L.J. Rose Diary: UNC offer vs. Staying in State
Words. L.J. Rose
Second Baptist School (Houston, TX) junior point guard L.J. Rose is one of the most gifted lead guards in the country. Despite suffering from a nagging ankle injury all summer, he’s got every college from North Carolina to Kentucky to Arizona trying to lure him to their campus. Still rehabbing from surgery to repair a fracture in his fifth metatarsal, Rose has agreed to give HSH exclusive access to the life of a high school superstar by chronicling his thoughts in a regular diary.
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What’s up y’all! My last diary was before my big trip to North Carolina for “Late Night with Roy.” That turned out to be a great trip! It was just a great experience and it opened my eyes to a lot of new things. The atmosphere is nothing that I’ve ever seen before.
I got to talk to Coach Roy Williams and hang out with all of the players. I hung out with Shabazz Muhammad (Bishop Gorman, NV) and James McAdoo (Norfolk Christian, VA) a lot too while I was down there. We had a really good time. I got a scholarship offer from North Carolina on the trip, which is definitely an honor. A lot of great players have come out of North Carolina, so to get an offer from them was pretty cool.
Two weeks after I got back home, I went to Baylor for a visit. That was cool because it’s close to home and they’ve been recruiting me for a really long time. It’s kind of a small town atmosphere in Waco, but it’s a great school! I had a really good time there.
During the season I’m planning to go to Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis and Texas. I’ve just got to find the time to get to those schools.
As far as recruiting approaches with the different schools, it’s a lot different. Some schools don’t have to sell their school as much, then I have other schools that are up-and-coming that do more to sell their school. A lot of the approaches are different, which is interesting. Of all the coaches recruiting me, I’d say that I hear the most from Josh Pastner (Memphis), Scott Drew (Baylor) and Roy Williams the most.
I haven’t cut my list down yet. I’ve really just been focusing on rehabbing my ankle and getting ready for my season. I’m not too worried about cutting my list and all that. I feel like everything will take care of itself there. I don’t know when I want to decide. It could be this year, it could be next year, who knows. It’s whenever it feels right for me. I’ll talk to my parents and we’ll make a decision.
One of the schools recruiting me is Houston, which is where my dad (Lynden Rose) played college ball before he got drafted by the Lakers in 1982. A lot of people ask me if he pressures me to go where he went, and he definitely doesn’t. He always told me to go where I want to go because he lived his dream and now he wants me to live mine. I’m blessed to have some great schools recruiting me, but I don’t feel pressured to go ahead and make a decision right away. I feel like I’ll know when the time is right.
I have to admit, being here in the state of Texas with all of these great programs, there’s definitely some pressure to stay home for college. A lot of the administrators at my school are Baylor alumni. Everywhere you go in Houston there are TCU fans, Texas fans, Texas A&M fans, Houston fans, just fans of every program! They always tell me that I need to stay home. They say it kinda jokingly, but at the same time I know that they’re probably serious, too.
I feel like I have to do what’s best for me. If that means staying here I’ll do that, but if that means leaving the state I’ll do that too.
Other than that, my ankle is doing a lot better. I’m almost done with my rehab and I’ve been able to do some individual workouts and I’m feeling good. My team has already played three games and we’re 3-0! I’m going to play my first game on Dec. 10. The last time that I played was in July, so I’m really ready to get back to playing everyday. I want to come back from this injury even better than I was before.
I think that parts of my game will be better for sure. I’ve gotten stronger and I’ve gained a little muscle. Those were things that I really needed to do to be a better player so I think that will help me in the long run.
OK, like I said in my last diary, I’m gonna teach you guys a little Texas slang in every entry. So this time we’ll go with different ways to say the same thing: Y’all say “door,” we say “doe.” Y’all say “four” we so “foe.” You see the pattern? Oh, and you guys need to start listening to our music down here. Our stuff is fire!
Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. Thanks for reading and check back for my next entry.
* Follow L.J. on Twitter @Lboogie_5
* Follow High School Hoop on Twitter @HighSchoolHoop
LJ UNC is the place for you! You’re the one Roy has decided to focus on and so I’m all in for landing you! Please come to UNC!
Can’t believe that I’m gonna get my wish! lj rose is the man and he’s gonna be a heel mark it down! Come on down lj!!!!
wishful thinking is nice but L.J. Rose is Dropping North Carolina and adding UCLA as a potential school. LJ is the man and UNC-Chapel Hill lost out on a great baller from Texas.
btw, UCLA’s got some college ball legacy too.
I do hope that you Tarheel posters know that what you wrote may be considered improper contact. It’s much safer never to address a recruit directly unless you are authorized by your school.
Can’t wait to see you sporting the North Carolina jersey L.J. You and Shabazz are going to do big things here! Best of luck to you in the upcoming season.
nope.. not going to happen. Roy Williams made his choice and now LJ’s got to go to the team that gives him the best opportunity to play and develop.
People talk about Rodney Purvis but I’d rather have you LJ! Just go ahead and commit! We WANT YOU!
LJ or Purvis, we need a winning point guard. Any takers for playing amazing minutes behind a few junior and senior point guards in my rotation?
Lj rose come to point guard u and make history
Baylor looks like a good fit too LJ. I hear Quincy Miller and Deuce Bello are going to be playing ball for Baylor. I’m not sure how many years they plan on playing NCAA basketball but just throwing out there what you probably already know.
Good to hear your fracture is healing up nicely and all the little Texas slang references. It’s good to remember your roots and where you grew up. The music is good about as good as a good ol’ fashioned Texas bbq. I’m a witness.
Shabazz Muhammad and Rodney Purvis are both good players and I don’t see why any of the “fans” above would want to rush you to commit or lead you toward their own agenda.
No need to rush your decision man. Your father gave you good advice and you should do what makes you most comfortable. In the end, you’re the one who’s going to play ball and you will end up in a situation where you can enjoy playing ball even in a high-pressure, competitive NCAA team.
Enjoy the journey…
LJ, you can see that we need you to run point-please help, just make a verbal to UNC!!!!!!
Carolina just got a commitment from Marcus Paige. Does this affect LJ’s decision at all? I think they enter NCAA basketball in different years but I could be wrong.