Don’t expect Brett Kingma to announce his college choice any time soon.
On Tuesday I talked to Gregg Kingma, Brett’s dad, who said his son has decided to fully enjoy the recruiting process and keep his options open. That means that Brett — a high-scoring, smooth-shooting 6-foot-2 guard from Jackson High School in Mill Creek — probably won’t make a verbal commitment to a college until after his junior season in 2010.
Back in late November, Gregg Kingma said Brett was considering giving a verbal commitment to one of the many college programs recruiting him. At that point, Gonzaga University was at the top of Brett’s list.
Why the change in approach?
“One thing Brett decided after talking to a lot of coaches and different advisers that we respect in the basketball community,” Gregg Kingma said, “(is) he’s not going to commit early anywhere and just enjoy the recruiting process and see what happens — just kind of see what opportunities there are instead of just committing to someone and shutting off the recruiting process.”
Verbal commitments are non-binding. As a member of the Class of 2011, Brett Kingma can’t officially sign an NCAA National Letter of Intent and accept a scholarship until November of 2010.
In addition to colleges that made offers to Kingma last year, Seattle University has offered a scholarship to the guard, Gregg Kingma said. Seattle U’s new head men’s basketball coach is Cameron Dollar, who recruited Kingma when he was as assistant coach at the University of Washington.
Brett is playing with confidence after recovering from the arm fracture that wiped out much of his sophomore season at Jackson, Gregg Kingma said. Brett’s AAU team is playing in a tournament in Las Vegas this week. The team wraps up its summer schedule next week in L.A.
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