Texas Basketball Recruiting: 4-star SG Cassius Stanley trending toward UCLA?

The pursuit of a target of the ’19 Texas basketball recruiting class, four-star shooting guard Cassius Stanley, is moving his interest exclusively in-state.

There’s very few targets left for this 2019 Texas basketball recruiting class before it’s all said and done next year on National Signing Day. The Early Signing Period saw all three commits for this 2019 Texas basketball recruiting class signing each National Letter of Intent. With those three signees in store, the Texas basketball recruiting class ranks as the 15th best in the nation.

However, the one target for Texas basketball recruiting class that appears to be out of its grasp is four-star Chatsworth, CA, and Sierra Canyon High School shooting guard Cassius Stanley. Pretty much every program from this region of the country is on the outside looking in for Stanley’s recruitment. That includes Texas basketball recruiting and the Kansas Jayhawks.

With some early momentum in his recruitment entering the summer of 2018, Stanley looked to have the Texas Longhorns in mind as a dark horse program to land his commitment. However, the California native mostly kept his interest to PAC-12 and regional schools in general.

According to the 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions, Stanley has a 42 percent chance to land with the UCLA Bruins. That leaves the USC Trojans with a 33 percent chance at snagging him and the Oregon Ducks at eight percent.

However, two of the more significant events of late in the recruitment of Stanley were an official visit and offer from the Jayhawks back in late September. He hasn’t had much happen in his recruitment since the end of September. That could give the high-flying and ultra-athletic shooting guard some extra time to think out his final decision.

Stanley ranks as the No. 28 2019 high school prospect in the nation and the third best shooting guard. He is also the third best prospect out of the state of California. Stanley holds more than a dozen offers, mostly from high-profile programs with interest from coast-to-coast. Some of the schools that offered him ranged geographically from the Georgetown Hoyas all the way to UCLA.

Whoever lands Stanley will get its hands on a top tier shooting guard that plays above the rim. Stanley is one of the most athletic guards in this recruiting cycle, but he also possesses the capability of spacing the floor and facilitating an offense.

If head Texas basketball coach Shaka Smart could get his hands on a commitment from Stanley, it could help make an immediate impact. It just seems like too much of a long-shot at this point for the Horns to nab Stanley away from some in-state favorites like UCLA and USC.

Texas basketball recruiting did pry five-star center Will Baker away from the clutches of the Bruins and Stanford Cardinal, but Stanley might not be as easy to get. Stanley looks to be trending toward some of the bigger California schools for his final decision, which should be looming in the next month or two. UCLA head coach Steve Alford could be a happy camper once that’s announced.