Indiana hosted priority recruit Rakease Passmore over the weekend for an official visit.
Passmore, a class of 2024 guard from Combine Academy (NC), is the No. 47 prospect nationally according to the 247Composite.
Inside the Hall spoke with AJ Jones, an assistant coach and the recruiting director at Combine Academy, to recap Passmore’s official visit to Bloomington.
Our full Q & A is available below:
Indiana offered Rakease a scholarship recently. How hard are they pursuing him at this point?
AJ Jones: “I would say just about as hard as you could expect for somebody they say is a priority for them. They’re in constant communication with Rakease, with myself, with our head coach and with his family. I would say they’re pushing pretty hard for him for my perspective and he feels good about the relationship that they’ve been building. They’ve been pretty consistent about building upon that.”
Who is leading the recruitment from an assistant coaching perspective?
AJ Jones: “It’s Kenya Hunter. He’s the lead on it it. They all saw him over the summer with his AAU program, Garner Road, and got a chance to evaluate him because they had a kid that they had already offered on the same team, which was Paul McNeil. So that’s when they first saw him. They really kind of picked up the heat once the fall recruiting period started. They came out to see him at Combine and that was where it got really heated up and they started pursuing him and offered him. When they first came down, it was both Kenya and Yasir (Rosemond). We talk to both coaches pretty regularly.”
What were his main takeaways from the visit and what stood out?
AJ Jones: “I think he was pleasantly surprised with Bloomington. I don’t think we came in thinking that Bloomington was going to be as nice as it is, I guess. Not only from a physical standpoint but also from the buzz that they have in the city as well. So I think he was surprised with that, pleasantly. The buildings and the facilities are top-notch, so I know he loved that. He felt like they had everything that you could potentially look for or need from the basketball facilities. But I think the No. 1 thing that he took away from it was just the people. The energy, the positivity, everyone there has the same positive, high energy type attitude. And a lot of positivity and they’re really excited about where the program is going. There’s always something to be said for getting to spend time with a legend…