Indiana Basketball: Hoosiers offer class of 2019 five-star forward Trendon Watford
By Jordan Maly
On Thursday, the Indiana Hoosiers offer five-star recruit in the class of 2019 Trendon Watford. Older brother Christian Watford played for the Hoosiers from 2009-2013.
Watford is a name that is synonymous with Indiana Basketball in the last decade. Christian Watford played for the Hoosiers between 2009-13 including one of the greatest moments in college basketball’s recent memory. The Hoosiers offered Watford’s younger brother, class of 2019 five-star recruit Trendon Watford the opportunity to play for the program.
Trendon Watford is ranked the No. 12 prospect in the class of 2019 and could be an extremely valuable recruit for Miller and the Hoosiers. Watford entering his junior season this fall has offers from other programs including Alabama, Mississippi State, Wake Forest, Iowa, LSU, Auburn and TCU. Among the other schools who have interest include Kentucky, Kansas, and Arizona.
The 6-8, 215-pound recruit will be drawing plenty of other interest from other top programs in the nation once the June 15 deadline hits. After June 15, schools will have the opportunity to meet and interact directly with the class of 2019.
The Indiana connection is obvious and plays a major role in Trendon Watford’s recruiting process. According to an interview with Watford at the Nike EYBL camp in Indianapolis, ex-coach Tom Crean had not reached out to him previously.
“They reached out to my brother about me a couple of weeks ago,” Watford explained. “When Archie Miller first got hired.”
Tendon Watford could potentially be a major play for Indiana and Archie Miller. I don’t hold much merit to the fact that Crean never started the recruiting process considering Watford is still two years away from college play.
The one school Archie Miller will have to battle with in order to land Watford will be Alabama. Both Watford brothers grew up in Alabama and could be a major plus for former NBA coach Avery Johnson. Johnson and the Crimson Tide look to be a team poised for long-term success, locking up an abundance of top players for 2017 including the No. 4, No. 30 and No. 93 recruits in the nation.
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Archie Miller will have his hands full trying to lock up Trendon Watford for 2019 but they might have one of the best shots to do so. Christian Watford will have to play a key role in convincing his brother that playing at Assembly Hall could be a life changing opportunity. It’s still very early in the recruiting process for Trendon Watford but never too early to start building for coach Miller.