This is about to be a long post, but before I get into it can a mod please remove the '?' in the title of this thread. I know when it was originally created when we were wondering who this guy was but it just bothers me for no real reason. Anyway I thought I'd put together a quick summary of schools in contention.
Michigan State: Illinois' Mr. Basketball recipient Mark Smith is giving the Spartans a very close look likely
visiting East Lansing before a potential April 12th decision. If Smith goes there, my guess is Blake Harris no longer considers MSU due to playing time with how many guards would be on the roster.
247 has it at 100% Smith goes to Michigan State.
Mizzou: I think the only appeal here is Harris' former fellow UW commit Michael Porter Jr. is going to Mizzou. Others have noted that he retweeted some Mizzou stuff including
this tweet about Porter Jr., Knox, and Harris going to Mizzou. Problem is,
it doesn't seem likely Knox is going to Mizzou, really he'd be going just to play with Porter Jr. for one year. Maybe things change with the decommitment of Jeremiah Tilmon from Illinois but that's where things are now.
NC State: Harris is from Chapel Hill, NC and plays ball now at an Academy that might as well be the equivalent of UConn's EO Smith in terms of proximity. They are going through a bit of turmoil as a program after Gottfried was fired last season; new coach Kevin Keats is trying to right the ship with a roster next year without Dennis Smith Jr. declaring for the draft,
Terry Henderson may or may not come back who knows, but also a commit from
PG Lavar Batts ranked similarly to Harris on 247. So assuming you still have Henderson/Batts already on the team next year plus Mark Rowan on the wing there would be some playing time there for Harris plus being near home & playing in the ACC.
Rutgers: On the Banks gives a quick background on their situation, but as far as I can tell they already have Corey Sanders running the point and a couple other guards who got decent minutes none of which are graduating. I'm sure Harris could crack a lineup that went 3-15 in conference play, but hard to say how playing time will work out there.
UConn: We obviously all know about Raphael Chillious and he is likely to be the focal point of him committing to UConn based on their previous relationship -
"he is said to have close ties with UW assistant Raphael Chillious." It probably doesn't also hurt that UConn is Point Guard U and that while big men in recent years is a separate debate, point guards thrive under Kevin Ollie. The big question will be whether or not he is OK playing behind Adams/Gilbert/Vital. How many minutes that would translate for Harris his freshman year? I don't know, but of all of these schools UConn has the best track record with point guards (Kemba/Bazz/Boat/Adams) and the best relationship with Chillious.
No inside information here, but I'm guessing based on my research it will come down to whether or not he wants to:
A) Stay at home (NC State)
B) Guaranteed playing time (Missouri/Rutgers/NC State)
C) Point Guard Development (UConn and I guess Michigan State)
D) Relationships (UConn with Chill, Missouri with Porter Jr.)
REMINDER: Key dates for Harris
Mizzou Visit - April 8-9
Michigan State Visit - April 13-14 (after potential Mark Smith decision)
UConn Visit - April 18-19
Rutgers Visit - April 21-22
NC State (already visited March 22)