re: tOfficial LSU 2015/2016/2017 Basketball Recruiting Thread

Antonio Blakeney sat down with Scout at the National High School Hoops Festival in Hyattsville, Md. to discuss the latest in his college recruitment.
Where do things stand with your recruiting process?
“I basically have taken all of my visits. I only have one more visit. So right now I’m just watching teams and watching every team that is recruiting me and seeing how the coaches coach their players and how they use the players at my position.”

Do you think you will take that last visit?
“I’m not 100-percent sure, but to be honest with you it’s 50-50.”

Who is up for the last visit?
“N.C. State and North Carolina.”

What’s North Carolina’s interest been like?
“They are very interested. They are basically saying they really lack shooting. I could come in and play right away and be the shooter that they need.”

“They’ve been trying to get me on campus January 10th and N.C. State has been trying to get me on campus January 10th. If I do it, it’ll be one of those and that’ll be it. I really just need to talk to my mom and coach Reese and figure out what I’m doing.”

What sticks out to you about North Carolina State
“I like how they developed their guards in the past and let there players play and coach Gottfried is a great coach.”

You took a visit to Missouri, what do you like the Tigers?
“What I like about Missouri is the atmosphere and the family atmosphere and stuff like that. They need somebody to come change their program around. That’ll be somewhere I can go and really play and play through my mistakes.”

Kentucky has been recruiting for quite some time and you’ve taken a visit there, what sticks out about the Wildcats?
“He’s had 19 pros in the last five years and honestly I don’t know nobody that has went there and was supposed to be a pro and wasn’t. The only person is Ryan Harrow and he transferred. This year he may get eight guys to the league and that’s the ultimate goal for everybody so that’s what I like about them.”

Kentucky picked up a commitment from Isaiah Briscoe, does that impact your recruiting positively, negatively or any way at all?
“It doesn’t really matter to me. If anything I worry about the guys that are coming back, not the guys that are coming in with me.”

What about LSU is intriguing to you?
“It’s kind of like Missouri. They need someone to come in and change it around. They already have Ben [Simmons], who I’ve played with. Me and him could really do damage, that’s what I like about that.”

I know you played AAU with Ben Simmons and you two are friends, has he been trying to recruit you to LSU?
“Everyday. Basically he tells me I got to come play with him. That’s all we talk about, I guess that’s not all we talk about but every time I see him he says I need to go play with him.”

Do you a timetable on making your college choice?
“I don’t know. I really don’t know. I kind of want to do it late, but my mom may want me to get it over with. I think I’m going to talk to her after City of Palms and figure it out.”