While many recruits are currently sorting through a long list of schools they
are considering, three programs piled onto the Jason Bohannon bandwagon and took
early control with the Linn-Mar High School (Marion, Iowa) junior guard.
He hauled in offers from the Big 10 before he played his first game his junior
year, with Iowa and Wisconsin taking early plunges. Stanford joined suit
and successfully brought him out for the earliest official visit in the history
of the Cardinal program in late January. Bohannon has said since last
calendar year that his top three favorites were clearly the Card, the Badgers,
and the home-state Hawekeys.
Now a fourth major offer has come his way, after a successful showing this
past weekend in Dallas (Tex.) with his Martin Brothers AAU squad.
"It happened pretty suddenly, actually. They had their one phone call,
but I hadn't heard much from them," Bohannon says of his newest suitor.
"We played at the Next Level tournament, and Coach [Kevin] Stallings from
Vanderbilt saw me there. Then an assistant came to my school on Monday and
offered me a scholarship."
"I played OK in Dallas," he humbly assesses. "I struggled with my
shooting, at least by my standards, but I was pretty good in other areas.
We went 2-2."
The Commodores are entering the party as you might expect - during this
evaluation period when college coaches are getting a good look for the first
time at many recruits on their board. But Vanderbilt may have the
misfortune in this instance of trailing schools who are already at a very
advanced stage in their relationship with the Iowan.
"It's tough to say if they will be able to catch up or not. Anything
can happen. They have a good coach, but I just don't know much about them
yet," Bohannon comments. "I still have the same top three schools, though
no one favorite."
The 6'3" sharpshooter officially visited The Farm in the winter and has taken
unofficial visits to Madison and Iowa City. Up next is an official visit
he will take next weekend to Wisconsin, which is currently his only planned paid
trip of the spring.
"I could maybe take a visit to Iowa, but probably not. They're so close
to home and I've been there so many times already," the Linn-Mar junior muses.
"I'll go to Wisconsin next Thursday or Friday. It's hard to say right now
- I don't want to say they are my favorite - but there is a lot there I like.
They've been recruiting me for so long, and just how things are starting to play
out. They are definitely starting to be more detailed in how I would fit
in their program - as a point guard or shooting guard, and stuff like that."
Bohannon says that four schools have come to see him at his school during
this evaluation period: Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, North Carolina State and Northern Iowa. One notable absence is Stanford.
"It's been a few weeks since I talked to them," he says of the Cardinal
coaches. "I last talked with Coach [L.J.] Hepp, and he told me they were
still waiting to hear from Admissions on my application. I haven't heard
anything new."
While other favorites are advancing their recruitment, the Card are
apparently caught in quicksand. Bohannon submitted his application some
time ago, and as time moves on without an acceptance, he has to think about
moving on as well.
"It kind of is tough," he says of his situation with Stanford. "You
don't want to put all your work into them when you might not be accepted to the
school."
Next weekend's official trip to Madison looks like the biggest event of the
spring for Bohannon's recruitment. He says he is uncertain when he will
pull the trigger on a college commitment - only that he knows he will do so
before the fall. But our best read on his situation is that Wisconsin is
sitting in a leadership position. If that visit fares well enough, it
would not surprise us to see him commit before the the busy summer travel schedule of camps and tournaments kicks in. Should Bohannon finish his junior year without a
commitment, he might play through the July evaluation period to give schools
more opportunities to see him. He played only one major event this spring with his Martin
Brothers team, and that event in Dallas this past weekend was a secondary
priority for many schools who put both their coaches in Houston for the Kingwood
Classic.
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