Lake Clifton's Josh Selby hosting coaches
The last week has been a busy one for Josh Selby and Maeshon Witherspoon.
The Lake Clifton point guard and his mother have played host and hostess, respectively, to coaches of some of the most high-profile basketball schools in the country.
UConn, Kansas, Florida State, Baylor and Oregon have already conducted in-home visits with Selby and Witherspoon. Coaches from Kentucky are scheduled to meet with Selby -- the No. 4 player in the country according to Rivals.com -- today, while Miami has scheduled a visit for Sept. 21. Witherspoon said in-home visits from Tennessee and Syracuse coaches have been discussed but not yet finalized.
Witherspoon -- who said she and Selby would consider other schools that haven’t set up an in-home visit -- has been impressed with every coach that has made the trip to Baltimore so far.
“No [in-home visit] was greater than the other,” Witherspoon said. “Most of the [interactions with] schools, honestly, have [gone] very well. I haven’t had anything bad to say for any of the visits we have encountered so far. ... I guess one coach I was surprised by would have to be [Kansas’] Bill Self. He was just real laidback and I didn’t think he was going to be that laidback. That was a real good thing.”
The first in-home visit, however, was probably the most memorable one for Witherspoon and Selby.
“UConn was very innovative and creative,” Witherspoon said. “They came at 12:01 [last Wednesday, the first day coaches were allowed to make in-home visits]. I was up for about an hour. Josh was only up for 10, 15 minutes. We did an unofficial visit up to UConn. This was just another meet and greet for him, me, Coach [Jim] Calhoun, Coach [Patrick] Sellers, and my adviser. We had about an hour conversation.”
Witherspoon said she and Selby will narrow his list after the final in-home visit has been made. From there, official visits will be scheduled and Selby will make his decision in the spring.
Most of the visits have taken place at Lake Clifton, with Lakers coach Herman Harried and Witherspoon’s adviser -- whom she declined to name -- in attendance. Still, the pressure has been on Witherspoon to handle Selby’s increasingly busy schedule and coordinate different visits. Despite the hectic nature of handling such a high-profile recruitment, Witherspoon's not complaining.
“Actually, I’m enjoying it 100 percent,” Witherspoon said. “I am so glad because I am enjoying the recruiting process. We stayed committed to Tennessee for so long, that we do have a relationship with them. ... But we didn’t have a chance to do this the first time.”
Selby, who spent his freshman year at John Carroll and his sophomore and junior seasons at DeMatha, is glad to be back in Baltimore, his mother said. Selby has joined the cross country team and is looking forward to helping the Lakers defend their Class 3A state championship.
“He’s loving Lake Clifton,” Witherspoon said. “For a kid that’s been away from home for three years, he’s excited just to be playing in the Baltimore area. He doesn’t have to catch a train or have a 40-minute car ride to school. I think he’s having fun with it. Josh is a kid that loves basketball. If he could, he would play 24/7, 52 weeks, 365 days of the year. I think he’s enjoying himself.”
