A few days ago, Louisville’s loss was suddenly everyone’s possible gain. Duke, North Carolina and Missouri, among others, were licking their proverbial chops at the opportunity to land top ranked shooting guard Rodney Purvis in their 2012 recruiting class after the talented guard backed out of his commitment to Louisville.
The bonus factor for Missouri is that they hired the very reason Purvis backed out in the first place — assistant coach Tim Fuller. Yet the distance between Fuller’s previous location in proximity to Purvis’ home in North Carolina and his current location at Mizzou might make the difference in the new recruiting battle. According to Tony Edwards, Purvis’ AAU basketball coach, Missouri might be out of the running simply because of distance:
But once you get past the relationship and establishing that, there are other areas of interest to his family, the right fit for Rodney, playing style, the school, distance. They don’t mind him being far from home but it’s not going to be excessively far.
For now, though, everyone must sit and wait. Edwards also says the family is in no hurry to make a new decision and that Louisville is still a possibility after the dust settles. While Missouri might be a long-shot, it’s still important to consider the ties to Fuller as strong enough to keep the Tigers in contention.