September and October take on lives of their own in the world of basketball recruiting. Tons of official visits are taken as players want to take in the campus atmosphere on a football weekend. But lots of in-home visits are used by coaching staffs as well. Many times it is for established recruits that they have been chasing for months. In other cases, it may be an opportunity to check out a relatively new talent.
Count Lester Quinones in that group.
Adam Zagoria tweeted Friday morning that Kentucky along with St. John's, Arizona, Kansas, Maryland, Georgia, Florida, UCLA, Xavier, LSU, Ohio State, Villanova, and Duke will be headed to IMG Academy in Florida to see him next week.
Quinones is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard who is ranked No. 63 in the Class of 2019 by Rivals. He is originally from the New York City Metropolitan area, but decided to transfer to the Florida school late last month.
So who is Lester Quinones?
Corey Evans saw him go for 37 points in a game in Las Vegas last July. Evans called it one of the top performances of the AAU season. He also had more to say about Quinones' impressive play.
"A wired-to-compete wing that can easily evolve into a 3-and-D prospect thanks to his dominance as shot maker and his buy-in as a perimeter defender, there is a lot to like about what Quinones can do now and what he can become in the future."
The two-guard played with New Heights, which was one of the top teams on the Under Armour Circuit. Teamed with five star prospects like Precious Achiuwa, exposure was not lacking as he looked to add scholarship offers.
He averaged double figures in scoring for the season, and had great numbers from behind the 3-point line. He also played in the FIBA Americas 18U Championships. He averaged 17.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in the event.
That has led to a lot of questions by our National Analysts on why his recruitment hasn't accumulated more offers. Evans said after watching him in Vegas that he was still waiting to see him blow up. Quinones also made Eric Bossi's list as one of the most mysterious recruitments of 2019.
"A sharp-shooter with size and deep range, Lester Quinones' recruitment is mysterious for different reasons. When we saw him during the winter we thought his recruitment would explode. Instead, it took until the middle part of July before he really took off, so much of his interest is new and he's not had time to sort through it. Add in a transfer to IMG in Florida and Quinones could be starting things totally fresh."
It isn't as if he has had no attention from college programs. He had offers from the likes of Florida, LSU, Wake Forest, Florida State, Pitt, Georgia Tech, Rutgers, Illinois, Ohio State, Minnesota, Maryland, Arizona, UCLA, Xavier, UCONN, Dayton, Georgetown, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, West Virginia, UMASS, St. Louis, Tulane, and Western Kentucky.
But now, the fresh look may be starting to pay off. The trips into IMG next week by Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, Villanova, and UCLA could be the escalation of his recruitment that Evans was referring to.
Quinones took an unofficial visit to Florida in August. Russ Wood covers basketball recruiting for Gators Territory of the Rivals Network. He wrote shortly after the visit to Gainesville that he expects him to also take unofficials to Seton Hall and Maryland, and predicted that once Quinones does trim his list, UCLA and Arizona will make the cut.
How heavily Kentucky gets involved remains to be seen. It may depend on what Scottie Lewis decides within the next few weeks. If Calipari does decide to get serious, it appears he has time. But as both Bossi and Evans have predicted, the field could get overly crowded very soon.
Count Lester Quinones in that group.
Adam Zagoria tweeted Friday morning that Kentucky along with St. John's, Arizona, Kansas, Maryland, Georgia, Florida, UCLA, Xavier, LSU, Ohio State, Villanova, and Duke will be headed to IMG Academy in Florida to see him next week.
Quinones is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard who is ranked No. 63 in the Class of 2019 by Rivals. He is originally from the New York City Metropolitan area, but decided to transfer to the Florida school late last month.
So who is Lester Quinones?
Corey Evans saw him go for 37 points in a game in Las Vegas last July. Evans called it one of the top performances of the AAU season. He also had more to say about Quinones' impressive play.
"A wired-to-compete wing that can easily evolve into a 3-and-D prospect thanks to his dominance as shot maker and his buy-in as a perimeter defender, there is a lot to like about what Quinones can do now and what he can become in the future."
The two-guard played with New Heights, which was one of the top teams on the Under Armour Circuit. Teamed with five star prospects like Precious Achiuwa, exposure was not lacking as he looked to add scholarship offers.
He averaged double figures in scoring for the season, and had great numbers from behind the 3-point line. He also played in the FIBA Americas 18U Championships. He averaged 17.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in the event.
That has led to a lot of questions by our National Analysts on why his recruitment hasn't accumulated more offers. Evans said after watching him in Vegas that he was still waiting to see him blow up. Quinones also made Eric Bossi's list as one of the most mysterious recruitments of 2019.
"A sharp-shooter with size and deep range, Lester Quinones' recruitment is mysterious for different reasons. When we saw him during the winter we thought his recruitment would explode. Instead, it took until the middle part of July before he really took off, so much of his interest is new and he's not had time to sort through it. Add in a transfer to IMG in Florida and Quinones could be starting things totally fresh."
It isn't as if he has had no attention from college programs. He had offers from the likes of Florida, LSU, Wake Forest, Florida State, Pitt, Georgia Tech, Rutgers, Illinois, Ohio State, Minnesota, Maryland, Arizona, UCLA, Xavier, UCONN, Dayton, Georgetown, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, West Virginia, UMASS, St. Louis, Tulane, and Western Kentucky.
But now, the fresh look may be starting to pay off. The trips into IMG next week by Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, Villanova, and UCLA could be the escalation of his recruitment that Evans was referring to.
Quinones took an unofficial visit to Florida in August. Russ Wood covers basketball recruiting for Gators Territory of the Rivals Network. He wrote shortly after the visit to Gainesville that he expects him to also take unofficials to Seton Hall and Maryland, and predicted that once Quinones does trim his list, UCLA and Arizona will make the cut.
How heavily Kentucky gets involved remains to be seen. It may depend on what Scottie Lewis decides within the next few weeks. If Calipari does decide to get serious, it appears he has time. But as both Bossi and Evans have predicted, the field could get overly crowded very soon.
