Covering University of Colorado sports, mostly basketball, since 2010

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Artis vs Wallace

Since this is a lazy Wednesday, and I have no shame, I'm going to steal a topic of discussion from AllBuffs.

The word on the street is that the CU basketball program, already boasting a recruiting class ranked by many in the current top-20, has its eyes set on at least one more top-100 caliber player.  This focus has fallen on two exciting point guards from, of course, California: Dominic Artis and Tyrone Wallace.

Ty Wallace has been a primary target for CU for quite some time now.  He's grabbed interest from a litany of West Coast basketball powers, including the likes of Gonzaga, UNLV, and most of the Pac-12.  He's a taller guard, coming in at 6-4, 185, and might develop into a 'tweener', which is not necessarily a bad thing.  He's currently ranked in the lower quarter of the top-100 by all the major services.

Dominic Artis, after originally committing to UCLA back in July, backed out earlier this month to re-open his recruiting.  According to @YungCoach from Buffscoop, CU jumped on the opportunity provided by his decommitment, and began recruiting him hard.  Artis is an electric point guard who has shot up close to the top-50 in many recruiting lists.  The 5-11 distributor from Richmond, CA is considered the best PG in the West and is garnering national interest, which is not surprising when you get a look at this tape:

Obviously, as a Buff Basketball junkie, I'm just happy CU is being considered by these kids.  It's not every year that CU lands a top-level hoops prospect, let alone a possible trio of top-100 players.  I'd be beyond ecstatic if Coach Boyle was able to land either of these guards to round out the class.

That said, I'll take a stab at guessing what will happen. The depressing possibility remains that neither could end up in black and gold, but I'll work under the assumption that Coach Boyle will be able to cap off his already sterling 2012 recruiting class with one of these two outstanding point guards.  Artis looks like a phenomenal talent, but I don't see us being able to swoop in and land him; just too late in the game.  My best guess is that CU will be able to lock-in Ty Wallace.  Not only has CU been in on Wallace longer, but Ty is still scheduled to visit CU (his last scheduled visit) on October 23rd, just two weeks before NLI-day.

The addition of Wallace should be enough to solidify CU's status in the final top-25 recruiting classes, and send shock waves through basketball circles on the west coast.  This program is announcing its presence with authority; you're on notice, Pac-12.

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