I like the Missouri offer. What else do we know about this guy?
Where will Devonta Pollard end up?
Two years ago, Devonta Pollard was the last McDonald's All-American to make his college decision when he signed with Alabama in June.
He had scholarship offers from some of the biggest basketball programs in the country, including Georgetown and Texas, but waited and waited and waited until picking the Crimson Tide.
When he finally picked Alabama, no one expected he'd have to go through the recruiting process just two years later. But after the toughest 12 months of his life, Pollard is back on the market when the basketball regular signing period begins Wednesday.
The five-star prospect had his pick of top schools, but ultimately decided to cast his lot with Anthony Grant in Tuscaloosa. The 6-foot-8 forward didn't live up to expectations in his first year at Alabama, averaging 3.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, but there was plenty of reason to believe he'd develop and get better over the rest of his career.
Everything changed last April.
His mother, Jessie Mae Brown Pollard, was arrested and charged with kidnapping a 6-year old girl over a land dispute with the child's mother. Pollard was later charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping and he left Alabama in June.
It didn't get much easier from there. With his mother unwilling to absolve him of his role in the kidnapping, Pollard was ultimately forced to testify against his mother to avoid potential prison time. In exchange for testifying against his mother, Pollard will avoid prosecution if he stays out of trouble for the next two years. His mother was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
While his family's legal issues played out very publicly, Pollard was still trying to keep his basketball dreams alive. After leaving Alabama, he landed at East Mississippi Community College in Scooba. It wasn't the easiest transition for him, but he worked hard on the basketball court to forget everything going on in his personal life.
"The first semester was a struggle because he had all of that stuff going on and everything was so unsettled," East Mississippi coach Mark White said. "Once everything got settled, he was good the second semester. All of the Division-I coaches said the big thing was how hard he was playing now. All the coaches were commenting, 'Man, he's playing hard, he's playing tough.'"
Pollard averaged 12 points and 6.4 rebounds per game at East Mississippi, and shot 59 percent from the field. He was named to the NJCAA All-Region 23 team.
Who is recruiting him?
Despite everything that has happened to Pollard, it hasn't scared off potential suitors. Pollard returning to Alabama isn't an option, according to White, but he could land back in the SEC.
Missouri, Kentucky and Troy are three schools after the talented forward, but Pollard hasn't set up visits with any schools. White says he met with Pollard last week and talked recruiting, but that it's anyone's guess to where he ends up.
"Everybody is trying to call and text me to try to get involved," White said. "Out of high school, he waited until the very end. I wouldn't be surprised if he (did) that again."
Pollard will have until May 21 to sign a binding letter of intent with a Division-I school, though he could ultimately wait and enroll at a school without a letter of intent. The former Mr. Basketball certainly has the talent to be successful at a high level of college basketball, but his junior college coach believes he needs to work on his perimeter skills in order to have better success than he did at Alabama.
"Ball-handling is going to be his key if he's going to play high-major basketball," he said. "He can't be 6-8, 200 pounds and play inside. He has to have a perimeter, mid-ranged kind of game. To be a factor at that level, his game has to continue to improve from a perimeter aspect. But he's a first-class athlete
they don't come much more athletic than Devonta Pollard."
