Recruitments Winding Down

New England Recruiting Report | Wednesday, September 14th, 2016

Seven of New England's top 15 ranked players in the class of 2017 have already made commitments, but the other eight don't appear to be far behind as many are narrowing their lists and/or taking official visits with the entire group potentially being able to sign early should they so decide.

Here's a rundown of the latest activity with some of New England's best available prospects:

• Hamidou Diallo hasn't announced any lists or visits yet, but this has all the makings of a UConn vs. Kentucky battle. Kevin Ollie was in to see Diallo on Friday while John Calipari was in on Monday with assistants from both schools stopping in between. Indiana is dabbling to see if they can generate any momentum but at the end of the day this likely comes down to the Wildcats and the Huskies.
• Tremont Waters has been verey quiet on his recruitment since announcing his top 7 but numerous reports had him visiting Georgetown last week for his first official visit. We can conclude that UConn is now out after landing Makai Ashton-Langford and so that leaves Indiana, Kansas, Duke, Kentucky and Yale joining Georgetown as the last remaining schools on his list.
• Kimani Lawrence took a series of official visits in recent weeks and recently announced a final five of USC, Arizona State, Pittsburgh, Texas and Florida. Pitt head coach Kevin Stallings was in on the first day of the period while Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley was at New Hampton School on Monday. USC, which looked like a favorite at one time, took a commitment from another wing last week and so it remains to be seen how that might impact Lawrence's recruitment.
• Christian David announced his final five earlier this summer and now seems to be focusing on a final three of Pittsburgh, Creighton and Butler. All three head coaches were at Vermont Academy last week. Pitt is likely recruiting both David and Lawrence for the same spot, while Butler could be doing the same with New Hampton's Anthony Gaines, and so local products are definitely poised to impact one another in the coming weeks.
• Wabissa Bede announced his final five about a month ago and took his first official visit to Butler a couple weeks back. Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams recently completed an in-home visit and at the moment those two seem to be the favorites. Minnesota is likely out after landing a commitment from Isaiah Washington over the weekend while UMass and LaSalle are currently scheduled for October visits.
• Hasahn French took an official visit to Marquette over the weekend and had head coaches from Saint Louis and VCU in the gym on Monday. UNLV, Minnesota and UMass are all making strong pushes as well. Expect for French to take some more visits and then look to zero in on a couple of schools before making his final decision.
• Anthony Gaines announced three official visits on Monday night. He'll leave for Butler on Wednesday before traveling to Dayton over the weekend and then Northwestern the final weekend. Three official visits in a matter of ten days generally indicates someone who is ready to get the recruiting process over with so we'll have to wait and see if that's the case for Gaines.
• Marcus Santos-Silva announced a final eight of VCU, Boston College, Temple. Bradley, Kansas State, St. Bonaventure, Duquesne and LaSalle in late August. He took a visit to Temple last weekend and is now schedule to see VCU this coming weekend. The Rams are presumably recruiting Santos-Silva and French in the same spot and appear deep enough in the process to take a commitment from either at this point.