Kaleb Tarczewski, a 5-star center out of New Hampshire, originally planned to make a decision on which college to attend before his senior year of high school began. The first day of school was last friday, and sure enough, Tarczewski is yet to decide between Arizona and Kansas.
After announcing he would not have any in-home visits this weekend, Zeus, as his friends and teammates call him, has set two official visits: one to Kansas on September 17, and one to Arizona on September 24. All reports indicate the coveted big man is genuinely torn between both programs and a decision has been very tough on him.
One has to believe Arizona got the better date for the visit. For one, there's the football impact; the Jayhawks will be on the road when he visits and the campus should be relatively dull. The Wildcats will host the Oregon Ducks on the 24th, a game that will have 60,000 fans at Arizona Stadium, and a game that will have a raucous environment with ESPN being in town. The entire student body and thousands of fans will be out tailgating when Zeus visits Arizona. That's huge for Sean Miller and UA.
In addition, Kansas head coach Bill Self missed the opportunity to have Tarczewski on campus for the KU Basketball Alumni Game. This event figures to be a huge draw to Jayhawks fans and recruits everywhere, and Tarczewski won't be there for it. The big man knew of the event -- which is a pretty sweet idea -- and chose to visit Arizona instead. That means something.
Despite landing the better visit date, this by no means indicated Tarczewski will be a Wildcat. The big man could very well commit while on his visit to Lawrence next weekend and Bill Self has had a great, longstanding relationship with Kaleb.
As for an announcement, while Tarczewski has not set an official date to decide on a college, he has indicated multiple times he wants to wrap his recruitment up soon. If he passes on Kansas and takes his visit to Arizona, a decision could be coming shortly after September 24.
Stay tuned...