Minnesota four-star wing Kerwin Walton held ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ and five other college basketball programs in suspense all weekend, but indicated only two were really on his mind at the end.
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ was not one of them. Walton committed to North Carolina on Monday after going silent for two days past his planned announcement while home-state choice Minnesota reportedly tugged at him. He also turned down Vanderbilt, Creighton and Georgetown.
“It was really super hard to turn (Minnesota) down,†Walton told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “I’ve got phenomenal relationships with the coaches and the players and it was an opportunity to play in front of friends and family. That’s why it took so long. It was hard to pass up.â€
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ had long built a relationship with Walton, too, hosting him for the Red-Blue Game while presumably reminding him what happened with one of his former Hopkins High School teammates: In just one season, former Hopkins big man Zeke Nnaji turned from a four-star prospect to a projected first-round NBA pick.
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Though a much different player than Nnaji, with a well-regarded long-range shot and an athletic 6-foot-5 frame, Walton might have had a similar opportunity waiting for him in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥. Walton would have joined a team that lost starters Josh Green and Dylan Smith.
Walton’s decision instead likely left more time for two big incoming freshmen wings, Dalen Terry and Benn Mathurin, while ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ also has five combo guards as of now for next season: James Akinjo, Jemarl Baker, Terrell Brown, Kerr Kriisa and Brandon Williams.
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ is still recruiting another big shooter in combo forward Tibet Gorener, a 6-8 native of Turkey now attending Orange Lutheran in Southern California, while the Wildcats have at least two open spots remaining for next season.
North Carolina, meanwhile, now has the consensus No. 3-ranked class of 2020, in part at the Wildcats’ expense. Not only had UA long been chasing Walton but it also pursued four-star forward Puff Johnson, whose father played at Pitt with UA coach Sean Miller, and five-star guard Caleb Love. Both those players picked the Tar Heels.
Johnson attended the Red-Blue Game with Walton last September while Love put ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ among his top six choices but did not visit the Wildcats; both players signed with North Carolina in the fall.
NCAA gives teams more schedule control
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ will be able to self-schedule its final two remaining games — and take better control of future nonconference schedules — thanks to a little-noticed vote by the NCAA Division Council last week.
The rule change, which is scheduled for formal review Wednesday by the NCAA’s Board of Directors, essentially eliminates the “add-on†home games that have become prevalent for teams participating in nonconference multi-team events such as the Maui Invitational and NIT Season Tip-Off.
Under the current rules, a multi-team event counts as three games against the NCAA scheduling maximum but can include up to four games. Because most “MTEs†only have two or three days of on-site competition, event promoters often assign an “add-on†game or two to for the high-major participants to play at home sites.
In some cases, that can pull down a team’s strength of schedule. In 2016-17, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ was forced to play add-on home games against two 300-plus RPI teams, Sacred Heart and Northern Colorado, as part of its participation in the Thanksgiving week Las Vegas Invitational. Miller said later that season he would never play in the event again as a result.
This season, the Wildcats agreed to play in the NIT Season Tip-Off at Brooklyn and had been holding up two spots for add-on games. But now, instead of having ESPN Events assign them, they can schedule the games themselves.
The rules change lets teams play a total of 31 games if they play in a two- or three game MTE, while others will play only 29. Next season, UA is scheduled to play 20 Pac-12 games, nine single nonconference games and the two NIT Season Tip-Off games.
Doing what they can
With most organized team activities still forbidden until at least May 31 under the Pac-12’s Pandemic Policy, UA has held some limited team meetings via Zoom while working out on its own.
None of the Wildcats remain in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, according to Ryan Reynolds, UA’s director of basketball operations. Players are allowed to spend up to four hours a week on film study while coaches can recommend written, self-monitored workout plans, just not provide instruction in any form.
Non-athletic help for physical and academic reasons is allowed.
