5-star UK target Skal Labissiere back from injury
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Hard work pays off, but it can come with a cost, too. Skal Labissiere knows first-hand.
Labissiere, a five-star center from the Memphis area who is a recruiting target of the University of Kentucky, was glad to be back on the basketball court at this past week's NBPA Top 100 camp after missing all but two games of his junior season with a stress fracture in his back.
The injury was the gradual result of overexertion and overwork as the Haitian native — the first player in the 2015 class to get a UK scholarship offer — sought to improve the skill and lanky, 6-foot-10 physique that already had made him a top-10 national prospect.
"I'm still trying to get back in shape," said Labissiere, rated No. 6 in the class by Rivals.com. "My timing is still off a little bit. Explosiveness is gone, so I'm working on getting it back."
He returned for AAU ball in April, and although he said he's not quite 100 percent, he played solidly in Charlottesville, averaging 8.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks while shooting 53 percent in the first six games.
Labissiere said he has no favorites and is "wide-open" on colleges. However, UK and Memphis have long been seen as well-positioned, and for what it's worth, he said Memphis — the "hometown team" — has shown the most interest. He mentioned only UK when asked who else he hears from a lot.
Labissiere assumes people figure he will pick Memphis or UK because one is the home team and the other is coached by John Calipari, who used to coach the Tigers.
"(Calipari's past) really doesn't have anything to do with me," he said. "I came after he did that. I'm still wide-open to any school, and I have no favorites."
Labissiere, who has attended Evangelical Christian Academy in Cordova, Tenn., since arriving in the United States in 2010, said people in town know he's a UK target and have varying opinions of him playing for Calipari.
"Some wish me the best, but some are not a big fan of Coach Cal for (leaving)," he said. "… He did what was best for him, so I can't blame him."
Labissiere seems to be taking things slowly with colleges right now and has no campus visits scheduled. Memphis and Mississippi, which recently offered him a scholarship, are the only schools he's visited. He said he has received recent interest from North Carolina, UNLV and Florida but doesn't yet have offers from them.
Labissiere wants to narrow his list after this summer, take official visits in October and November and make a decision by December. His guardian, Gerald Hamilton, schedules the visits and fields most of the calls and text messages from college coaches.
Labissiere said Calipari exchanges texts with Hamilton, although he was unsure how regularly. Labissiere last talked with Calipari shortly before the coach had hip surgery on May 2.
He said a visit to UK likely will occur "around basketball season." He said UK has discussed having him visit for Big Blue Madness in mid-October.
In-state news
• Away from NBPA camp, Eastern High School 2015 big man Trey Moses made unofficial visits to Wright State on Thursday and Cleveland State on Friday and plans to visit Radford on Sunday. The 6-9 Moses has an offer from Northern Kentucky.
• Apollo 2016 guard Eli Wright added offers from Oklahoma State, Purdue and Winthrop in the past week. He'll visit Tennessee this week.
• Taylor County 2016 guard Quentin Goodin added offers from Michigan, Purdue and UNLV. Both Goodin and Wright are also being recruited by Lousiville and Indiana, and Goodin has received interest from UK.
Steve Jones can be reached at (502) 582-7176 and followed on Twitter at @SteveJones_CJ.