Recruiting News & Notes: Kendall Small Reportedly Picks Up Big Time Offer

As expected, the beginning of August has come with plenty of recruiting updates. Prospects are cutting down lists, schools are zeroing in on their guys and there is a mad scramble to set up official visits. Over the past few days, news on Gonzaga's priority targets has been slow to come across. Max and I are working on securing various interviews which should shed more light on the guys that we expect to be in Gonzaga uniforms down the road. For now, here are some quick hits from various resources across the recruiting world...

-- In terms of news that may actually impact the staff's recruiting, it appears that 2015 PG prospect has picked up a big-time offer from Connecticut. Small drew rave reviews for his play this summer and it is absolutely no surprise to see him get rewarded with an offer from one of the perennial powers in college basketball. It is a bit surprising that it is from a school way out east but this is going to be an offer that might make Kendall veer away from the west coast. As many of you recall, Kendall grew up rooting for the Zags. From a Scout.com piece:

"He's a Gonzaga fan," his father said. "He wants to go to Gonzaga. He just likes Mark Few's offense and the guards that come out of there are really good."

If Gonzaga were to offer, would Kendall accept?

"I don't know if he would go ahead and take it but he would strongly consider it," Don said.

Gonzaga has shown great interest in Kendall this summer and we have heard that he is a big recruit on the staff's radar. With this offer coming in from the Huskies, it is likely that the floodgates could open on his recruitment. We'll have much more on this in the coming days.

-- Several 'one-time' and 'kinda-sorta' Gonzaga prospects have also made some news over the past few days. Here are some brief recaps of what is going on with them.

• 2013 SF Calvin Hermanson has verbally committed to Saint Mary's. The 6'5'' wing will team up with Top 100 recruit Cullen Neal in Moraga to form what should be a very potent backcourt for Randy Bennett. Hermanson was a guy that we heard about here and there in the past but he was never a major target for this staff. He chose SMC over offers from Oregon State, Utah, UCSB, and Drake. Hermanson had a great summer so many were expecting him to wait and see if he could collect more offers but he was a strong Saint Mary's lean all along.
• Pipe-dream prospect Xavier Rathan-Mayes who once listed Gonzaga in a world far, far away recently trimmed his list to 10, headlined by Kentucky as well as a who's who list of big time programs. Kentucky happens to be the one program that has yet to offer XRM and he will visit Lexington on Friday unofficially. If he gets that offer, expect his recruitment to end very quickly. UCLA and Florida State could also be big players here.
• Kendal Harris, a 2013 PG from Texas, trimmed his list to five yesterday. He will consider USC, Missouri, LSU, Creighton, and Oklahoma State for his college destination. Gonzaga watched him a bit early this summer but they have their point guard targets set in the 2014 & 15 classes. 2013 will be the year of the combo guard most likely for the Zags.