Five-star forward Daimion Collins breaks down his recruitment with KSR
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Photo: 247Sports/Collin Kennedy[/caption]
[Ed. Note: Daimion Collins picked Kentucky minutes ago, so we're resharing Jack Pilgrim's interview with him from earlier this month. Enjoy!]
2021 five-star forward Daimion Collins is considered one of the best defenders and explosive athletes in all of high school basketball, leading to serious interest from dozens of blue blood and high-major programs throughout the nation, including Kentucky.
Offering on Aug. 26 and remaining in constant communication since then, UK joins Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech and Kansas on Collins' final list, with a decision expected in the not-so-distant future.
What do you need to know about the Kentucky target's game? Where do things stand regarding a decision? How often is the UK coaching staff in contact?
The five-star forward joined KSR's Sources Say Podcast this week to break it all down.
What was it like to earn an offer from Kentucky? What level of contact has the staff had with you since then? It felt really good being able to get an offer from a really big basketball school like that. It's a basketball player's dream to be able to be recruited by big schools, blue blood schools. It was really exciting. Mostly I've been talking to Coach Justus, he's my main recruiter. And, you know Ive been talking to Coach Lucas sometimes, and I talk to Coach Cal a lot too. They've been recruiting me pretty hard ever since they offered me. How close are you to Jai Lucas? How often do you guys talk? Me and Coach Lucas, we were close. He was my main recruiter at Texas. Him moving to Kentucky didn't really change nothing for us, we're still going to be close regardless because of the relationship we've built with each other. What is Kentucky's pitch to you? Coach Cal tells me he'd use me how he used Anthony Davis. He said I remind him a lot of Anthony and that I'd be able to do a lot of the things he's doing now. When I come there, the development, he says he'll be able to develop me. How crazy is it that your coach compared you to Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant? I mean, I kind of think I play like them too. I can shoot the ball, dribble, make plays, stuff like that. But I can also get down low like Anthony, score the ball too. I think I'm a mixture of them too, pretty much. What is it like seeing all the former Kentucky players in the NBA bubble, especially in the Finals? That shows me how Coach Cal can develop players and get them to where they need to be, to go to the next level. It's been pretty good to be able to see them on TV because it lets me know what I need to know. Your good friends Bijan Cortes and CJ Norland are committed to Oklahoma. How much does that impact your decision? Are they recruiting you hard to Norman? They recruit me to Norman, but when we talk, we don't talk about college. We just hang out, have fun. We don't talk about college a lot. They do try to get me to come there, but I have to do what's best for me. Coach Boston says you're a "good ole country boy." What does that mean? I have horses and stuff like that. I don't stay on a ranch or anything, I just have horses pretty much. Yeah [I fit on them], I've got some pretty big horses. I've been riding horses since I was two years old, so I've been around it for a long time. My older cousins and grandparents and stuff, they have horses. I was born into it. I go on trail rides. I've been to a few rodeos, but I don't go all the time like that. You're ranked as high as No. 10 in the country, listed as a consensus top-25 prospect. Do you agree with your ranking? Where would you put yourself? I really don't pay attention to the rankings and stuff like that. I try to stay humble and keep working hard. Rankings are all opinion, pretty much. I'm just going to stay humble and keep working hard for whatever comes my way. I asked your coach what he would do if he had to coach against you for a night, and he said all he could do was pray really hard before bed the night before. Added that no one in your area can stop you or slow you down. What do you think about that? I mean, I think it's pretty true. I'm not trying to be cocky or nothing, but I haven't been guarded around here yet. He also said you're going to be working toward averaging a triple-double this year with 10-plus blocks per game. Is that a goal of yours? Yes sir, that's a goal of mine. I think I'll be able to do that. What are your updated measurements? I haven't been weighed recently, but I know I'm 6'10'' right now. I think I'm between 190 pounds, 200, something like that. I have a 7'5'' wingspan, I do know that. Where do things stand with your decision timeline? Are you thinking about committing in the early signing period? The process isn't too bad. I was going to wait to see if we would be able to take visits, but after I heard that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, I figured it was time for me to sit down and start thinking about a commitment more. Yeah we're thinking about committing [in the early signing period] a little bit, but we're not for sure yet. What will be the biggest deciding factor for in your recruitment? The biggest thing is going somewhere where I can fit in, somewhere I think I can develop. I want to go somewhere where I can develop a lot, get to where I need to be. What is the key reason why fans should be excited about your potential commitment? I'm going to give it all I've got every time I'm on the court. That's the main thing, I'm going to give it all I've got.
For the entire episode of the Sources Say Podcast, you can watch below: https://youtu.be/DOwbpEVg3Z4
Photo: 247Sports/Collin Kennedy[/caption]
[Ed. Note: Daimion Collins picked Kentucky minutes ago, so we're resharing Jack Pilgrim's interview with him from earlier this month. Enjoy!]
2021 five-star forward Daimion Collins is considered one of the best defenders and explosive athletes in all of high school basketball, leading to serious interest from dozens of blue blood and high-major programs throughout the nation, including Kentucky.
Offering on Aug. 26 and remaining in constant communication since then, UK joins Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech and Kansas on Collins' final list, with a decision expected in the not-so-distant future.
What do you need to know about the Kentucky target's game? Where do things stand regarding a decision? How often is the UK coaching staff in contact?
The five-star forward joined KSR's Sources Say Podcast this week to break it all down.
What was it like to earn an offer from Kentucky? What level of contact has the staff had with you since then? It felt really good being able to get an offer from a really big basketball school like that. It's a basketball player's dream to be able to be recruited by big schools, blue blood schools. It was really exciting. Mostly I've been talking to Coach Justus, he's my main recruiter. And, you know Ive been talking to Coach Lucas sometimes, and I talk to Coach Cal a lot too. They've been recruiting me pretty hard ever since they offered me. How close are you to Jai Lucas? How often do you guys talk? Me and Coach Lucas, we were close. He was my main recruiter at Texas. Him moving to Kentucky didn't really change nothing for us, we're still going to be close regardless because of the relationship we've built with each other. What is Kentucky's pitch to you? Coach Cal tells me he'd use me how he used Anthony Davis. He said I remind him a lot of Anthony and that I'd be able to do a lot of the things he's doing now. When I come there, the development, he says he'll be able to develop me. How crazy is it that your coach compared you to Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant? I mean, I kind of think I play like them too. I can shoot the ball, dribble, make plays, stuff like that. But I can also get down low like Anthony, score the ball too. I think I'm a mixture of them too, pretty much. What is it like seeing all the former Kentucky players in the NBA bubble, especially in the Finals? That shows me how Coach Cal can develop players and get them to where they need to be, to go to the next level. It's been pretty good to be able to see them on TV because it lets me know what I need to know. Your good friends Bijan Cortes and CJ Norland are committed to Oklahoma. How much does that impact your decision? Are they recruiting you hard to Norman? They recruit me to Norman, but when we talk, we don't talk about college. We just hang out, have fun. We don't talk about college a lot. They do try to get me to come there, but I have to do what's best for me. Coach Boston says you're a "good ole country boy." What does that mean? I have horses and stuff like that. I don't stay on a ranch or anything, I just have horses pretty much. Yeah [I fit on them], I've got some pretty big horses. I've been riding horses since I was two years old, so I've been around it for a long time. My older cousins and grandparents and stuff, they have horses. I was born into it. I go on trail rides. I've been to a few rodeos, but I don't go all the time like that. You're ranked as high as No. 10 in the country, listed as a consensus top-25 prospect. Do you agree with your ranking? Where would you put yourself? I really don't pay attention to the rankings and stuff like that. I try to stay humble and keep working hard. Rankings are all opinion, pretty much. I'm just going to stay humble and keep working hard for whatever comes my way. I asked your coach what he would do if he had to coach against you for a night, and he said all he could do was pray really hard before bed the night before. Added that no one in your area can stop you or slow you down. What do you think about that? I mean, I think it's pretty true. I'm not trying to be cocky or nothing, but I haven't been guarded around here yet. He also said you're going to be working toward averaging a triple-double this year with 10-plus blocks per game. Is that a goal of yours? Yes sir, that's a goal of mine. I think I'll be able to do that. What are your updated measurements? I haven't been weighed recently, but I know I'm 6'10'' right now. I think I'm between 190 pounds, 200, something like that. I have a 7'5'' wingspan, I do know that. Where do things stand with your decision timeline? Are you thinking about committing in the early signing period? The process isn't too bad. I was going to wait to see if we would be able to take visits, but after I heard that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, I figured it was time for me to sit down and start thinking about a commitment more. Yeah we're thinking about committing [in the early signing period] a little bit, but we're not for sure yet. What will be the biggest deciding factor for in your recruitment? The biggest thing is going somewhere where I can fit in, somewhere I think I can develop. I want to go somewhere where I can develop a lot, get to where I need to be. What is the key reason why fans should be excited about your potential commitment? I'm going to give it all I've got every time I'm on the court. That's the main thing, I'm going to give it all I've got.
For the entire episode of the Sources Say Podcast, you can watch below: https://youtu.be/DOwbpEVg3Z4
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