A look at UW Basketball's first 2009 recruit

Editor's Note: This was cross-posted at Off the Record on June 2.


CJ Wilson, the first commit in UW's 2009 class.

After reading earlier this week that super-prospect PG Abdul Gaddy of Bellarmine Prep had decomitted to Arizona earlier in the week and reopened his recruitment, suffice it to say I was excited to see the email from Dawgman.com informing me that UW basketball had landed a new recruit.

That's right, I'm such a Husky stan, I get email notification sent to the kPhone every time a high schooler makes a verbal commitment to UW football or basketball. Anyway, before following the link and checking to see who the new recruit was, I said a quick prayer to Brandon Roy and Nate Robinson, requesting a verbal commit from Gaddy and maybe even his Bellarmine Prep backourt-mate SG Avery Bradley.

No such luck. In fact, when I read that C.J. Wilcox of Pleasant Grove, Utah was the new recruit, I figured it must be a misprint. I mean, I'd never heard of the guy and I read every Husky blog and scouting service report on an almost daily basis. Scout.com had the guy at two stars (out of five) and didn't even list him among the top 25 shooting guards in his class. He didn't have any other Pac-10 offers.

But then I read an interesting story in Bob Condotta's phenomenal UW hoops blog:

UW coaches began recruiting Wilcox hard a few months ago after seeing him at an AAU tournament in Houston, becoming intrigued by his long-range shooting ability in a 6-5 frame.

That was a rare AAU tournament for Wilcox, who hasn't played in too many such events with his father preferring that he spend more time in private workouts. Craig Wilcox said he thinks that's one reason his son his rated higher by recruiting services.

"He's not highly ranked, but there are plenty of coaches who say 'he has to be in the top 40,''' he said. "I heard that from coaches at the University of Miami and Florida State and they all were just intrigued that we were not on the AAU circuit but just at home getting better.''

Craig Wilcox, who was a guard at BYU from 1993-95, said he simply felt his son would improve more spending the majority of his time working out privately rather than playing in AAU tournaments.

He said his son has shot 20,000 to 30,000 shots from March to August every year since eighth grade honing the shooting ability that is the strength of his game.

Wilcox is UW's first commit for the class of 2009 and will join what suddenly looks like a pretty loaded backcourt for the Huskies with Isaiah Thomas, Scott Suggs and Elston Turner Jr., all coming in this season.

Condotta is vaguely referencing the fact that recruiting is more and more a public affair, upon which coaches are judged. Recruiting services like Scout and Rivals offer in-depth recruiting coverage on prep players nationwide, beginning as early as middle school. Players are evaluated largely on their performances on the camp circuit and through summer AAU leagues typically organized and financed by sneaker and apparel companies.

A player usually makes or breaks their recruiting name through these performances. Little, if any stock is put in actual high school game performance or private workouts. That's what makes it so interesting when a high major program like UW nabs a guy out of the wilderness like this. If Wilcox wasn't playing AAU or camp ball, but instead staying home and training hard with his father, a former Division One player at BYU, it is entirely possible that he is as good or better than many of the Scout/Rivals four and five star recruits.

That being said, I still wouldn't mind nabbing Gaddy and Bradley. With three spots left in the 2009 class, UW has offered scholarship to Bradley, Gaddy, Greg Smith (6'9 center from CA), SG Anthony Marshall of Las Vegas, Guard Michael Snaer of CA, and Power Forwards Mike Moser and Brendan Lane of Oregon.

Other prospects of note currently without written UW offers include Rainier Beach SG Aaron Dotson and a certain Center from Georgia by the name of Shawn Kemp. As in son of the Reign Man. Er, one of many sons of the Reign Man:)

The Huskies have already swung and missed at local star Peyton Siva of Franklin, who followed former Rainier Beach star Terrence Williams to Rick Pitino's Louisville program.


It's beginning to look like a crowded backcourt at Montlake. As always, I trust Romar knows what he's doing...because I'd hate to see Gaddy and Bradley in UCLA uniforms...




Also: story in the Deseret News.