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Five-star power forward expected to cut list to five this weekend

Boys Open Division  Basketball

Bishop O’ Dowd forward Ivan Rabb, right, drives to the basket against Mater Dei center Michael Cage during the second half of the boys’ Open Division CIF basketball championship game Saturday, March 29, 2014, in Sacramento, Calif. Mater Dei won 71-61.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

AP

After going through a summer that included a stint with the United States Under-17 national team in addition to playing with the Oakland Soldiers program and competing in some of the nation’s top skills academies, five-star power forward Ivan Rabb is ready to narrow things down with regards to his recruitment.

According to a report from Jeff Faraudo of the Bay Area News Group, Rabb will trim his list to five finalists this weekend. Once that’s done, with Rabb first informing the two program that did not make the cut of his decision, the seventh-ranked prospect in the Class of 2015 by Rivals will begin setting up official visits.

The seven schools that remain in contention for Rabb’s commitment are Arizona, California, Georgetown, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and UCLA. Faraudo spoke with Lou Richie, Rabb’s coach at Bishop O’Dowd HS in Oakland, about the status of the elite forward’s recruitment.

“Ivan wants to control the process and wants to do it the right way,” said Richie, who declined to speculate whether Cal will be one of the finalists.

He said Rabb could make his final decision on a college destination this fall, but may also spread out his visits and wait until the spring to pick one.


While there have been a flurry of commitments in recent weeks from Class of 2015 prospects, that hasn’t been the case for players rated amongst the best in the class. Of the players ranked in the Top 20 of the class by Rivals just five have made their college choice: No. 8 Chase Jeter (Duke), No. 11 Ray Smith (Arizona), No. 12 Allonzo Trier (Arizona), No. 15 Jalen Brunson (Villanova) and No. 17 Henry Ellenson (Marquette).

In many instances highly ranked players will wait until the spring to make a choice, with factors such as coaching changes and early departures to the NBA among the reasons why.

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