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2017 small forward Kris Wilkes made headlines on Sunday when the North Central High School hooper announced the final five schools that he will be deciding between when he eventually elects his school of choice.
The Xavier Musketeers received good news in the midst of that decision as they remain in the thick of it for the second-best player in the state of Indiana via 247Sports’ recruiting rankings behind Brian Bowen of the La Lumiere School.
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More from our Xavier site
Among those in the crop of schools that Wilkes will be choosing from alongside Xavier are Illinois, Indiana, UCLA and UConn. He previously had Butler in the group of 11 schools that he was considering and per an article penned by the Indianapolis Star’s Gregg Doyel, the Bulldogs were the toughest cut that the elite prospect had to make.
It goes without saying that if Xavier were to land Wilkes it would be a major move for a program that is already near the top of the recruiting rankings in the Big East in 2017. At the moment they’re looking up at the Creighton Bluejays who have made plenty of waves in the recruiting realm lately but getting a player of Wilkes’ caliber would be a power move for Chris Mack and his staff. The Musketeers are also in on Paul Scruggs who just so happens to have a close relationship as they are teammates on the Indy Hoosiers.
Per 247Sports, Wilkes had a visit from Chris Mack all the way back on March 1. You’d have to think that Wilkes will eventually set up an official visit to the Xavier campus in the very near future. Indications appear to suggest that it will be a two-horse race between the Musketeers and the Indiana Hoosiers for Wilkes. It’s not the first nor the last time that Xavier will have to get into a recruiting battle with a blue blood of college basketball and given the gravity of what this would mean for the Xavier program, this will certainly be one to watch in the near future.