Arizona jumped into the recruitment of five-star 2021 power forward JT Thor Monday night. The No. 8-rated prospect in the class already has some big time schools in the mix with offers from Kansas, LSU, Florida and Oregon plus serious interest from Kentucky. Cal, Arizona State and USC are the other Pac-12 programs that have offered him up to this point.
I was able to watch Thor in action a couple weekends ago at the Pangos All-American Camp in California. It's not the best environment to evaluate bigs, but he held his own and that is because he is such a skilled player. Skill does show up in the camp setting and he has a knack for being able to step out and shoot the ball, which he showed from time to time during the camp.
It's going to be interesting to watch Thor's recruitment play out as there are only going to be more schools that get involved as the process moves along. He has already visited Kansas and Kentucky and there were some rumors that he would be reclassifying into the 2020 class – his original class. However, those proved to be false as he has been adamant that he will remain a 2021 recruit moving forward.
"He is a 6-foot-9, long and agile forward who can shoot to the perimeter, score out of the mid-range and also at the basket, thanks to his soft hands and body control," Rivals.com's Corey Evans recently wrote about the five-star recruit. "He exhibits plenty of versatility on the defensive end and tracks as a strong five-star recruit in the 2021 class."
Arizona has been busy at work offering prospects in many classes, but especially the 2021 class as things start to heat up with that group. In a few days (June 15) the restrictions will be off and the staff will be allowed to openly have communications with rising juniors and that is when things will intensify even more. UA was able to get a jump start on that with Thor who now knows he has another option out west with the Wildcats.
I was able to watch Thor in action a couple weekends ago at the Pangos All-American Camp in California. It's not the best environment to evaluate bigs, but he held his own and that is because he is such a skilled player. Skill does show up in the camp setting and he has a knack for being able to step out and shoot the ball, which he showed from time to time during the camp.
It's going to be interesting to watch Thor's recruitment play out as there are only going to be more schools that get involved as the process moves along. He has already visited Kansas and Kentucky and there were some rumors that he would be reclassifying into the 2020 class – his original class. However, those proved to be false as he has been adamant that he will remain a 2021 recruit moving forward.
"He is a 6-foot-9, long and agile forward who can shoot to the perimeter, score out of the mid-range and also at the basket, thanks to his soft hands and body control," Rivals.com's Corey Evans recently wrote about the five-star recruit. "He exhibits plenty of versatility on the defensive end and tracks as a strong five-star recruit in the 2021 class."
Arizona has been busy at work offering prospects in many classes, but especially the 2021 class as things start to heat up with that group. In a few days (June 15) the restrictions will be off and the staff will be allowed to openly have communications with rising juniors and that is when things will intensify even more. UA was able to get a jump start on that with Thor who now knows he has another option out west with the Wildcats.
