A guide to Villanova Basketball’s spring & summer recruiting season

The Villanova Wildcats basketball season has been over for a couple of weeks, which means it’s time for the second season in college basketball. Jay Wright and staff were in Phoenix this past weekend for the Final Four, but beginning later this week the handcuffs will be off and they’ll be on the trail.

You can find the NCAA’s official spring/summer recruiting calendar for 2017 here. You may also find the NCAA’s recruiting guide handy if you want ALL of the detail, but I’ve outlined the highlights of each below.

The Quiet Period is a restricted time that prevents a coach from having any off-campus contact with the prospect. Here is what is allowed:

• Unofficial visits
• Official visits
• Letters
• Emails
• Calls

The Dead Period is the most restrictive time for communication between the coach and the prospect. Here is what is allowed:

• Letters
• Emails
• Calls
• College visits (but prospects cannot meet with the coaching staff)

The Recruiting Period (sometimes known as the Contact Period) has minimal restrictions on contact. You can meet on or off-campus, and the coach is allowed to watch the prospect at their games. Here is what is allowed

• Unofficial visits
• Official visits
• Off-campus/home visits
• Letters
• Emails
• Calls
• Event viewing / evaluations during high school/prep/AAU competition

The Evaluation Period is a tiny bit more restrictive than the Recruiting Period, and is primarily for the coach to "evaluate" the prospects. The major difference here is that the coach cannot have any off-campus contact with the athlete or their parent. Here is what is allowed:

• Unofficial visits
• Official visits
• Letters
• Emails
• Calls
• Event viewing / evaluations during high school/prep/AAU competition

With that out of the way, here the events to keep an eye out for this spring. There are three main AAU circuits, all sponsored by the big sneaker companies (Nike, Adidas and Under Armour).

As a Nike school, the ‘Nova staff will likely spend most of their time at the Nike events. They do have a few major targets planning to play under the Under Armour brand, so expect to see an increased presence there as well.

Nike EYBL

The EYBL has four circuit stops, followed by the Peach Jam championship in July. This is usually Villanova’s bread and butter, and they enjoy strong relationships with Philadelphia’s Team Final and Washington D.C.’s Team Takeover.

5-star Cameron Reddish is the big target on Final, while Takeover features 5-star forward Jalen Smith and 4-star guard Brandon Slater. Other prospects to watch are Cole Swider (BABC), Cormac Ryan (RENS) and Hameir Wright (Albany City Rocks).

• Hampton, Va. - April 21-23
• Indianapolis, Ind. - April 28-30
• Atlanta, Ga. - May 12-14
• Los Angeles, Ca. - May 26-29
• North Augusta, SC (Peach Jam): July 12-16

Under Armour Association

The UAA circuit features three round-robin weekend series before the finals in July, and also features the SC30 Camp - 20 top guards workout with Stephen Curry for four days - and the All-American camp right down the road from Villanova.

Three of the biggest Villanova targets play on this circuit: Jahvon Quinerly (SportsU), Elijah Weaver (Team Breakdown) and Prentiss Hubb (D.C. Premier). Devon Dotson (Team Charlotte) also plays under the UAA brand.

• New York, N.Y. - April 21-23
• Indianapolis, Ind. - April 28-30
• Los Angeles, Calif. - May 27-28
• Atlanta, Ga. - July 12-15
• UAA All-American Camp (Philadelphia) - July 18-21
• SC30 Camp (California) - TBA

Adidas Uprising

The Adidas circuit has switched up their format to more closely resemble Nike and UAA. Three team events, dubbed the Gauntlet Series, are mixed in with player-specific training/evaluation camps across the spring and summer - you’ll see Nike and UAA players get invited to these camps as well.

Nate Laszewski (NE Playaz) and A.J. Reeves (Mass Rivals) both play on this circuit.

• Gauntlet Series (Dallas, Tex.) - April 21-23
• Gauntlet Series (Atlanta, Ga.) - April 28-30
• Gauntlet Regional Qualifiers (LA, ATL, CHI, BOS) - May 26-29
• Gauntlet Finale (Spartanburg, S.C.) - July 12-15
• Summer Championships (Las Vegas, Nev.) - July 26-30
• adidas Nations Training Camp - TBA
• adidas The Path - TBA

While Villanova’s targets are pretty well defined at this stage, every summer brings breakout performers and new targets to track, so keep an eye on the news following these weekends and we’ll see if the staff is attempting to move on any other prospects.