UT BASKETBALL STAFF ON ROAD EVALUATING PROSPECTS AT CAMPS
By Brendan F. Quinn
Published Thursday, July 11, 2013
College basketballs July recruiting period got underway Wednesday, sending the Tennessee coaching staff sprawling to small gyms for the weekend.
The July recruiting period consists of three four-day evaluation periods. The three biggest ongoing events are the Peach Jam in South Carolina, the Reebok Classic Breakout Camp in Philadelphia and the Adidas Invitational in Indianapolis.
Each UT coach is currently on the road.
Coach Cuonzo Martin is expected to appear at all three locations before the evaluation period concludes on Sunday at 5 p.m.
Martin was in Indianapolis on Thursday, eyeing five-star power forward Kevon Looney, among a bevy of other players. Looney hails from Milwaukee and is being pursued by powers such as Duke, Michigan, Michigan State, Georgetown, Florida, UCLA and others.
UT assistant coaches Tracy Webster and Kent Williams have been assigned stops at the Adidas Invitational and Peach Jam, while Jon Harris will be attending the Reebok Breakout Camp and Peach Jam.
Included in a lengthy roster of 2014 standouts at Peach Jam are Tennessee targets Leron Black, a consensus top-50 power forward from Memphis White Station, James Demery, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard from North Carolina, Devin Mitchell, a 6-3 guard from Georgia, and Isaiah Manderson a 6-11 center from North Carolina.
According to a Wednesday report from 247Sports, Manderson holds offers from UT, Oregon State, Kansas State, Florida State and Georgia and will visit the Vols and others over the next two months before making a decision.
Tennessee natives Jalen Lindsey and Makinde London are among the UT targets playing in Philadelphia. Both are top-100 recruits, but Lindsey, a highly touted 6-6 small forward who recently transferred from Nashvilles Christ Presbyterian Academyto Huntington (W.Va.) Prep, carries a far higher profile as a known commodity. London, a 6-9 forward from Spring Hill, Tenn., has burst onto the scene as one of this summers rising stars.
London was offered a scholarship to UT following the teams elite camp in late June.
Jordan Cornish, a 6-4 shooting guard from New Orleans who verbally committed to Tennessee in May, is at the Reebok camp in Philadelphia.
In addition to Cornish, UT also holds a verbal commitment from Philip Cofer, a 6-8, 205-pound power forward from Fayetteville, Ga.
That leaves the Vols with two open scholarships for the 2014 class, possibly three, if UT junior Jarnell Stokes declares for the NBA draft following the 2013-14 season.
The remaining evaluation periods this month with run from July 17-21 and July 24-28.