Basketball Recruiting: Uthoff still wide open

By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com Publisher

Last week, 2011 Cedar Rapids Jefferson forward Jarrod Uthoffnarrowed his list of potential colleges down to six. Iowa State, along with Iowa, Northern Iowa, Wisconsin, Butler and Illinois are still in the mix.

Earlier today, CycloneFanatic.com caught up with Uthoff’s AAU coach, Jamie Johnson of the Iowa Barnstormers to learn more. One rumor that seems to be picking up steam online is that Uthoff is an “Iowa lean.” Johnson denied that.

“We had a long talk last night and I think that he is still wide open,” Johnson said. “I don’t think that he is favoring Iowa over Iowa State versus Wisconsin or Illinois. At this point, he has some good schools and he is trying to figure out what makes the most sense. I don’t know that he has a favorite at this point.”

Johnson also told CF that Uthoff will explore other options, should they become available during the recruiting heavy month of July on the AAU circuit.

“There’s a ton of people (showing interest) from Wake Forest to Stanford to everybody in between,” Johnson said. “Some of those schools might be too far away. Some of those schools might not offer. At this point, the six schools who have offered and who he has on his list, that is who he is looking at hard.”

As far as a timetable goes, not a lot has changed. It looks like Uthoff will go through the July process and make a decision sometime after that.

“I think that at this point, it could come in the next two to four weeks but at the same time, if he’s not ready, I don’t think he is going to make a decision,” Johnson said. “If that means that a couple of schools fall off of the list that he put out, so be it. He wants to make sure of what he is going to do. If somebody isn’t going to wait, maybe that isn’t the best place for him.”

Uthoff and the Barnstormers are currently in Milwaukee for the Next Level Invitational. The Barnstormers are currently 26-4 during their 2010 campaign.