Rose to Take Visit; Barton County Update
Justin Rose, a 6-2, 175 pound shooting/combo guard from Barton County C.C. in Great Bend, Kan., will take his first and likely only official visit of the fall this weekend.
According to a source familiar with Rose's recruitment, Rose will visit Murray State this weekend (Sept. 26-28).
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This isn't a complete surprise, as former Barton County Head Coach Ryan Wolf is now an assistant coach at Murray State. Wolf recruited Rose to Barton County out of high school in Junction City, Kan.
The source told us that Rose's only visit this fall will be to Murray State. Therefore, if Rose opts to sign early, it will be with Murray State. If not, the recruitment could get more involved this winter.
Rose was Barton's third leading scorer last year. He started 30 of 31 games for the Cougars, averaging 13 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He shot 55 percent from the field, 32 percent beyond the arc and 76 percent from the foul line.
In other Barton County news, 6-8, 250 pound power forward/center Joao Batista has seen several schools visit Great Bend this fall to express interest.
According to our source, Kansas, Hawaii, Illinois State and Wyoming have shown a great deal of early interest in Batista. Batista, however, isn't expected to take any fall visits and will probably sign late.
Some other players to keep an eye on this winter at Barton County include:
*Tyler Luke, a 6-6, 215 pound sophomore combo forward
*Michel Diboty, a 6-1, 180 pound point guard who red-shirted last year at New Mexico Mil.
*Rone Smith, an undersized 6-5, 220 pound power forward
*Julian Rose, a 6-2, 200 pound red-shirt freshman guard
*Joel Hannagan, a 5-10 shooting guard who last played at Garden City two years ago
*Aubrey Bruner, a 5-10 freshman point guard who earned Mr. Basketball honors in Kansas last year
*Antanas Kavaliauskas, a 6-10 freshman center from Lithuania
JUCO Junction plans on catching Barton County in December at the Jayhawk Shootout in Kansas. In the meantime, we'll stay abreast of any recruiting developments with the Cougar sophomores.