Big Red’s Reads: Recruiting News, Recruiting News and More Recruiting News!

The Spring Basketball signing period ends this week and there has been a mad dash by Rick Stansbury to finish off his 2017 class.

The Spring Basketball signing period ends this week and there has been a mad dash by Rick Stansbury to finish off his 2017 class.

— Rick Stansbury still finding more players to add to this years stacked 2017 recruiting class. This time Chris Duarte, a 3-star guard out of New York, flew under the radar and committed to the Hilltoppers on Tuesday. Syracuse was the favorite for Duarte before recently. Another huge get for the Tops as next season’s team might be the most talented in recent memory if not history.

— With Duarte’s commitment, WKU’s class moved in front of Louisville to #8 on 247 Sports 2017 Team Rankings.

— Chad Bishop reports that Stansbury still might not be done. WKU is linked to two grad transfers. Power forward Dwight Coleby from Kansas & guard Darius Thompson from Virginia. Both have transferred multiple times but either may be able to bolster the experience gap in 2017–18.

— Virginia guard Darius Thompson made his transfer to the Tops official yesterday.

— Brad Stephens spoke to Rick Stansbury at the recent Indian Hills Country Club Dinner and he gave great insights about adding a grad transfers, the Justin Johnson situation & Jake Ohmer and Jared Savage coming into the fold.

— Rivals states that WKU is still a possibility for Top-50 guard Tremont Waters, along with UConn & Creighton.

— Here’s Chad Bishop’s updated rundown of where the roster stands after the Duarte commitment. Right now WKU has 14 scholarship players for 13 scholarship spots.

— Justin Johnson’s upcoming decision to play football could play a factor in those scholarship numbers. Brad Stephens explores his thought process and discusses what Mike Sanford thinks about the situation.

— WKU checked in at #10 in the Rivals team rankings before Duarte committed.

— Corey Evans, Rivals national recruiting analyst, lists Mitchell Robinson going to WKU as his #1 recruiting surprise in 2017.

— WKU officially announced on Tuesday that Austin Peay transfer & Bowling Green native Jared Savage was joining the team.

— Chad Bishop’s WKU basketball notebook includes more information about Marek Nelson as well as Taveion Hollingsworth’s number getting retired by his High school in Lexington.

— Here’s Marek Nelson repping WKU during his signing ceremony on Wednesday

— Gary Parrish at CBS Sports Network uses WKU as a prime example of why you can’t make recruiting excuses anymore, no matter what program you are.

— Conference USA made it office that they’re moving both the men’s & women’s tournament to Frisco. The Denton Record-Chronicle discusses why Conference USA decided to go that direction.

— Todd Stewart gives the WKU reaction to the Frisco news.

— Marshall’s Jon Elmore has withdrawn his name from the NBA Draft, which should make the Herd a solid team once again next season.

— Mike Sanford discussed WKU’s NFL draft success, Mike White at the Manning Camp and the impact of Nike.

— This is yet another fascinating stat that shows WKU’s football ascent since 2010.

— Here is Chad and Dominique from WBKO’s weekly podcast with a lot of recruiting information and their reaction to the Frisco news.

— Draft Express lists Mitchell Robinson at the #13 pick in their 2018 mock draft.

— Bowling Green High 4-star Linebacker Justice Dingle finally received an offer from the new staff at WKU. I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t end up in the SEC.

— Chad Bishop gives an early football recruiting update on some of the prospects that WKU has offered.

— Underdog Dynasty says that WKU has the #7 running back core in the league but still is in “good shape”. They list Ferby/Allen’s recoveries as points of concern.

— Bowling Green HS outfielder Luke Brown talks about signing with WKU Baseball.

— Forgotten 5 reacted to Athlon’s coaching rankings and weren’t nearly as high on Mike Sanford.

— Mike White comes in at #18 in The Sporting News list of Top 25 Quarterbacks for 2017.

— WKU Softball’s season is now over after going 2–2 in the NISC Tournamant. They finished their season 31–31.

— WKU catcher Hunter Wood is one of 15 semifinalists for the Johnny Bench Award that goes to the Top Catcher in College Baseball.

— Deltona, FL Safety John Huggins discusses recent WKU offer with Michael McCammon ($)

— ProTopper Anderson Miller was named the Carolina League player of the Week for his recent performance during his birthday week.

If you ever come across an interesting WKU-related article, send it our way via twitter @TheTowelRackWKU