MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Brad Winton of JucoRecruiting.com said point guard Tarik Phillip was among the nation’s best remaining prospects in the 2014 junior college class and that West Virginia made a hard charge to land his commitment.
“He’s definitely a good pickup,” Winton said Monday night on the MetroNews “Statewide Sportsline,” the day after the 6-foot-3 Phillip chose WVU over Kansas, Memphis and Oklahoma State.
“He’s versatile. On both ends of the court, he’s very good. He can guard multiple perimeter spots. … And he gets to the line a lot—about 10 times per game, which always translates pretty well to the next level.”
The fact Phillip sat out the 2012-13 season as a transfer—leaving him three years of eligibility remaining—was a bonus.
Mountaineers coaches, scrambling for an additional recruit after sophomore Eron Harris announced plans to transfer in late March, met with Phillip at Independence (Kan.) Community College, where he became the Jayhawk Conference player of the year despite appearing in only 18 games his past season. Bob Huggins immediately extended an offer, mere days ahead of WVU’s Big 12 rivals beginning pursuit.
“A lot of those (teams) didn’t really pull the trigger right away with an offer,” Winton said. “I think West Virginia went full-throttle on him. They knew they needed him.”
“I think he went where he was wanted and needed the most.”
Watch Winton’s full interview above.