The Portal: An update on Tari Eason's transfer recruitment
The Cincinnati men's basketball program is amidst change as six players entered the transfer portal this offseason. One of the biggest names to enter and leave the Bearcats?
Tari Eason.
Eason was rated as a four-star prospect in high school. The 6-foot-8 forward out of Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington was awarded for his great freshman year and was named to the AAC’s all-freshman team after posting season averages of 7.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, and more than one block and one steal per game.
In high school, Eason was viewed as a Top-50 prospect by many and he held offers from Colorado, USC, Washington State, with interest from Texas, Florida, and a slew of other programs. Point is, Eason was legit in high school and his ceiling has the only rose since his arrival on the college scene.
That ceiling is now being recognized.
After entering the portal, Eason heard from a slew of programs including Washington, Arizona, UCLA, Washington State, Pittsburgh, and plenty of other programs.
As far as where things currently stand, Eason said the following programs are still heavily involved in his transfer process: Marquette, Florida, LSU, Washington, Washington State, Pepperdine, Iowa State, and Arizona.
Now, let’s talk about these schools.
The first program I typed in there was Marquette. Tari Eason told Stockrisers.com that he’s had communication with Marquette’s new head coach and former Texas head man, Shaka Smart. Justin Gainey was recruiting Eason after his name hit the portal and then the Golden Eagles faced a coaching change which landed Smart in Milwaukee.
Next up you have the West Coast schools. I asked him for quick thoughts on Wazzu, Pepperdine, and Washington. He said the following:
Washington: “UW would be a big one too just because it would mean going back out there to Seattle if I opted to go there and I also have a good relationship with Will Conroy.”
Washington State: “My guy Noah [Williams] goes there and I also enjoy the way that they play and have a pretty longstanding relationship with the coaches.”
Pepperdine: “Pepperdine is a really nice place. Coach Romar obviously has had a lot of success with guys and the league in the past as well as his relationship with my coaches, which is very good.”
Arizona’s Sean Miller was expected to complete a virtual meeting with Eason at some point but he has yet to begin the virtual meeting process as he is in the process of going back home after entering the transfer portal. I expect more programs to try and enter the mix as Eason is a major upside forward who didn’t even touch the surface yet.