Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
C.J. Leslie is still plotting out his official visits and my not sign until the late signing period in the spring.
“He probably won’t sign until the spring. I can’t say for 100 percent sure,” Lisa Leslie, C.J.’s mom, said Saturday in a phone interview.
The 6-foot-8, 205-pound Leslie out of Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God Academy is the No. 4 power forward in the nation, according to Rivals.
He took his first official visit to Kentucky Oct. 28 for the Blue/White Scrimmage and was supposed to visit Florida this weekend (Nov. 7-8), but will have to reschedule because his high school team has a scrimmage today (Saturday).
“We thought it would be better if we just totally rescheduled it,” Lisa said of the Florida visit.
Leslie had in-home visits with Kentucky, Maryland, Seton Hall, Arizona State, Georgetown, N.C. State, Georgia Tech, Florida International and Oregon.
He plans to take four more officials — including one to Florida — but all four likely won’t happen this fall. Lisa said the family wasn’t sure which schools would get the three remaining visits.
“As of right now, we don’t know which other three schools he’s going to visit,” she said. “We’ve been so busy with the recruiting and everything that we haven’t had enough time to sit down and complete the schedule.”
Lisa said North Carolina was supposed to come for an in-home visit, but cancelled because they decided instead to focus on Harrison Barnes, the nation’s No. 2 recruit.
“Roy [Williams] must feel pretty comfortable with Barnes because Coach [Steve] Robinson called us and they were saying they didn’t want to hinder C.J.”s recruiting by putting us on hold to see whether Harrison Barnes was going to take the scholarship,” she said.
“Coach Williams told C.J. he really wanted him, he just wishes he has one more scholarship. That was the turnaround with North Carolina.”
The 6-6 Barnes is due to announce this week and is considering North Carolina, Duke, UCLA, Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa State.
As for Leslie, Lisa said he enjoyed his official to Kentucky but hasn’t proclaimed the ‘Cats his leader.
“He said when he went down there for the visit he really enjoyed it,” Lisa said of Kentucky. “He never said that that was his favorite school.
“He’s still saying that he’s open. I wouldn’t say that that was his favorite school.”
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
C.J. Leslie is still plotting out his official visits and my not sign until the late signing period in the spring.
“He probably won’t sign until the spring. I can’t say for 100 percent sure,” Lisa Leslie, C.J.’s mom, said Saturday in a phone interview.
The 6-foot-8, 205-pound Leslie out of Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God Academy is the No. 4 power forward in the nation, according to Rivals.
He took his first official visit to Kentucky Oct. 28 for the Blue/White Scrimmage and was supposed to visit Florida this weekend (Nov. 7-8), but will have to reschedule because his high school team has a scrimmage today (Saturday).
“We thought it would be better if we just totally rescheduled it,” Lisa said of the Florida visit.
Leslie had in-home visits with Kentucky, Maryland, Seton Hall, Arizona State, Georgetown, N.C. State, Georgia Tech, Florida International and Oregon.
He plans to take four more officials — including one to Florida — but all four likely won’t happen this fall. Lisa said the family wasn’t sure which schools would get the three remaining visits.
“As of right now, we don’t know which other three schools he’s going to visit,” she said. “We’ve been so busy with the recruiting and everything that we haven’t had enough time to sit down and complete the schedule.”
Lisa said North Carolina was supposed to come for an in-home visit, but cancelled because they decided instead to focus on Harrison Barnes, the nation’s No. 2 recruit.
“Roy [Williams] must feel pretty comfortable with Barnes because Coach [Steve] Robinson called us and they were saying they didn’t want to hinder C.J.”s recruiting by putting us on hold to see whether Harrison Barnes was going to take the scholarship,” she said.
“Coach Williams told C.J. he really wanted him, he just wishes he has one more scholarship. That was the turnaround with North Carolina.”
The 6-6 Barnes is due to announce this week and is considering North Carolina, Duke, UCLA, Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa State.
As for Leslie, Lisa said he enjoyed his official to Kentucky but hasn’t proclaimed the ‘Cats his leader.
“He said when he went down there for the visit he really enjoyed it,” Lisa said of Kentucky. “He never said that that was his favorite school.
“He’s still saying that he’s open. I wouldn’t say that that was his favorite school.”
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.
