Wake Forest Basketball Recruiting: Mid-Week Evaluation Period Update

The highly-anticipated first evaluation period of July is officially here and we're now starting to get a better look at who the staff is prioritizing for the 2018 class. Nike's Peach Jam started on Wednesday with some of the best teams from across the nation battling it out in the group stages. Meanwhile, Adidas' Gauntlet Finale tipped off in Spartanburg with plenty of big time recruits and coaches in the building. As I've said before in previous recruiting updates, most of Wake's 2018 prospects are on the Nike tour this year, so the majority of the staff's time will likely be spent in Atlanta this week. Before we dive into any stats, let's take a look at the updated 2018 Big Board and who the top targets are two weeks into July. You'll notice a couple of changes and some new names, particularly one that was offered just last night.

OFFICIAL 2018 WAKE FOREST BASKETBALL BIG BOARD

You can see there's now grey highlighting on the board to showcase "Medium Vibes" prospects. I wanted to distinguish between top targets that I feel as though could commit at any moment (High Vibes) vs. top targets who may be further away from a decision or need to schedule a visit at some point. Since this spreadsheet was created, there have never been as many 2018 prospects who I think could potentially wear the black and gold as I do right now. And that's what makes these next couple of weeks really exciting from a fan's perspective.

Two names to keep an eye out for are fellow Canadiens Jaelin Llewellyn and Tyrese Samuel. Llewellyn is a 6'3 PG that Wake offered back in January 2016 and the staff has scouted numerous times over the last 18 months. His father actually played at Wake Forest briefly before transferring to Rhode Island to finish out his college career in the mid-1990's. All reports are that his recruitment is very open and I wouldn't be surprised to see him on campus once again after the evaluation periods.

Tyrese Samuel is a 6'8 PF who plays for UPlay Canada on the Nike Tour and in Maryland for HS ball. He's one of the more recent additions to the big board, picking up an offer from Danny Manning in May 2017 after some solid performances on the AAU circuit. A visit later this summer was rumored for the high-energy big man, and it will be exciting to see if it comes to fruition. His other High-Major offers include Wichita State, Kansas State, Virginia Tech, and SMU.

One final new name is 6'11 2018 PF Nate Roberts out of Brewster Academy. If the high school sounds familiar, it's because 4* SF target Isaiah Mucius just announced he's taking his talents to New Hampshire to play his senior season there. ESPN pegs Roberts as a 4* recruit, while Scout, Rivals, and 247 all have him listed as a mid-3*. Syracuse was after him very hard this spring and was the clear leader back in March, but his recruitment has now picked up with UConn, Cincy, and St. Johns all joining the race. Syracuse blogs, analysts, and social media fanatics seem fairly confident they are going to get him at this point, but the longer the recruitment drags out, the better chance Wake can get a visit and at least a shot at the northeast product.

Notable AAU Stats Through Thursday:

Jaylen Hoard (Team CP3, Nike)

12.0 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.7 APG through 3 games (0-3)

Isaiah Mucius (PSA Cardinals, Nike)

12.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 73% FT through 3 games (2-1)

Jarvis Thomas (Howard Pulley, Nike)

4.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.7 BPG through 3 games (2-1)

Nate Laszewski (New England Playaz, Adidas)

8.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2-5 from 3PT through 1 game (1-0)

Highlight of the Day:

3* PF target Jarvis Thomas shows some ridiculous athleticism with this slam. If you ended up watching this video 10x in a row before even reading this sentence you are not alone...

Thanks for checking in for this mid-week evaluation period update. Be sure to follow me on Twitter @DeacFan3 for news and statistics throughout the weekend. Les from Scout is also in Spartanburg Friday and Saturday for the Adidas Gauntlet Finale and will be providing live updates from his time there as well. Lastly, after phenomenal support for Episode #1, the BSD Recruit Report Podcast will return 7/23 to talk about all things Wake Forest recruiting as we head into a critical part of the 2018 cycle. Thanks so much for reading and see you all next time!