Eli Boettger | @boettger_eli | 05/28/20
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 May 28.
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Mac McClung commits
Chris Beard wins on the recruiting trail once again. In what has been a remarkable program turnaround in Lubbock, Beard struck on Wednesday with Mac McClung’s decision to commit to the Red Raiders. McClung will have two years of eligibility remaining.
The 6-2 guard played two years with Georgetown before entering the transfer portal earlier this month. He averaged 15.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.4 steals this past season while starting 20 times. Unless he gains a waiver, McClung will be forced to sit out the ’20-21 season.
Fabian White tears ACL
In the span of 10 days, the Houston Cougars have lost two starters who were projected to lead a preseason top-10 team. Reports surfaced Wednesday that junior forward Fabian White has suffered a torn ACL and will likely miss the entire ’20-21 season. The news comes shortly after star guard Nate Hinton kept his name in the 2020 draft pool.
White averaged 9.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game this past season while starting each of his 31 appearances. The pressure is now on Houston’s returning forwards like Brison Greshman (31 games, 11 starts, 2.9 ppg) and Justin Gorham (30 games, 0 starts, 3.0 ppg) to step up and replace the outgoing production.
Recruiting period update
The NCAA announced Wednesday that the recruiting “dead period” will extend through the end of July for all sports. Additionally, the NCAA also determined that strength and conditioning coaches will be allowed to virtually observe voluntary workouts for their athletes.
The news comes at an unfortunate time for coaches around the country. July is one of the most important months of the calendar year for recruiting and player evaluation with several notable AAU events and player showcases. This decision all but ensures that each of these summer events will not take place in 2020.
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.