So Devin Ebanks has gotten his release from IU. Although he says he is still considering IU, he was quoted as saying that his top four are Memphis, Texas, Rutgers and West Virginia, and he plans on visiting each of those schools. He also told Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com, "I want to go somewhere I can develop, play right away and have a great relationship with my coach."
If you were in his shoes, what school would you chose? Here are some pros and cons of each school:
Memphis: John Calipari continues to attract top talent to Memphis and consistently takes the Tigers to the second week of the NCAA Tournament. Although they are still competing this year, Calipari has yet to lead Memphis to the Final Four and despite their strong non-conference schedule, the Tigers compete in the unimpressive Conference USA. NBADraft.net is currently projecting freshman Derrick Rose at No. 2 and junior Chris Douglas-Roberts at No. 38 in June's NBA Draft, but Ebanks could potentially join a recruiting class with power forwards Angel Garcia (5-star, signed) and Matt Simpkins (4-star, unsigned).
Texas: Rick Barnes has done an excellent job at Texas by bringing the basketball program to national prominence, although it will always play second fiddle to the football team. Barnes has taken his teams to one Final Four, one Elite Eight, and two Sweet Sixteen appearances, and also has won the share of two Big 12 titles in the last three years. Ebanks likely won't have the fortune of playing with the NBA-bound D.J. Augustine, but the possibility of teaming with Damion James and Connor Atchley, among others, could be enticing enought for Ebanks to want to don a "burnt orange" Longhorns jersey.
Rutgers: A few things stand out here. Ebanks is a New York native and played prep ball this year at St. Thomas More in Oakdale, Conn. Ebanks' mother has always wanted her son to stay close to home, and this would be the closest possible destination for the five-star recruit. Fred Hill is very well-respected and is bringing in Mike Rosario next year, a N.J. native fresh off an 18-point performance in the McDonald's All-American game. The down side: it's Rutgers! 11-20 (3-15 in the Big East) is not exactly, well, good.
West Virginia: Bob Huggins may have left Kansas State to the displeasure of fans in the short-lived "Huggieville." He did, however, put basketball back on the map in the other Manhattan by bringing in Bill Walker, and then Michael Beasley. Huggins hasn't had the time to put together that sort of recruiting class at his alma mater, but he did manage to get four-star power forward and New York-native Kevin Jones, over schools such as IU and Pitt. While tiny Morgantown may not be the ideal place for someone of Ebanks' caliber, either was the Little Apple for the likes of Walker and Beasley. Huggins has successfully begun his transformation of former Mountaineer coach John Beilein's program and if Ebanks was watching last night, he had to be impressed with Huggins and the Moutaineers.
Indiana: A Conference USA school, a football powerhouse, the worst team in the Big East, a team from the great state of West Virginia and IU. Most years, IU would be the easy choice here, but it very well is now the least desireable of Ebanks' five options. IU has the tradition, but it has no coach. IU has the championship banners, but further sanctions are not out of the question. IU has Eric Gordon, but maybe just for one more month. Despite what IU has been able to offer in years past, do the Hoosiers even stand a chance here?
