Mesa Mountain View High School's superb 6-foot-10, 235-pound senior post Payton Dastrup has an impressive list of schools in hot pursuit of him for some time now. Dastrup has been one of the top-rated post prospects in the country for the past two years - compiling a long list of scholarship offers from college programs across the country.
This week, Dastrup decided to cut his long list of schools down to 7 different college programs, and the list is quite impressive.
Dastrup’s list of college offers includes such programs as Kansas, Ohio State, Florida, UCLA, Virginia, St. Johns, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, USC, Boston College, BYU, Cal, Colorado, N.C. State, Oregon State, Stanford, Texas A&M, Utah, Utah State, UC Davis and Washington State.
Dastrup's father, David Dastrup, advised me on Friday evening that his son has trimmed his list down to Arizona, Ohio State, Virginia, Florida, BYU, UCLA and Kansas, in no particular order.
Dastrup has already taken unofficial recruiting visits to Florida, Virginia, Stanford and BYU. He plans on taking official visits in September and October. Dastrup has not indicated if he has a current leader at this point, but he plans to make his decision this fall after taking official recruiting visits.
Arizona’s 2014 class of prospects has been billed as one of the top classes of prospects in state history, if not the best, and while some prospects in the class have not lived up to the billing, Dastrup continues to receive loads of high-major division-I interest. Dastrup is one of the elite post prospects in the country, and, as a result, has garnered significant recruiting interest from numerous high-major and elite-high major division-I programs across the country.
While playing this spring and summer with the Cal Supreme (CA) Nike-sponsored club program and competing in numerous Nike EYBL events, Dastrup saw his list of college offers soar.
Dastrup is a rare find among today’s college prospects, as he is a true post player with excellent physical size and strength. He also has good lift off the floor and plays the game with a professional approach to the game – taking care of his body and preparing for each contest.
Dastrup has also indicated that he plans to take a two-year Mormon mission after graduating from high school, and will not compete in college until the 2016-2017 college basketball season.
Arizona Preps will continue to follow the college recruitment of Dastrup closely this fall, and bring you any recruiting updates from him as they continue to develop.
Arizona Hoop Review Scouting Report: Dastrup is amng the elite low-post prospects in the country – possessing a large body with broad shoulders, size and strength. He is a physically well-put-together post prospect that already possesses the body of a high-major division-I post player. Possessing broad shoulders and being built like a tank, Dastrup is an absolute load physically. A strong low-post scorer with good athleticism for his size, Dastrup is an excellent finisher already around the basket and enjoys physical contact. Very well-coached in the Mountain View system, Dastrup is much like that of former Kansas star post and current NBA forward Nick Collison. Has very good and strong hands, a good motor and runs the floor hard. Has good low-post footwork and good low post moves. Has developed a good ability t shoot the basketball out to 15-18 feet, but does his best work inside the painted area. A big-time low-post prospect that with continued hard work could play at the NBA level in the future.
