Another hoops recruit narrows list to include Gophers

Three-star shooting guard, Wade Baldwin of New Jersey, recently narrowed his list to five schools including the Gophers.

Baldwin, considered the 117th best recruit in the Class of 2014, cut his list down to just Minnesota, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, Rutgers and Pittsburgh after sporting offers from VCU, Northwestern, Harvard and Auburn.

He’s known to be a good passer and finisher at the rim with a defensive upside to his talents, but lacks in the ability to hit shots from long range, according to ESPN scouts.

Baldwin is one of three highly-touted recruits at St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, NJ. The other two are Karl Towns Jr., a 7-foot-1 five-star recruit who’s committed to Kentucky and Marques Townes, a three-star shooting guard who’s uncommitted for 2014.

Richard Pitino’s coaching staff has found much success in the northeast as they’ve been able to draw strong interest from several top recruits in that region, including Ja’Quan Newton and Isaiah Whitehead. The addition of Baldwin to this list shows the strength of Minnesota’s recruiting reach and could be a sign of good things to come — certainly a change from previous years under Tubby Smith.

Baldwin will likely make an official visit to Minnesota soon and plans to visit all the schools on his list, except for Rutgers. He goes to the state school of New Jersey a few times a month, according to the Star Tribune.

He’s expected to make his decision in October.

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