Rodney Purvis Remains Wide Open | Zagsblog
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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.
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Friday / March 29.
  • Rodney Purvis Remains Wide Open

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    Rodney Purvis remains wide open after decommitting from Louisville, according to his AAU coach, Tony Edwards of the CP3 All-Stars.

    “I don’t think anyone has an advantage right now,” Edwards said Thursday by phone. “They [the family] just want to see what can be established with someone.”

    Louisville, Duke, N.C. State, Kentucky and Missouri all remain options, Edwards said.

    “Right now no visits are scheduled,” he said. “He probably won’t do any visits for a while. He and his family are just focused on getting better. He has a few more weeks of school left and finals and everything coming up.

    “He has a couple of courses this summer which is part of the reclassification into 2012. He has to take those. The basketball recruiting is the last thing on their list of things that are important as far as Rodney and his family.”

    Purvis will attend the LeBron James Skills Academy in early July in Akron, Ohio.

    Purvis and his family had established a strong relationship with former Louisville assistant Tim Fuller, but Fuller departed to join Frank Haith’s staff at Missouri.

    More than anything, Edwards said, a staff must come in and build a relationship with Purvis and his close-knit family.

    “They come from a small town, Roper, N.C.,” Edwards said. “There are no stop lights. It’s a very big family. They’re very touchy-feely, very close. They attend each other’s birthdays. In the recruiting process they were looking for someone they could relate to and trust. Tim Fuller did a great job establishing a relationship over a six-month period that led into the recruitment. The Louisville staff also developed a relationship with his mother.

    “Once all of those guys left, to be fair to Louisville and themselves, they reopened the recruiting to allow Louisville’s new staff to see if they can establish this relationship.” Purvis and his family also have the opportunity to evaluate other options.

    One of those options could be Missouri, where Fuller landed.

    “I would say so because of the prior relationship,” Edwards said. “But once you get past the relationship and establishing that, there are other areas of interest to his family, the right fit for Rodney, playing style, the school, distance. They don’t mind him being far from home but it’s not going to be excessively far.”

    That, of course, could help local schools Duke and N.C. State. Edwards said North Carolina never offered.

    Duke commit Rasheed Sulaimon, a 6-3 shooting guard, has been busy recruiting Purvis to Duke.

    Purvis played with John Wall on the D-One AAU team when he was in the 7th and 8th grade. Edwards said Purvis has the potential to be a similar kind of talent.

    “I think he’s just scratching the surface of his basketball ability,” Edwards said. “I don’t like to compare him to anyone. He can be as good as Rodney Purvis wants to be.”

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    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.

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