Decision date set for state of SC’s top hoops prospect

South Carolina’s top basketball prospect is close to making his college decision.

Porter-Gaud’s Josiah James plans to announce his college choice Wednesday at his high school at 10:30 a.m., according to his coach, John Pearson.

James’ final three schools are Clemson, Duke and Tennessee. He made an official visit to Clemson over the weekend and to Tennessee two weeks ago.

James canceled his official visit to Duke. Eight of the 10 Crystal Ball projections by 247Sports have James going to Clemson. The Tigers have three spots open for Class of 2019, with the lone commit so far Chase Hunter of Westlake (Ga.).

Pearson said the family is handling all of the final details but, in his opinion, James is set on where he wants to go to school.

“I believe so, if they are doing this,” Pearson said. “I’m fairly certain it has come to a head. I think he’s pretty much done.”

James also considered South Carolina and Michigan State but trimmed them off his list. James’ father played at Michigan State.

The 6-foot-6 James is ranked as a five-star prospect and 14th-best prospect in the country, according to 247Sports. He averaged 10.6 points and 6.6 assists last season in helping the Cyclones to their third straight SCISA 3A title.

James was a member of Team USA’s U18 National team that went 6-0 and won the gold medal in the FIBA Americas U18 championship. He averaged 5.3 points and six rebounds in the tournament.

Clemson coach Brad Brownell had an in-home visit with the family last week, and he and his staff got the final face-to-face meeting over the weekend. Pearson said the Tigers made an excellent case for why James should stay in-state for his collegiate endeavors.

“We got there and it was exactly what I expected,” Pearson said. “I thought they covered all the bases. Josiah had a great time. I thought he got along with the team real well. Clemson is going to be good next year. I saw them practice. They’re tough. I really think they did a really good job.”

James also got the chance to see the campus and learn more about the academic side of things from an athlete’s perspective.

“The way things are set up, if they need help with some of their academics, they are set up for that kind of help. They explained all that,” Pearson said. “They’re ready. Clemson, they have their stuff together and I thought they did a great job explaining it.”

This story was originally published September 16, 2018 at 8:41 PM.