has already written about Freeman, the former Chicago Whitney Young standout who will visit Northwestern on Thursday and Friday. The combo guard averaged 11 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2 assists per game as a true freshman for Valparaiso this season, making both the Missouri Valley Conference all-freshman and all-defensive teams. He said that Northwestern and San Diego State have been showing the most interest in him, and that Illinois, TCU, Creighton and Nevada are also involved.
Pierce, a grad transfer wing who would be available to play right away, was an all-conference performer for William & Mary the last two seasons and averaged 14.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game this year. He has kept a low recruiting profile and WildcatReport’s attempts to reach him have been unsuccessful. The former Glenbard West star has drawn interest from schools from coast-to-coast, as well as Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin from the Big Ten.
Basketball insider Jeff Goodman tweeted yesterday that Pierce is scheduled to visit Notre Dame this weekend.
In addition to those transfer targets, Northwestern is also talking to several high school prospects. But they are primarily focused on transfers at this time because transfers make their decisions on a more accelerated timeline than prep players.
WildcatReport wasn’t able to obtain much information about the coaching search, other than the staff wants to bring someone in “soon” for both player development and recruiting reasons. The NCAA evaluation period runs from Thursday to Sunday, then again from April 19 through 24, and April 29 through May 2.
Recruiting while a man down for those critical periods, when coaches evaluate players at tournaments throughout the country, would be a significant disadvantage.
The Wildcats are busy trying to fill four scholarship slots in this class, and sources say that they are focused on three transfer targets: Javon Freeman (Valparaiso), Charlie Moore (Kansas) and Justin Pierce (William & Mary). The good news is that all three are Chicagoans who wouldn’t mind staying closer to home.
On top of all that, head coach Chris Collins is also trying to fill a coaching vacancy on his staff after assistant Billy Donlan left to become head coach at Missouri-Kansas City. In other words, it’s a busy time in Evanston, even if the dead period doesn’t get lifted until Thursday at noon.
None of the three transfer targets come as a surprise, given their Chicago area roots and Northwestern’s needs. NU coaches have already set up a visit for Freeman and are currently working to get Moore and Pierce on campus.
Moore, a point guard, is the newest name on the list, having just announced his intent to transfer from Kansas on March 31. A former Illinois Mr. Basketball winner at Chicago Morgan Park in 2016, Moore originally signed with Cal and had an impressive start to his college career, starting all 34 games and averaging 12.2 points a game his freshman year.
However, Moore decided to leave Cal after coach Cuonzo Martin left for Missouri. Stating he wanted to be closer to home because of his ailing father, he landed at Kansas, where he sat out the 2017-18 season as a transfer. The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder played sparingly this season for the Jayhawks, averaging just 13.1 minutes, 2.9 points and 1.3 assists per game.
“Charlie notified me yesterday (Friday) that he wanted to transfer and be closer to his family,” KU coach Bill Self said in a statement. “We appreciate Charlie’s time here at KU and wish him the absolute best moving forward.”
Moore was the No. 55 player in the country and the No. 1 prospect in Illinois after averaging 28.0 points, 7.0 assists, 5.0 steals and 4.0 rebounds as a senior at Morgan Park in 2016. He initially committed to Memphis before flipping to California.
Northwestern and DePaul are the two major-conference schools that would be closest to home for Moore. Sources say that Illinois, which was in the hunt for Moore out of Morgan Park, is not interested this time around.
WildcatReport has already written about Freeman, the former Chicago Whitney Young standout who will visit Northwestern on Thursday and Friday. The combo guard averaged 11 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2 assists per game as a true freshman for Valparaiso this season, making both the Missouri Valley Conference all-freshman and all-defensive teams. He said that Northwestern and San Diego State have been showing the most interest in him, and that Illinois, TCU, Creighton and Nevada are also involved.
Pierce, a grad transfer wing who would be available to play right away, was an all-conference performer for William & Mary the last two seasons and averaged 14.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game this year. He has kept a low recruiting profile and WildcatReport’s attempts to reach him have been unsuccessful. The former Glenbard West star has drawn interest from schools from coast-to-coast, as well as Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin from the Big Ten.
Basketball insider Jeff Goodman tweeted yesterday that Pierce is scheduled to visit Notre Dame this weekend.
In addition to those transfer targets, Northwestern is also talking to several high school prospects. But they are primarily focused on transfers at this time because transfers make their decisions on a more accelerated timeline than prep players.
WildcatReport wasn’t able to obtain much information about the coaching search, other than the staff wants to bring someone in “soon” for both player development and recruiting reasons. The NCAA evaluation period runs from Thursday to Sunday, then again from April 19 through 24, and April 29 through May 2.
Recruiting while a man down for those critical periods, when coaches evaluate players at tournaments throughout the country, would be a significant disadvantage.
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