Michael Beasley is a 6’8 forward that can play the wing or the post
and is undoubtedly one of the five best high school players in this year’s senior class. Some recruiting services rank Beasley as the best prospect of the lot. Just last week he laid claim to some pretty significant hardware when he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the annual McDonald’s All-America game.
Why are talking about Michael Beasley today?
(1) This article from a Kansas newspaper from earlier this morning helps set the stage for you:
While Kansas State has shored up its next men’s basketball coach with the promotion of Frank Martin, the same cannot yet be said about its No. 1-ranked recruiting class.
Late Friday K-State announced that Martin, along with fellow Bob Huggins former assistant coach Dalonte Hill would both be promoted, but there is still some uncertainty in the future of top recruit Michael Beasley.
In fact, Beasley has seemed to go back-and-forth on his decision to fulfill his commitment to the Wildcats.
In Saturday’s Memphis Commercial Appeal, Beasley was quoted saying that wants out of his national letter of intent to K-State and that he wants to weigh his options again, while still leaving the Cats as a possible destination.
“I hope that they let me leave,” he said. “I haven’t brought it to their attention yet, but hopefully I can get a release. I’m not saying I’m not going to end up at Kansas State. It’s just I don’t want to go there and there be a coach I’m not getting along with, you know? Or I don’t fit his style of play. That’s not saying I’m not going to Kansas State. It’s just opening up my options.”
But during the Nike Hoop Summit game Saturday afternoon in Memphis, Beasley told a Fox Sports reporter that he would be going to K-State after all. However, he did say he would like to visit with Martin.
Beasley told the Commercial Appeal that he might have interest in the Memphis Tigers, Texas, or even joining Huggins at West Virginia.
Add those to a list of other schools that fellow KSU commit Dominique Sutton told The Mercury on Thursday have already expressed interest in the coveted 6-foot-10 forward. Sutton told The Mercury that N.C. State, Florida State and USC have already shown interest in the pair.
However, now the “package deal” Sutton spoke of Thursday night appears to be off, saying he will attend K-State, whether Beasley does or not.
“We always talked about going to the same college and that’s what we planned on, but with Huggins leaving, we didn’t think that would be K-State,” Sutton said. “Now though, I feel a lot more comfortable with things up there and I will be there. Mikey, I don’t know if he is planning on going still or not.
“That’s up to him.”
Repeated attempts to reach Beasley by phone were unsuccessful.
(2) On Sunday afternoon, CNNSI ran this article that was updated at 2am in the morning and included the following:
After producing eight points (3-for-15 from the floor) and nine rebounds in the Nike Hoop Summit on Saturday in Memphis, Beasley told SI.com that he was leaning toward seeking a release from his letter of intent so he could play at the University of Memphis.
But that view changed Sunday. “I’m committed to the school, not to the coach,” Beasley said. “I’m committed to the school, and I gave my word that I would play for Kansas State.”
Beasley’s mother, Fatima Smith told The Topeka Capital-Journal and The Kansas City Star that her son would honor the national letter of intent he signed with the Wildcats in November.
“The drama is over,” she said. “Yes, Michael will be there [at K-State] for the next school year.”
(3) ESPN hasn’t updated its Beasley article since Saturday, but he certainly doesn’t sound signed, sealed, and delivered to Little Manhattan:
Beasley said his phone hasn’t stopped ringing since the news broke, and that he has formalized an early list of schools that could be a good fit for him if released from Kansas State.
“I’m really thinking about Memphis right now. NC State and Florida State, too,” he said.
SFN Comments
This “Beasley talk” started late last week. We felt that a lot of change was going to happen in a short amount of time, so we chose to wait a bit before putting any of this on the blog. The fantastic Section Six followed the iterations of the story since Thursday (4/5). You can click here and scroll down and follow some of the entries from Wolfpack interested in K-State recruits? => K-State Saga => Beasley Sticks With KSU => Or Not.
We don’t anything about any recent connections between anyone related to Beasley and NC State. Back in the fall, we were very pleased to learn that both Beasley and OJ Mayo had contacted NC State to have some discussions with the program. Once Letters of Intent were signed it was obvious that the conversations had not led to any surprise commitments.
Situations like these (K-State’s coaching change) are a perfect example of WHY you talk with kids and plant as many ‘seeds’ as you can. You never know when they may bloom. If Michael Beasley were to commit to NC State, the Wolfpack’s program would feel A LOT of impacts – one of which would be immediate improvement on the court and one of which would be a loud and clear message to the nation and to future highly rated recruits that RALEIGH is a PLACE TO BE!
