Northwestern basketball recruiting update: Talen Horton-Tucker adding impressive offers, Miller Kopp shines

If you read this site, you know that Northwestern basketball’s 2018 recruiting class is off to an incredibly hot start. Back in late June, Chris Collins and his staff made a huge splash when they landed four-stars Jordan Lathon and Pete Nance in less than a week.

After a disappointing 2017 cycle, basketball recruiting has been the most fun and interesting aspect of Northwestern sports to cover this summer (no offense, football summer guide). We told you what Lathon’s commitment meant, how landing Nance puts Northwestern closer to national relevance, and we’ve given you a scouting report on the duo.

Now it’s time for an update on what’s next. It’s been nearly three weeks since Nance’s commitment, and plenty has happened. One top target left Northwestern off his list of candidates. Another is receiving major offers left and right. And several have put up impressive performances in AAU ball. At this point, there appears to be three top targets for the two remaining spots (ICYMI: here’s the current scholarship situation).

Let’s get to it.

Talen Horton-Tucker receives MSU, FSU offers

Although he might not be the highest ranked recruit left on Northwestern’s radar, THT is definitely the biggest/most talked about name in NU recruiting circles. The local product from Simeon high school would seem to be a perfect fit with Lathon and Nance, but landing him is starting to look harder and harder, as he picked up some big name offers on Monday night.

At one point not too long ago (Monday), this appeared to be between Northwestern and Illinois. Now, THT might not stay in-state after all. Collins has been pursuing Horton-Tucker for quite some time, for what that’s worth, but this is going to be a dogfight.

Dwayne Cohill leaves Northwestern off Top 8

This news isn’t as fresh, but Cohill was arguably NU’s top remaining guard target. There had been reported mutual interest for a while, but ultimately, the Wildcats didn’t make the cut for the four-star from Cleveland.

The cupboard is now pretty bare in terms of 2018 shooting guard targets, with Cohill, Cormac Ryan and Robby Carmody having committed elsewhere. Northwestern does have 2017 SG Anthony Gaines coming in, so it’s not a huge deal.

Miller Kopp shows off scoring prowess at Adidas Gauntlet

With Cohill and other guards out of the picture, that leaves a trio of wings as Northwestern’s current most prized recruits: THT, Miller Kopp, and Saddiq Bey. I think Chris Collins’ ideal scenario is landing two of the three. There are other places he could look if he only gets one (or zero, but that seems unlikely), but these three are the main targets right now. Kopp, who Northwestern offered back in April, is another four-star with plenty of upside. The sweet-shooting swingman has been shining for his Houston Defenders AAU team lately, and Northwestern was present to watch him in the Under Armour Association finals last week. Kopp averaged just over 20 points per game, including a 30-point outburst. He’s got offers from Butler, Vanderbilt, Kansas State, Miami, Washington State, Texas A&M, and VCU, but Northwestern definitely has a decent shot.

Saddiq Bey also in the mix

He doesn’t get talked about as much as Horton-Tucker and Kopp, but Northwestern is definitely in hot pursuit of Bey, a four-star wing from D.C. Bey is a top-100 recruit and a great athlete who can score and rebound the ball. He’s got plenty of impressive offers, but don’t count Collins out.