Trinity's Spalding weighs joining Cardinals

INDIANAPOLIS – Raymond Spalding has a poster of former University of Louisville basketball player Earl Clark in his house, and he occasionally practices with former U of L standouts Manuel Forrest and Jason Osborne.

Spalding's mother and grandmother are big fans of the Cardinals, and his mom, Geri, is Forrest's longtime friend.
And Spalding's friend David Levitch, whose dad coaches Spalding's AAU team, is a U of L walk-on who's told him what it's like to play for the Cards and joked with him about how Spalding would be a messy college roommate.

With all that in mind, Spalding, the explosive 6-foot-10 power forward from Trinity High School, is weighing the option of joining the hometown Cards – the team he's grown up cheering for.

"It's pretty good being a hometown kid getting a hometown (scholarship) offer," he said Thursday at the Adidas Invitational, where U of L coach Rick Pitino watched his game. "It's been pretty crazy going from store to store (in Louisville), and (people say), 'Oh, you're Raymond Spalding?' … But it's been great."

Spalding, a Mr. Basketball candidate next year and the nation's No. 66 prospect by Scout.com, received an offer from U of L a month ago, and he has the Cards are under serious consideration. He said that, in no order, U of L, Indiana University and Xavier are his three favorite teams.

Spalding said "it's pretty cool" that he now has an offer from the team he grew up cheering for but said his history following the Cards will be only a minor factor in his decision.

"I'm still open for recruiting," he said.

Spalding said his mom likes the Cards but is OK with any school he chooses. His grandmother is more outwardly hoping he commits to U of L, with Spalding recalling with a smile that she has told him he knows "the right decision to make when it comes to picking a good school."

He said most people he encounters in Louisville tell him to "stay home," or at least not go too far away for college.

"Personally since I've known Ray for so long, I think he's going to stay somewhere close to home, close to Kentucky," said Trinity guard Michael Stafford, who plays with him on The Ville club and has been his teammate since elementary school.
He added: "If I had to guess, I'd say U of L right now."

That's a common guess. On the 247Sports.com Crystal Ball feature, all 16 members of the media who have made predictions on where Spalding will end up have picked U of L.

The Cards are clearly well-positioned as one of Spalding's top options, but he said the Hoosiers and Musketeers are, too. He's also open to new schools joining the fray. Duke, for one, has started showing interest in the past week.

"I don't think people should make that assumption" that U of L will be the final pick, he said.

IU and Xavier have made Spalding a major priority in the 2015 class, and both teams' head coaches watched him play on Thursday.

"My mom and grandmother have tons of Louisville posters, but my mom is starting to make room for Xavier posters and Indiana posters," Spalding said, adding that he has one of the Musketeers' former point guard Semaj Christon.

Spalding said IU's Tom Crean is "becoming one of my best friends" and enjoys how their phone conversations and text-message exchanges, which occur multiple times daily, go beyond basketball, with both sharing stories about their families.
"Besides him being a great basketball coach at Indiana University, he's a great father, mentor and leader," said Spalding, who also praised Xavier coach Chris Mack.

It's easy to see why they want him.

Spalding had a tremendous start to July on Wednesday night, scoring 36 points and making long-range jumpers in The Ville's victory. He had only eight points in Thursday's game with Pitino and assistant Kenny Johnson watching but was a force blocking shots and jumping into passing lanes for deflections and steals.

The Ville coach David Levitch Sr., who has had Spalding in his program for most of the past 10 years, won't be surprised if he plays in the NBA someday.

"He's probably got the best skill level in Kentucky as of right now," the coach said. "… He really can see the court both at the defensive end when he gets a rebound to look up, or when he gets it down low and sees the cutter.

"… He's definitely the real deal."

Steve Jones can be reached at (502) 582-7176 and followed on Twitter at @SteveJones_CJ.