Kevin Jairaj-US PRESSWIRE
When the Miami Heat brought in Chris Bosh and LeBron James to team up in South Beach, basketball fans knew the significance of the big decision because it took the Heat out of mediocrity and into the forefront of the championship picture before the season had even started.
We may be seeing something similar in college basketball with the recruitment of Andrew and Aaron Harrison.
Reggie Rankin of ESPN.com has reported that there will be a meeting this Saturday in which the Harrison family will rank the schools for the recruitment of the twins. The stakes of this one decision are immense because it could change the landscape of college recruitment more than any other.
This is because Aaron and Andrew will attend the same school and, as a result, represent an even bigger commitment than even Jabari Parker in the class of 2013 or Andrew Wiggins in 2014.
The schools in the running to hit the lottery are SMU, Maryland, Kentucky, Villanova and Baylor. Whichever one of these schools gets the commitment from the twins will vault themselves into the national Championship picture from day one.
The program that has the most on the line is Southern Methodist. I recently wrote an article on SMU and how the program may soon reach national prominence because of Head Coach Larry Brown. If the Mustangs can wrangle in the Harrison Twins, it will mark one of the most dramatic turnarounds of a program in recent history. This one decision can vault a team that went 4-12 in Conference USA into a national contender.
If the twins decide to commit to Maryland, Mark Turgeon will suddenly have Maryland back atop the ACC. If they decide to go to Villanova, the Wildcats can put a recent disappointing stretch behind them. If the Baylor Bears get the Harrison twins they will immediately become national championship contenders because of their commitments in the frontcourt from the 2012 class.
Let’s be honest, Kentucky will probably be fine even without the Harrison twins. However, the loaded backcourt Andrew and Aaron will provide will likely put Kentucky right back to the top of everyone’s preseason polls for the 2013-14 season.
Boy, I would like to be a fly on the wall of the Harrison family home on Saturday because, of all the developments that have taken place this offseason, whatever happens in that meeting Saturday may be the most important.
