Arkansas hopes to host one of the top junior basketball prospects in the nation for a game this season.
Point guard Courtney Ramey, 6-2, 170, of St. Louis Webster Groves, made an unofficial visit to Fayetteville last summer.
During the spring and summer, he plays for Team Ramey, a program his father, Terrell, started 20 years ago.
"We wanted to see everything that we haven't seen upfront," Terrell Ramey said. "The next step we told them would be coming up for a game. Trying to see a game setting. I have to choreograph it with Courtney's basketball schedule."
He has recently visited Texas, Marquette, Iowa State, Louisville and Creighton. ESPN rates Ramey as a four-star prospect and the No. 23 point guard for the 2018 class, while hoopseen.com rates him the No. 58 overall prospect.
Ramey averaged 17.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.6 steals while shooting 49.4 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from beyond the three-point line as a sophomore.
Associate head coach Melvin Watkins and assistant Scotty Thurman have been the primary contacts.
"We've really been talking to coach Watkins and coach Thurman a whole lot," Terrell Ramey said. "Coach Thurman and Watkins have done an excellent job contacting us on a regular basis. Coach Thurman even came down a couple of times in the fall to watch him work out."
In addition to the fall recruiting period, Thurman, Watkins and assistant T.J. Cleveland saw Ramey play several times during the spring and summer evaluation period. Coach Mike Anderson recently reached out to the Rameys.
The Hogs have four commitments -- junior forwards Reggie Perry, 6-10, 225 pounds, of Thomasville, Ga., and Ethan Henderson, 6-9, 190, of Little Rock Parkview, and junior guards Isaiah Joe, 6-2, 160, of Fort Smith Northside and Desi Sills, 6-1, 170, of Jonesboro -- for the 16-under Arkansas Hawks for the 2018 class. A fifth, Justice Hill of Little Rock Christian, is a 2019 Arkansas commitment.
Hoopseen.com rates Perry the No. 9 overall prospect and Henderson the No. 43 recruit.
"Probably 50-50, there's pros and cons to it," Terrell said. "Courtney and I have talked about it. You always want to play with some good players, which they are. That's the pros to it. The cons to it is the familiarity of the five guys who have been playing together for a long time."
Ramey has scholarship offers from Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Kansas State, Texas, Ohio State, Iowa and numerous others.
The Hogs' style of play and the previous relationship the coaches developed keep the Razorbacks in the running for the younger Ramey.
"I've been knowing Anderson and Coach Watkins since their days at Missouri," Terrell Ramey said. "They've always been standup guys and good guys and people I can personally trust. So therefore, that's the big thing with me is relationships, but I'm not the one dribbling the ball so like I told them, just keep developing that same type of relationship with Courtney."
Email Richard Davenport at
rdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports on 10/21/2016