Corey Maggette knows he’s not like other kids. When it comes time for teenagers to select a college, most look at the school’s academic reputation, postgraduate career opportunities and, of course, campus life.
Sure, Maggette looks at those factors. But there’s more to it for the Fenwick senior.
He happens to be one of the most highly coveted basketball recruits in the country.
That, Maggette says, means he has to look at choosing a college as a business decision. He is expected to make his choice known on Wednesday.
“Basketball is all about the business now,” Maggette said, the recruiting grind having left him with a certain worldliness not found in many 17-year-olds. “You have to look at the academics and the campus, and I try to think of myself as a regular student. But I can’t think about it that way. It’s for the rest of my life. I have to make the best possible decision.”
High school seniors certainly view selecting a college as a life choice. Its importance is magnified when the potential to earn millions of dollars in the NBA is riding on a prospect’s college career.
Now, on the eve of the NCAA’s early signing period, Maggette has yet to announce his decision.
The 6-foot-6-inch All-State forward has narrowed it down to three primary choices: Duke, Illinois and Stanford. He also considered Kentucky, Connecticut, Villanova, Clemson and Georgetown.
“It’s crazy, with coaches and press calling all the time,” Maggette said. “I’ve just tried to enjoy (the recruiting experience). It only happens once.”
“The phone is ringing constantly at my home and (Maggette’s) home, with coaches and reporters wanting to know of any updates,” Fenwick coach John Quinn said. “Last week I got 21 phone calls in two hours.”
Maggette averaged 23 points and 10 rebounds last season. He has been considered a top prospect since his freshman year, when he averaged 21 points on Fenwick’s varsity, and he has sifted through thousands of recruiting letters and phone calls from college coaches.
He has qualified academically for a scholarship and he has made it clear his first priority is getting a good education. Only schools with solid academic reputations were given serious consideration. It’s no wonder, then, that he picked Stanford and Duke, two of the most well-respected colleges in the country, and Illinois, one of the better state schools.
“It has been a very orderly process,” Quinn said. “His family always has said this is the first and only time they’ll ever be in this position, so the most important thing they get is the information that helps him get a good feeling of going to a school.
“The most important thing to him always has been that he gets his college degree. He’s looking for a combination of both athletics and academics and a place that will allow him to grow up. He and his family are smart and mature enough to know he has a lot of growing up to do. Not all kids realize that.”
Maggette’s mother, Marguerite, said family discussions have centered on academics.
“We’ve basically tried to let him decide which school fits him best,” she said. “Naturally, we give our input and try to encourage him, but we want him to be comfortable in making the decision. We’d just like a balance between academics and a good basketball program.”
Eventually, Maggette cut his list down to the final three and made weekend visits, which enabled him to see each campus firsthand.
He said he loved the picturesque setting of Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif., as well as the school’s academic standards and the coaching staff. Stanford, with one of the leading business schools in the country, would be a natural fit for Maggette. He plans to study business and architectural management.
The only drawback to the California school, he said, is the distance–it’s a four-hour flight from Chicago.
“Nothing beats Stanford’s campus,” Maggette said. “It’s the best in the world. It’s a long way from home, but I don’t want to make that a big factor. If I like the school, I should go there.”
Illinois might seem a more logical choice because it’s less than a three-hour drive from home. Maggette said he knows and likes several of the current and future Illini players, including freshman Sergio McClain and recruit Frankie Williams of Peoria Manual. Plus, Maggette is already something of a hero in Champaign: Hundreds of fans carrying signs saying “We want you Corey!” showed up when he made his official visit the same weekend as the team’s first preseason scrimmage.
Quinn says there are two factors working against Illinois, however. Coach Lon Kruger has proved himself as an effective in-state recruiter, getting the trio of McClain, Williams and Marcus Griffin that led Manual to a record fourth consecutive state title last year.
But it’s not a done deal. Griffin didn’t meet minimum NCAA academic standards and is now playing at Lincoln Land Community College. Williams has not yet qualified, though Manual coach Wayne McClain expects him to do so.
The second drawback at Illinois is the hero factor, Quinn said. If Maggette has a fantastic senior season and is named Mr. Basketball in Illinois, the pressure for him to be an immediate superstar could be too much. (See Marcus Liberty, Mr. Basketball 1987).
Maggette’s third option, then, seems to have the best of everything. Like Stanford, Duke is one of the country’s finest academic institutions, and it’s a little closer to home (just a 1 1/2-hour flight). And in Durham, N.C., Maggette would be just another good prospect in a recruiting class of All-Americans, which means he wouldn’t be viewed as a basketball savior.
“I don’t think he’s fully worked out in his mind where he wants to go,” Quinn said. “His family and I will give him advice, but he’s making the decision. I’ve been very impressed with how intelligently he has done this. He can’t go wrong.”
The final decision, Maggette said, will come down to a gut feeling.
“I have to pray about it,” he said. “If it’s the right decision, I’ll go to that school. It’s going to be a lot of stress, but I’m not going to think about that. I just want to make the best possible decision, get it over with and focus on basketball.”
