SPORTS

Adel, Spalding, Crawford, Wright all visiting U of L

Stephen W Jones
swjones1@courier-journal.com

Wednesday is becoming quite a recruiting day for the University of Louisville basketball team with now four well-regarded prospects, including top wing target Deng Adel and Trinity power forward Raymond Spalding, planning to unofficially visit campus.

The other visitors are four-star Class of 2015 point guard Bryant Crawford of Washington, D.C., and Apollo High 2016 shooting guard Eli Wright.

Loren Jackson, Adel's guardian and coach at Victory Rock Prep in Bradenton, Fla., confirmed Wednesday morning that Adel will visit U of L. A Sudanese native who grew up in Australia before coming to Victory Rock last season, Adel has emerged as an elite prospect in his one year in the United States. The 6-foot-7 Adel - the only one of Wednesday's visitors to hold a U of L scholarship offer - went from relatively unheralded to the No. 18 ranking nationally by Scout.com after a strong spring with the adidas-sponsored Florida Elite travel club. He is a good shooter, athletic and good in the open court, and Jackson said Adel reminds him of former University of Kentucky player Derek Anderson. (See embedded YouTube clip below)

Jackson also coached current Sudan-to-Australia-to-Florida-to-U of L player Mangok Mathiang, and Adel and Mathiang have been friends for years. U of L, which got a head-start recruiting Adel because of those previous relationships, is seen as very well-positioned in his recruitment, although Jackson said last month that he has no immediate plans to make a college decision and wants to take more college visits in August.

Like Crawford, Spalding does not have a scholarship offer from U of L, but the Cards have recruited him consistently for several months and if they elect to pursue a big man in the 2015 class, he very possibly will be the top target.

Spalding, who is No. 65 nationally by Scout.com, told The Courier-Journal last month, that along with U of L, Indiana, Xavier, Clemson and Vanderbilt - all of which have made offers - were standing out in his recruitment. Spalding visited U of L multiple times last season. His Wednesday visit was first reported by Evan Daniels of Scout.

"He's been following and will continue to follow me on through my career in high school and hopefully be able to coach me in college someday, and he wants me to get up there sometime in June," Spalding said last month.

He said then that he also planned to visit IU and Xavier sometime this month.

The Hoosiers have been recruiting Spalding fervently, and he said last month that he talks to coach Tom Crean "two or three times a day." He said Crean has told him that "I'm a really high priority, top of the list."

"He's a great guy, and having a guy talk to me like that every day and motivate me every day means a lot," he said.

As for U of L's third, 2015 visitor, Crawford, it would be no surprise if he adds an offer from the Cardinals soon. The No. 56 player nationally by Scout, he has had a good relationship with new U of L assistant Kenny Johnson since he was on the staff at IU. Crawford plays for the Nike-sponsored Team Takeover club that Johnson helped run.

U of L has strongly pursuing 2015 five-star shooting guards Allonzo Trier, Isaiah Briscoe and Antonio Blakeney, and has begun to show interest in four-star combo guard Jalen Adams.

The Cards are among a handful of major teams, along with IU, showing increased in Wright, who is a 2016 Mr. Basketball candidate. He also visited U of L for its home finale against Connecticut in March.

Five-star 2015 wing Deng Adel