Louisville recruit Tobias Harris not swayed by Pitino drama
Words. Jason Jordan
Half Hollow Hills High (N.Y.) star Tobias Harris, a 6-9 forward, has had one of the most consistent and productive summers of any recruit, in any class, on the AAU circuit. He dominated the NBA Camp in June, then Peach Jam in July and capped off the summer with a strong showing at the Nike Global Challenge last week.
But neither that production nor his 22-point, 10-rebound and four-block per game summer averages have made more news than Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, a coach who Tobias says is in “serious contention” to land him.
In a story that is garnering national attention, Pitino reportedly told police that he had consensual sex with and paid for an abortion for Karen Cunagin Sypher, who has been charged with trying to extort him. The Louisville Courier Journal says police interviewed Pitino last month and he admitted that he gave the woman $3,000 to have an abortion. Pitino denied Sypher’s allegations that he raped her at the restaurant and then again later at a different location, and recently gave a public apology for his role in the scandal at a university press conference.
We chatted with Harris, a rising senior, about everything from how the allegations against Pitino will affect his recruitment, to who will be showing up at his doorstep for in-home visits.
HighSchoolHoop: With your play over the summer you’ve become a top priority for a lot of different schools.
Tobias Harris: Right.
HSH: Does Louisville consider you a top priority?
TH: Yeah that’s what they tell me.
HSH: Obviously, Rick Pitino has been in the news lately with all of the allegations. Does this have any affect on his recruitment of you?
TH: Not really. It doesn’t affect me too much. Now if he ends up not coaching there, it would definitely affect me.
HSH: Do you talk to him often?
TH: Sometimes. He’s going to be coming to my house for an in-home on Sept. 12 at 6 p.m.
HSH: Interesting. Do you plan to talk to him about the controversy?
TH: I think he’ll bring it up, to be honest with you. I’ve been talking to him and he says stuff like he’s trying to handle some things right now and he just wants me to focus on school and basketball and nothing off the court. He just says that he wants me in his program a lot.
HSH: Does he reassure you that everything is going to be OK with his situation?
TH: Yeah, actually he told me before July that everything should be cleared up and done with, but I don’t know it just came back up. So I don’t know what’s going on with that.
HSH: But Louisville remains a serious contender?
TH: Yeah they’re definitely in serious contention.
HSH: Where are you at with your recruitment right now?
TH: I’m finalizing dates for all of my in-home visits.
HSH: Who’s all coming?
TH: Kentucky is here on Sept. 9, the 10th is Georgia Tech, the 11th is Notre Dame, the 12th is Syracuse, Connecticut and Louisville, the 13th is St. Johns and Tennessee, the 14th is Oklahoma, the 15th is West Virginia, the 16th is Maryland and the 17th is Rutgers.
HSH: Wow.
TH: Yeah I know. It’s a lot of schools, right?
HSH: Yeah, are you planning on having refreshments for everyone because that could cost a small fortune.
TH: I know, I know. We probably will be having some food for them. I don’t know why the list is so long, but my dad wants me to see what everyone is talking about I guess.
HSH: Are you leaning toward any school?
TH: I don’t have any leaders. I am trying to remain open to everyone.
HSH: Are you going to Syracuse’s elite camp at the end of the month?
TH: I don’t know if I’m going there anymore. Not sure about that.
HSH: Do you plan on cutting your list?
TH: Yeah I hate to do that, but I’m gonna have to. I would say sometime after the in-home visits is when I’ll probably cut it down to four or five.
HSH: Is there a school that you can say will definitely make the cut?
TH: You know, I really can’t. It’s really up in the air. I hear different things about these schools everyday. It all depends on who else is coming in and who they already have. And I need to really like the coaching staff. It depends on a lot of different things.
HSH: You’ve obviously elevated your game over the summer, what was the motivation?
TH: I just wanted to go at everybody and go hard every game and dominate. I wanted to get my name out there even more. I just had to do what I had to do.
Tobias Harris scouting report on http://www.GothamHoops.com
http://www.gothamhoops.com/?p=1423
tobias harris is talented and soft when you really break down his game, thats whey he wants to be a 3 instead of a 4. his dad is a former nba agent and used to be as slimy as they come…i heard he and has dad hardly even talk cause he gets embarrassed by his dads bs all the time…did you ever see his dad at one of his games…i feel sorry for his son….plus his dad has his hand out trying to see how much money he can get from a college to send his son there, pluse he tells everyone all summer that his son is a one-and-done nba player, please torrell, give me a break and get a life.
Well, i don’t think you know his dad because he’s a millionaire living in Dix Hills, New York. I also heard your mother a whore.
Well, i don’t think you know his dad because he’s a millionaire living in Dix Hills, New York. I also heard your mother a whore and your adopted.
[...] talked to Dime Magazine about the Pitino situations. Like others are saying publicly as well, this Louisville Recruit is Not Swayed by the Pitino Drama and plans to welcome the UL coach to his home for an in-house visit September [...]
That’s interesting… I would think that he and maybe Teague would be backing off Louisville with Rick the Liar there.
RICK THE RULER AINT GOING ANYWHERE EXCEPT TO THE LOS ANGELES WHEN THE PHIL JACKSON LEAVES THE LAKERS. MARV ALBERT DID SOME WORSE SHIT THAN THIS AND HE WAS BACK ON THE AIR….BARKLEY CAUGHT A DWI AND OWE GAMBLING MONEY AND WE WAS BACK ON THE AIR….WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE, THIS BS DON’T BOTHER HS INCLUDES, IN FACT IT GIVES RICK “MASTER P” MORE STREET CRED!