Eli Boettger | @boettger_eli | 04/13/20
Welcome back to Three Things!
The intention of Three Things is simple: Keeping you informed. The offseason can be a busy time and college basketball isn’t always on everyone’s radars from April to October.
Here’s how it will work: Every morning, Monday through Friday, we will provide you with three things that you need to know from the previous day. Pretty simple, right? You’ll be amazed by your new college basketball wisdom!
Here are the three things you need to know for April 13.
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Ziaire Williams commits
The long-awaited decision for consensus five-star recruit Ziaire Williams came Sunday. Williams, the nation’s top-ranked small forward, chose Stanford over USC, Arizona, North Carolina and others. The Chatsworth, Calif., native is Stanford’s highest-rated commit in modern history. Williams, who measures at 6-7/175, can play and defend either of the forward positions and knock down spot-up jumpers.
With Williams now on board, Stanford has the firepower for a special ’20-21 campaign. If Tyrell Terry holds off on going pro, the Cardinal will have each of this past season’s five starters back on campus in addition to one of the best freshmen in the country. Stanford won 20 games and finished seventh in the Pac-12 in Jerod Haase‘s fourth year as head coach.
Amauri Hardy picks new school
Just north of Stanford, another big splash was made on Sunday. Oregon solidified its ’20-21 backcourt with the addition of UNLV grad transfer Amauri Hardy. The 6-2 point guard started 30 games this past season for the Runnin’ Rebels, averaging 14.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists while chipping in a pair of 3-pointers per game.
Hardy will be the heir apparent to Payton Pritchard, the Pac-12 player of the year. He is set to join another deep Oregon roster that features a pair of sit-out transfers in Eugene Omoruyi and Eric Williams. Double-digit scorers Chris Duarte and Will Richardson are also expected to return to Eugene.
Louisville lands another
It’s seemingly becoming a Sunday tradition for Chris Mack‘s staff to land a grad transfer. For the second week in the row, the Cardinals bolstered their backcourt via the transfer market, this time with San Francisco’s Charles Minlend announcing his commitment. Minlend, a 6-4 guard, averaged 14.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game this past year.
The commitment comes as a surprise to many. Minlend had narrowed his list to seven, which included Arizona, Arkansas, Butler, BYU, Gonzaga, Indiana and Mississippi State but not Louisville. After losing the nation’s top-ranked JUCO prospect, Jay Scrubb, to the NBA earlier this week, the addition of Minlend keeps the Cardinals back on track for a fruitful ’20-21 season.
Eli Boettger is a college basketball writer and founder of HeatCheckCBB.com. He has previously worked for Sporting News, DAZN and USA TODAY SMG.
Boettger’s content has been featured by Bleacher Report, NBC Sports, FiveThirtyEight, Yahoo Sports, Athletic Director University, Washington Post, Illinois Law Review and Notre Dame Law Review, among other publications. Boettger is also a current USBWA member and Rockin’ 25 voter.