The Tour de Kyle Anderson comes around to Queens with an unofficial visit to St. John's today, after trips to UCLA where rumors get started, then to the Seton Hall campus and the Georgetown campus, where there is a rumor that some fellow was sweating and looking really suspicious, like if Kyle didn't pick Georgetown, he'd do something extreme.
This September, it is the month of Kyle.
Rumor has a rally being put together by students. This is possibly the last chance (barring an in-home visit) for the Red Storm to make an indelible impression on the 6'8" forward/ point guard before the September 20th decision date. Is Steve Lavin's Lavin Recruiting Mind Trick strong enough to leave Kyle envisioning cutting down some nets with the Johnnies?
Mid-September is a good time to visit.
Kobe Bryant may not be working out on campus as he was last week, but the students are fresh faced in the early semester, and the whole recruiting class/ new team should be on campus and training. Steve Lavin and the coaching staff will fete him and his parents as much as NCAA rules will allow.
Kyle will probably play some pickup with the team or watch team practice, and afterwards...
Anderson still won't tip his hand. And even better (for him), writers and fans can only guess at how the gears grind in the Anderson's heads.
The thing is, the staffs of the various schools know Kyle is a game-changer. They've seen him carve up all comers. As Tom Konchalski said to Adam Zagoria about how Kyle Anderson would fit with the Red Storm:
"He’d make them better," Konchalski said. "He makes people better. He’s a recruiting magnet. Kids like to play with him because he gives the ball up. He really sees the floor. He is a gifted passer in much the same sense that Chris Mullin was a gifted passer. Chris Mullin made some touch passes where he never even really caught the ball. He would sort of direct the angle of his hands."Kyle Anderson will get an offensive rebound and tip it to a guy who’s free for a layup. He just is so smart."
They've communicated their reasons why he should come. Visits like today's unofficial? A bit of a formality, a chance for St. John's to show Kyle love and make him feel like this should be his home for a couple, maybe three years at the outside.
Chances are, he already has a top three list of schools.
Maybe Kyle even has a top choice in mind.
But all the guessing in the world won't definitively let us know what the decision making process for Anderson will be.
Is Kyle looking for the best opportunity to showcase his abilities? Is that by carrying a weak team, or by going far in the NCAA Tournament? Does he want to stay close to home?
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