6-4 Cam Scott of Lexington has been one of the heaviest recruited prospects in the country going on two years now. His offer list includes USC, Clemson, LSU, Tennessee, Miami, Alabama, Missouri, Oregon, Florida State, Auburn, Pitt, Georgetown, Texas and Kansas.
Last year, he narrowed his list to USC, Tennessee, Kansas, Florida State, Auburn and Texas. He also made official visits to USC, Auburn and Texas, and unofficial visits to Duke and Tennessee.
Scott said Thursday night, following an in-home visit from Alabama coach Nate Oates, there was a time earlier this year that he and his family thought they were ready to move forward with a decisoin.
“Honestly, there were two or three teams I was going to,” Scott said. “Texas was one of them. South Carolina was one. And I believe at the time the other one was Auburn. Those are the three schools that I was really locked in on at that moment. It was a hard tie between South Carolina and Texas. Then, the season went on and coaching changes happened. We were planning on doing a public commitment sometime before AAU and after school ball, but then coaching changes were going on. My parents mentioned the Transfer Portal and seeing where coaches are going to be following the year, so we just waited it out, saw what was going on and saw the changes that were being made.”
And with that, Scott and his family reversed their plans and decided to let things play out a little longer.
“Me and my family decided to open back up my recruitment because I’m locked in on the moment,” Scott said. “With all the continuous sports going on back-to-back to back-to-back, we didn’t want to have to lose focus on that to make a decision. We are going to focus on making the decision towards the end of Peach Jam (July 3-9).”
Scott has an off weekend on the AAU circuit this weekend. There’s an event in Dallas on May 12th and one in Memphis two weeks later. In last weekend’s event in Phoenix, Scott averaged 14 points and 6 rebounds per game. Around his basketball schedule, Scott plans to work in some more official visits.
“Me and my family were talking about seeing if we can go out to Oregon,” Scott said. “Seeing if we can get an Alabama visit. Possibly a Florida State visit. With this new rule coming out June 1st where student-athletes are allowed to take as many officials as they can, I might go back and follow up on some of the schools I went to last year including USC.”
The Gamecocks, with head coach Lamont Paris leading the way, have been in hot pursuit of Scott. He’s watched closely as Paris has implemented his style of basketball while trying to build a roster that can play in that style.
“Coach Paris has been working on rebuilding this team this year for all the losses that he had last year,” Scott said. “I’m keeping up with the assistant coaches. They usually check in weekly, always hit me up before the weekend starts before games and checking up after the games. We’re just chatting it up, not really talking too much, but just keeping up with life. It’s been impressive how much they’ve been growing in the short time that he’s been here. Seeing the rapid improvement is something that can go a long way for the future.”
That future could include Scott in the Garnet and Black.
“Me and my family haven’t done a final decision, but I can tell you USC is up there for sure,” Scott said. “Florida State is still up there. Alabama is a pretty new one. Texas is up there. Auburn is still up there. Ole Miss, they’ve had a lot of coaches recruiting me. They are in consideration now. There are some new schools, Oregon and Georgetown, so we’re looking into those two right now, getting into a deeper dive. Tennessee has still been interested, so we’re still seeing where we stand with that.”
Scott added that he’s not sure when Paris will be in for a home visit. That’s something they have yet to discuss, though he expects the visit to happen “pretty soon.” Oregon assistant coach Chuck Martin, a former Gamecock assistant, has been the only other coach to visit during the visitation period besides Alabama’s Oates.
Scott was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in South Carolina for last season when he became Lexington’s all-time leading scorer with 1785 points. He averaged over 19 points per game for his junior season.
