It’s becoming very hard to name something that the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t impacted and that’s especially true in the world of sports.
Because colleges have closed down and with the NCAA placing a dead period on recruiting, high schools athletes looking to make a college decision aren’t able to travel around to prospective schools and probably won’t be able to do so for some time.
One of the many athletes being impacted by this recruiting travel restriction is Erie McDowell four-star wing Will Jeffress.
Jeffress recently decided to reclassify to the Class of 2020 and intended to start making visits to some of the schools that recently extended him an offer at the end of his season. However, Jeffress won’t be able to do that anytime soon which means that his recruitment is likely a long ways away from being completed.
The McDowell Trojans didn’t even get to complete their season, with their PIAA quarterfinal matchup against Butler postponed for at least two weeks. That’s left his current season in a holding pattern, let alone his future.
When it comes to his recruitment, the Erie native has come out with a Top 10 of Pitt, Penn State, Baylor, Memphis, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Villanova and Vanderbilt. Because he’s only visited Baylor, Penn State and Pitt, not being able to make visits won’t allow Jeffress to evaluate other programs in-person, something that he intends to do before deciding on his college.
PSN has been told that over the next week, Jeffress and his family intend on coming up with a plan of schools that he plans on making official visits to once the travel ban is lifted. At this point, they’re hoping to be able to get visits in and make a decision by May. If that’s not possible, they’ll have to take visits and talk to coaches via videoconference.
The 2020 National Letter of Intent signing period is scheduled to open on April 15 and close on May 20, though other parts of the recruiting calendar have already been significantly modified and players can still sign with new teams after the period closes at any rate.
Jeffress and three-star point guard Femi Odukale are the two biggest remaining Class of 2020 targets for Pitt head coach Jeff Capel. Pitt could also attempt to add a graduate transfer with the transfer portal opening up at the end of the season.
