*****Update 8/26/11 Created Fred VanVleet’s official recruit page, click to view.

***Update 7/4/11 Fred Van Vleet has Verbally Committed to play at Wichita State University. Read here.

Fred Van Vleet is a recruiting target for the program, and would be an addition to the 2012 recruiting class. He made an unofficial visit to campus this past week, and the word around his recruitment, is that he could make his decision as early as the beginning of July. You can read into his visit how you want, but I would venture to say that it was his last visit to any school, and he might have been looking for a reason to sign with WSU over his trip. You can expect to hear some news on his decision in the next few weeks. Van Vleet is currently the number two player in the entire state of Illinois, and is the number one point guard prospect in Illinois. He has great basketball skills, and a high basketball I.Q.

Illinois Prep Bulls-Eye had this to say about Van Vleet;

“One player who continues to climb the charts and has taken advantage of every opportunity that has come his way is 5’11 point guard Fred Van Vleet from Auburn High School in Rockford, IL.  Van Vleet was spectacular yesterday at the Northern Illinois UniversityTeam Camp at the Joy Of The Game Center in Deerfield, IL, including in an entertaining head-to-head battle versus 6’0 2012 guard Aaron Simpson from North Chicago High School in North Chicago, IL.

While the phrase “pure point guard” is often overused in basketball scouting circles, it cannot be emphasized enough when it comes to describing Van Vleet.  What separates Van Vleet from the rest of the pack is that he is ultra-competitive, knows how to win and has a basketball I.Q. that cannot be matched amongst other point guards in Illinois.  Van Vleet simply lulls defenses to sleep, consistently gets to the basket, never forces the action and as a result virtually never turns the ball over.  While the one gray area is the consistency of his perimeter shooting, it has gotten better and Van Vleet can keep defenses honest from beyond the arc when left unattended.

We believe that Van Vleet has shown that he is clearly the best point guard in the state from the 2012 class.  With Van Vleet’s outstanding play not only at the Northern Illinois University Team Camp but also throughout the entire spring, he has now firmly entrenched himself in the #2 spot in our rankings of the top prospects in Illinois from 2012.”

This write up for Fred really makes me excited to pick him up. To have a pure point guard run our offense come 2013 or 2014, I could only imagine the possibilities. Coach Dana Ford, who is from Illinois, which we’ve mentioned before could play a big role in WSU picking up Illinois talent, is the lead recruiter on Van Vleet. If we pick Fred up, I would say that hiring Coach Ford is already paying dividends.