Top Class of 2022 recruits make plans for official visits

There is no slower month for high school players and college basketball recruiting than August. But in the background, particularly for the senior class, is the navigation of the official visits.

College coaches are jockeying for position, whether the visit date is to their benefit or they’re simply trying to secure one of a prospect’s five official visits.

Long offer lists and longstanding interest in a player are quickly filtered and narrowed with players locking in official visit dates.

Here is an update on a few of the top prospects in the state and their up-to-date visit plans with more still to be determined in many cases.

Jaden Schutt to visit Duke next week, Florida in September

Duke and coach-in-waiting Jon Scheyer will get one of the nation’s top shooters for an official visit when Yorkville Christian’s Jaden Schutt heads there next weekend. In addition to the Aug. 27-29 visit to Duke, Schutt has set another one up at Florida for the weekend of Sept. 17-19.

Schutt, who is among the state’s top prospects, took an official visit to Michigan State in June.

He hopes to make a college decision sometime in September.

Braden Huff with three visits set, lining up others

Glenbard West’s Braden Huff is a wanted man. With so many high-major options, Huff has three visits set up and is trying to narrow down where else he will go for any other official this fall.

The multi-faceted 6-10 forward will officially visit Virginia Tech for the second time. Huff took a trip to Blacksburg in June and will return the first weekend of September.

Coach Mike Young and his staff have been all in on Huff for quite some time and have built a relationship that earned the Hokies a second official visit to the ACC school.

Huff will also head to Gonzaga’s Kraziness in the Kennel in early October, which has become a huge recruiting visit for the program in recent years. Coach Mark Few and assistant coach Roger Powell have turned up their interest after watching Huff this summer.

Huff just recently settled on a visit date with Wisconsin, where he will get to Madison the last weekend in October.

Other potential visits are still in the works as Huff tries to narrow down his list of suitors. He took an unofficial visit to Michigan State in early August and still has a lengthy list of other Big Ten possibilities, including Illinois, Northwestern and Iowa.

Lyons’ Tavari Johnson sets four official visits

Tavari Johnson, who was once a hidden gem in the state as recently as four months ago, has been heavily courted since. Johnson, one of the City/Suburban Hoops Report’s top 10 prospects in the senior class, is now a must-have mid-major recruit.

The Lyons point guard picked up double-digit offers and has set four official visits: Akron (Aug. 26-28), Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Sept. 10-12), Bowling Green (Sept. 17-19) and Toledo (Sept. 24-26).

Ben VanderWal begins official visits this weekend

After being a red-hot name throughout the summer, Timothy Christian’s Ben VanderWal was staring at over a dozen offers when the dust settled in July. There is a definite blend of basketball and academics among the schools he will be visiting in coming weeks.

The 6-6 forward will start a hectic few weeks with an official visit to Bucknell this weekend. He will follow that up with trips to Furman (Aug. 27-29), William & Mary (Sept. 10-12) and Yale (Sept. 17-19) for official visits.

New Trier’s Jackson Munro wraps up busy week

New Trier’s Jackson Munro has seen his recruitment soar over the past two months after being completely off the radar. Thus, he’s playing a little catch-up in terms of getting as familiar with programs and coaching staffs as he possibly can in a short amount of time.

The 6-8 big man spent this past week taking three unofficial visits. He spent time at Lipscomb, Northeastern and Brown this past week as he determines where to head for official visits.

Bucknell will get an official visit Sep. 19-20 while both Evansville and Toledo will continue to be involved.

Trio of visits for Oak Park’s Justin Mullins

Justin Mullins emerged during Oak Park’s shortened season and gained more steam while playing with Young & Reckless this past summer. The 6-4 guard established himself as a legit Division I prospect and has set up three official visits.

The versatile Mullins will visit Mount St. Mary’s at the end of this month. He will then take visits to Brown (Sept. 10-12) and Denver (Sept. 17-19).

Robbie Avila update

Oak Forest’s Robbie Avila has been one of the more productive players over the past three years in the state. Now he’s zeroing in on his recruitment and visits with one official lined up at Northern Iowa the first weekend in October. He says he’s also working on a date with Appalachian State.