A prospect that brought a large college coaches following at the Lonestar Challenge was TJ Ford Austin’s talented big man, DJ Thorpe. A row of coaches were present in every game Thorpe played in as Kansas State, Texas A&M, Houston, TCU, Tennessee, Virginia and several other High Major programs came down to see one of the top big men in the 2019 class. This weekend DJ provided why Power 5 Conference programs are making him a priority.
The son of former NBA player and All Star, Otis Thorpe, DJ at the Lonestar Challenge has widen his game and his ability to finish at a high clip in the paint, his size, strength and skill was in full display. Thorpe holds offers from Tennessee, Kansas State, Virginia, Oklahoma State, TCU, Tulsa and Texas A&M. The Lake Travis product has received interest from programs in the Big East, Big 12 and ACC.
“Out of all the schools that have offered, I have heard most from Virginia, Kansas State, Tennessee. I have received new interest from Texas Tech, Notre Dame, Georgetown and Creighton.”
The only school that Thorpe has visited is Texas A&M, which is where his sister goes to school. However, Thorpe has had two home visits and he talks to Texasboysbasketball.com about it.
“I have only taken unnoficial visits to Texas A&M as my sister goes to school there, but I plan on visiting more schools later in the summer, probably around July,” Thorpe said. “I have had two home visits from Tennessee and Penn State and both went very good. Both schools are very high on me, see me as a fit in their program and believe I can come right away and produce.”
Thorpe has been on the texasboysbasketball.com radar since his 8th grade year and now, a prospect that is in the process of turning the corner, Thorpe is potential top 10 prospect in his class and DJ discusses the two things that he tries to control in order to maximize his abilities.
“Two most consistent things are motor and consistency. I’ve stressed on myself to continue to have those attributes to my development and as long as I’m consistent on working on my craft and working out, good things will come.”
The number 12 prospect in the 2019 class, Thorpe is building a body of work on making a case to be a top 10 player in his class. With Charles Bassey in a class of his own in the PF/C department, the staff believe Thorpe is there in the mix with the other high major big men Talent such as Drew Timme, Tyreek Smith and Will Baker.
Edited by AB