With his release from North Carolina State, 2011 big man Joseph Uchebo is going to be one of the biggest recruiting commodities during this Spring Signing Period.
With Sidney Lowe leaving, and new coach Mark Gottfried coming in, Uchebo didn’t feel too comfortable with a new staff or people. Thus, he requested his release.
“The first time the new staff called me, I got the feeling they didn’t want me at NC State,” Uchebo explained. “Coach Gottfried was working on bringing in new players, and it was like he didn’t want me. It wasn’t the same feeling Coach (Sidney) Lowe brought to me.”
Either way, the Nigerian product is looking in new directions. In fact, some schools are scheduled to watch him play Monday.
“I don’t really know what schools are interested yet, but my coach told me there are some coming to watch me Monday,” Uchebo said.
Despite not knowing which coaches are coming, when asked about if he thought Kentucky would be there, Uchebo knew an exact answer.
“I would anticipate (Kentucky) to be there. I do know they called and talked to my coach once,” he replied. The timing of the call wasn’t specified, though.
The past week or so has been a tough ride for Uchebo. From a feeling of hospitality and family at NC State, he now enters a world of uncertainty and full of questions regarding his recruitment. Because of this, he wants to find a good home for the future.
“I want a good relationship with the coaches and people around the team,” Uchebo said. “But the biggest thing is playing time. I don’t want to go to a place with a lot of big men.”
That sounds like it fits a void with Kentucky, right?
After failing to reel in Stan Simpson and Braeden Anderson, the idea of adding a post player is a necessity.
Uchebo also agreed that he was interested in the ‘Cats.
“I would listen to Kentucky. They have a very nice program,” he complimented.
Nevertheless, Uchebo definitely wants to take visits before he decides where he will attend college.
“I will take some visits when I narrow my teams down. I want to make sure I fit in with everything at the school.”
As if Uchebo wasn’t getting looked at enough before this weekend, his performance in the Jordan Brand Classic Regional Game rose some eyebrows for coaches.
If you aren’t aware, the 6’9″ senior had 13 points and 21 rebounds in the all-star game.
Uchebo also feels that rebounding is his strong point and when he was in Nigeria, rebounding was what the people were looking for.
“I’m going to have to rebound in college. I have always been a rebounder. In Nigeria, that was what the coaches wanted. They didn’t really care about scoring, just for me to play good defense and rebound the ball.”
“In the United States, everyone wants offense to go with my rebounding,” he said. “My skills are still developing because of the differences in the countries.
Uchebo also acknowledges that fact that basketball in America is tougher and harder to play.
“The game is tougher over here. Everybody plays really hard. You see a lot more injuries than in Nigeria because of that. Everyone just works twice as hard.”
Despite his time in Nigeria, he thinks he has worked hard and is shading toward the American style.
With the absence of post players on the Kentucky roster next year, along with Uchebo’s desire to have playing time, it looks like Kentucky could really be in the running for this kid.
He has the talent, and there is a very good chance Kentucky could pay him a visit this week.
Stay tuned for more updates.
Follow Garrett Tucker on Twitter [URL=”http://twitter.com/GTuckersports”]@GTuckersports[/URL] for more info on Kentucky recruiting.
