After a nice stretch earlier this month where the UConn men's team landed two big-time recruits -- DeAndre Daniels for the upcoming season and a commitment from Omar Calhoun for 2012 -- it looks like the Huskies can take a name off their list of prized recruits …for the time being, anyway.
Andre Drummond is considered the top player in the 2012 class, but there was a slight chance that he might graduate early and be eligible to play on the collegiate level in 2011.
In April we first discussed Drummond. The Hartford Courant's Mike Anthony wrote at the time that, "UConn is the only team [pursing Drummond right now]. Then again, every team wants, or will want, Drummond, who is still not yet through his sophomore year at St. Thomas More. He's the top-rated player in the class of 2012 and surely a one-and-done, probably the first overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft."
As for the possibility that Drummond might graduate high school in time for the 2011 season -- it was a long shot in April and according to ESPN's Andy Katz, it's definitely not happening now.
"The speculation about whether 6-foot-10 Andre Drummond, the No. 1 player in 2012 (currently at St. Thomas More School in Middletown, Conn.), could end up playing in the fall at UConn is over," Katz wrote Monday. "It's not happening. According to Drummond's representatives, including his mother, he will not be in college this fall but will instead go for a post-graduate year. That plan is St. Thomas More for now. There had been plenty of chatter about the possibility that Drummond could be ready for the Huskies in the fall, but that point is moot. He hasn't committed to UConn, either."
Which means, as Anthony predicted, that just about every big-time program in the country has now entered the Drummond sweepstakes. Katz notes that Drummond's "a serious player for Kentucky, North Carolina and Florida. And according to ESPN's recruiting site, he's still considering Pitt, Georgetown and Duke. Drummond will likely be shadowed by the aforementioned schools' head coaches at various stops in July."
With the addition of Daniels and Omar Calhoun, Drummond isn't as critical to the Huskies' success as he may have been only a few months ago. That said, you never want to lose out on the best player in the country, and we suspect coach Jim Calhoun will only ramp up his recruiting efforts. You know, assuming he doesn't retire.
