Penn State makes final five for California guard Brady Dunlap
A 6-foot-7 guard with unique positional size, deadly outside shooting, and all around offensive proficiency, Brady Dunlap is one of the top remaining 2023 recruits out of the Southern California area.
Dunlap, who won a state title and went 33-2 with Harvard Westlake HS, has had to adopt tremendous patience this spring. While he de-committed to Notre Dame in January following the retirement of Mike Brey, a whirlwind of coaching changes and the eruption of the transfer portal forced him to tread lightly on pulling the trigger.
He admits there was a lot of due diligence he had to do, along with a bit of a waiting game, in whittling down the decision of his future hardwood home.
Now, even amid a wild off-season that has witnessed continued explosion of the transfer portal, Dunlap's list has been cut to five schools.
On Thursday, Dunlap announced that he would be deciding between Penn State, St. John's, Nebraska, Villanova, and North Carolina.
New Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades has hit the portal hard and simultaneously made an immediate impact on the high school/prep recruiting trail. He has been able to formulate a strong relationship with Dunlap and his family, which has him hyped at the prospect of an upcoming visit.
With Rhoades recently garnering a commitment from Ace Baldwin, Penn State now has a dish first facilitator who was instrumental in VCU's 27-8 season last year. On Wednesday, Rhoades picked up a commitment from another one of his former players in Nick Kern Jr.
A 6-foot-6 combination guard, Kern's numbers were far from gaudy (5.3 PPG, 2.7 RPG). Still, he showed promise with a 17-point performance (on the strength of 8-for-9 FG) during a win over very good Fordham team and a 12-point showing during a win over St. Louis.
Rhoades is still close to cashing in on several transfers and he's established a core which mirrors his hard edged defensive mentality.
Dunlap has said a winning environment and culture are key factors in his ultimate decision.
St. John's appears to be making some headway with Dunlap. Newly minted head coach Rick Pitino recently gained a commitment from 6-foot-3 point guard Daniss Jenkins on Thursday. One of the top players in the MAAC, Jenkins averaged 15.6 points and 4.9 assists while helping propel Iona to an NCAA tournament berth under Pitino last season.
While SJU only has four scholarship players in Pitino's rebuild thus far, they are also recruiting a player similar to Dunlap in 6-foot-5 sharpshooter Sean Conway, a transfer via VMI.
Villanova has also made progress with Dunlap behind a relationship builder in head coach Kyle Neptune.
The fan base has showered Dunlap with a lot of love and he's been impressed with their passion and Intel on the recruiting front.
In an unprecedented move, Villanova also hired Baker Dunleavy as the General Manager Of Basketball.
Dunleavy, who resigned as head coach from an underachieving Quinnipiac University program to take the position, will assist with NIL opportunities. This could be an intriguing factor for recruits.
Meanwhile, North Carolina has several roster spots open following multiple transfers and now have Dunlap slated for an April 30 visit.
Nebraska appears to be jockeying for front runner position, with head coach and former NBA guard Fred Hoiberg investing a lot into the recruitment process and already mapping out how to utilize Dunlap in their offensive schemes. He will make his visit this weekend.
With the non-stop movement on the transfer portal along with up to the minute news on enticing new outbound transfers, anything in the next day or week or month can change the dynamic of Dunlap's recruitment.