It has taken awhile for Bella Vista Prep 7-foot-1, 220-pound senior post prospect Rick Issanza to see his college recruitment take off to the level I had expected when I first saw him perform three years ago, but it has now picked up a great deal and seems to be making up for lost time. Last week, Issanza had a big week of offers and could become one of the hottest prospects in America's 2019 class this fall, and possibly next spring.
Late last week, after waiting for his college recruitment to take off, Issanza received two big offers from members of the Big-12 Conference, as Texas Tech and Texas Christian both extended offers to Issanza. Issanza already held offers from Oklahoma and Denver as well, and many more schools now are looking to get involved after the recent attention that he has received. It will be very interesting to see what other schools look to get involved, now that high-level programs have committed themselves to Issanza. It will also be very interesting to see whether Issanza will pop this fall, or wait until the spring to make his college decision. He does not currently have a clear leader in his college recruitment.
Academics will be the key for this tremendous talent, as he is a native of Africa and has traveled a lot in his young career. There will be some work to do academically I am sure, but he is working very hard to make it happen for himself .
Issanza is a rare find as a result of his tremendous size and length. He is a long and strong basketball post prospect that runs the floor and has a variety of offensive skills. He has unique size and agility, which allows him to make plays around the basket with a soft touch and with advanced footwork. He runs the floor extremely well, and is an excellent finisher in transition, where he gets to the rim and finishes above it.
It is a major surprise that more college programs have not shown much more recruiting attention to Issanza until recently, but I expect programs to now get in line for the promising post talent.
Issanza played this spring and summer with Cal Supreme (CA) on the Nike EYBL circuit, and played very well - impressing many college programs that observed him throughout the club season. Very few post prospects in America possess Issanza's unique size and length, and his true potential for the future. With continued hard work and development, Issanza will become an NBA prospect over time.
I look forward to watching this young man continue to develop, and will bring you any recruiting updates as they continue to develop this fall.
Arizona Hoop Review Scouting Report: Issanza is a rare find as a result of his tremendous size and length. He is a long and strong basketball post prospect that runs the floor and has a variety of offensive skills. He has unique size and agility, which allows him to make plays around the basket with a soft touch and with advanced footwork. He has developed low-post skills and a good jump hook and drop-step on the baseline. He blocks or changes almost every shot in his area, and is also able to extend and alter shots outside of his area when he decides to. Issanza runs the floor extremely well, and is an excellent finisher in transition, where he gets to the rim and finishes above it. He is a good low-post scorer that spends his time in the post to make shot attempts, and also finds the open man on the floor when double-teamed. Also an active rebounder that rebounds outside of his area. Has unlimited potential and upside as a player. A sure-fire pro prospect for the future, and if he continues to work hard, the sky is the limit for him.
