On Saturday night (6:00 p.m.), Christian Bishop, the 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward from Lee's Summit, Mo., will announce his college decision. Coming off a season in which he averaged 11.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game at Creighton, Bishop, the No. 114 (four-star prospect) in the 2018 class, made the decision to transfer at the conclusion of the season.
After hearing from a number of big-time college basketball programs, Bishop is officially down to Kansas, Texas, and North Carolina. Now, I haven't really spent much time talking about this, but I've known Bishop and his family for a number of years.
Through mutual friends, I was introduced to Bishop and his family the summer going into his senior season. I can tell you with 100% certainty that he is a great, great, great kid and, without question, he comes from an amazing family. Jerry and Jen (mom and dad) have done a wonderful job raising all of their children and I've really enjoyed my talks with Christian.
So, early on Thursday night, I spent a few minutes talking to Christian about the next step in his recruitment. Obviously, he's down to Kansas, Texas, and North Carolina, and plans to make a decision on Saturday night.
I know many of you have been asking where things stand between Kansas and Christian, so I'm going to tell you how I feel and where I believe things stand. First, as I mentioned, Christian comes from an amazing family and they are very, very close. There's no doubt in my mind that being able to attend games the next few seasons will be very important to those close to Christian.
So, aside from the distance to North Carolina, did Christan and his family really get the opportunity to get a feel for Coach Hubert Davis and his staff? He hasn't been on the job very long at all, hasn't proven himself at this level, which isn't a knock, and it would be very difficult for the family to attend games on a regular basis. Again, just something to think about as decision day nears.
Now, Texas is obviously much closer and would allow the family the opportunity to drive to games, both home and away, on a number of occasions. Like I mentioned above, the family is very close and he has other siblings that, I'm guessing, want to see Christian play. There's no doubt in my mind that Coach Chris Beard is more than capable of coaching Bishop and getting everything he can out of the talented forward.
Texas, in my opinion, is right there with Bishop. I friend of mine that covers Texas told me that the Longhorns just received a commitment from a player similar to Bishop, but also said the staff is still very interested. Something to keep in mind.
Finally, the third and final school left standing is Kansas. Before Bishop committed to and signed with Creighton, I was told that he and his family were hoping that Kansas would get involved. At the time, the staff knew about Christian, but they were deep in the process of recruiting other kids. A few years later, Bishop is back on the market and has a scholarship offer in hand from Kansas.
This, folks, is as simple as I can put it: If the staff really wants Christian Bishop and makes that known, he'll commit to Kansas on Saturday. If they aren't sure at this time or are uncommitted or have decided to wait a little longer to see how things play out, Bishop will head elsewhere. For me, because of his size and length, I'd snatch him up now and see where things happen with other prospects down the line. Bishop had seven or more rebounds in 14 games last season.
I think that he's got a chance to be a really good player and, without any question at all, Self would get the most out of Bishop. If the staff wants him, he's there for the taking.
After hearing from a number of big-time college basketball programs, Bishop is officially down to Kansas, Texas, and North Carolina. Now, I haven't really spent much time talking about this, but I've known Bishop and his family for a number of years.
Through mutual friends, I was introduced to Bishop and his family the summer going into his senior season. I can tell you with 100% certainty that he is a great, great, great kid and, without question, he comes from an amazing family. Jerry and Jen (mom and dad) have done a wonderful job raising all of their children and I've really enjoyed my talks with Christian.
So, early on Thursday night, I spent a few minutes talking to Christian about the next step in his recruitment. Obviously, he's down to Kansas, Texas, and North Carolina, and plans to make a decision on Saturday night.
I know many of you have been asking where things stand between Kansas and Christian, so I'm going to tell you how I feel and where I believe things stand. First, as I mentioned, Christian comes from an amazing family and they are very, very close. There's no doubt in my mind that being able to attend games the next few seasons will be very important to those close to Christian.
So, aside from the distance to North Carolina, did Christan and his family really get the opportunity to get a feel for Coach Hubert Davis and his staff? He hasn't been on the job very long at all, hasn't proven himself at this level, which isn't a knock, and it would be very difficult for the family to attend games on a regular basis. Again, just something to think about as decision day nears.
Now, Texas is obviously much closer and would allow the family the opportunity to drive to games, both home and away, on a number of occasions. Like I mentioned above, the family is very close and he has other siblings that, I'm guessing, want to see Christian play. There's no doubt in my mind that Coach Chris Beard is more than capable of coaching Bishop and getting everything he can out of the talented forward.
Texas, in my opinion, is right there with Bishop. I friend of mine that covers Texas told me that the Longhorns just received a commitment from a player similar to Bishop, but also said the staff is still very interested. Something to keep in mind.
Finally, the third and final school left standing is Kansas. Before Bishop committed to and signed with Creighton, I was told that he and his family were hoping that Kansas would get involved. At the time, the staff knew about Christian, but they were deep in the process of recruiting other kids. A few years later, Bishop is back on the market and has a scholarship offer in hand from Kansas.
This, folks, is as simple as I can put it: If the staff really wants Christian Bishop and makes that known, he'll commit to Kansas on Saturday. If they aren't sure at this time or are uncommitted or have decided to wait a little longer to see how things play out, Bishop will head elsewhere. For me, because of his size and length, I'd snatch him up now and see where things happen with other prospects down the line. Bishop had seven or more rebounds in 14 games last season.
I think that he's got a chance to be a really good player and, without any question at all, Self would get the most out of Bishop. If the staff wants him, he's there for the taking.
