Wake Forest Basketball Recruiting: Jermaine Haley

Many people do not know about Jermaine Haley, but he is quickly becoming a well-known name for a lot of college coaches. The Canadian point guard has impressed coaches with his skill, work ethic and size. Danny Manning was clearly impressed by many of the same attributes, leading Jermaine Haley to be one of his first 2016 offers at Wake Forest. Haley has good genes, as his father, Jermaine Haley Sr played in the NFL. He has received dozens of offers, despite the lack of knowledge on Haley by common fans. The lack of publicity has not deterred Haley, as he continues to improve his game, letting his skill do the talking. As more and more offers come, Haley will become a common name, and will soon be a prominent figure in college basketball.

Growing up in Canada, Haley was a part of the Drive Basketball Academy with Coach Pasha Bains. Through the program, Haley has played AAU basketball on some of the highest levels in Canada. Bains has coached Haley for years and helped give Blogger So Dear insight into Haley's game and recruiting.

At 6'7", Jermaine Haley has elite size at the point guard position. Pasha Bains told Blogger So Dear, "He can play any of the three perimeter positions but he is best when the ball is in his hands where he can make plays for himself or others. Even if he isn't the "point guard," he will still play like a point forward/swing, but he plays point guard for us."

This combination of size and skill is unique at the point guard spot and very few players can replicate it. This led Boise State coach Leon Rice to compare Haley's game to NBA Draft prospect Dante Exum, per Bains. Haley is not on Exum's level yet, but could provide a college team a similar level of scoring, ball handling, athleticism and playmaking that Exum is expected to provide at the NBA level.

With so many offers, Pasha Bains was unable to list all of the teams that offered his star guard. He gave us a list of notables though and it is a very impressive list; Washington, Gonzaga, Memphis, Ohio State, Louisville, Wake Forest, Washington State and Oregon.

Wake Forest being one of Haley's notable offers is definitely a good sign for their recruiting. On Wake Forest, Bains commented "I haven't spoken to anyone directly yet [at Wake Forest] but my assistant spoke with Danny Manning. They have shown a lot of interest but not as much as other schools that have offered." After the initial interview, Bains later informed Blogger So Dear that Wake Forest reached out to Haley on Saturday, the first day that coaches could call 2016 recruits. This could be a sign of increased recruiting from Wake Forest and Danny Manning, and could help them eventually land Haley.

Pasha Bains also talked with us about the possibility of Jermaine Haley visiting Wake Forest in the future. "Haley has expressed excitement about the ACC so I could see that happening. I played in the ACC [Clemson] and he has said that's something he's thought about." Other ACC teams who have offered Haley are Louisville and Virginia Tech, with interest from Clemson and North Carolina.

Visits will be hard to come by for Haley, as he lives so far away from many of the schools who are recruiting him. The only visit he has taken was an unofficial visit to Washington, and will likely only be able to take unofficial visits to schools in the Pacific Northwest. That leaves five official visits, which Wake Forest will have to vie for to get Haley on campus.

As of right now, Haley has no plans for when he will make his decision. "Not at the moment. Haley is just soaking it in and trying to build relationship with the coaches" per Bains. Haley plans on playing his high school basketball in Spain next fall, for a high level basketball academy Canaris. His game will continue to grow, as will his interest from college coaches and fans. Haley has been under the radar for most of his basketball life but he will be in the spotlight very soon. Danny Manning and Wake Forest will try to the team that helps him enter the spotlight and benefits from his success, but they will have serious competition.

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