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Jeff Borzello
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Jeff Borzello
Basketball recruiting insider
- Jeff Borzello is a basketball recruiting insider. He has joined ESPN in 2014.
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Paul Biancardi
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Paul Biancardi
Basketball Recruiting
- National Recruiting Director for ESPN.com
- 18 years of coaching experience at Division I level
- Former Horizon League coach of the year at Wright State
Top-50 small forward Bo Ogden committed to Texas on Tuesday, giving Sean Miller his first high school recruit since taking over the Longhorns last spring.
Ogden’s father is Texas general manager Chris Ogden, who was the Longhorns’ team captain in 2002-03 and spent eight years as an assistant coach under Rick Barnes in Austin. But it wasn’t always a lock that Ogden would end up following in his father’s footsteps; Tennessee was considered a legitimate threat for most of the past few months, and Purdue also made Ogden’s final list of three.
His relationship with Miller won out.
“Coach Miller was the ultimate reason I picked Texas. I watched his practices, and he is a great teacher, which I value,” Ogden told ESPN. “The relationship between myself and Coach Miller developed organically. He watched me play to make sure I was a good fit. After he decided that, he recruited me. He knows what it takes to develop players and has done it at a high level.
“He is competitive, energetic and a smart coach. He is going to play the most competitive guys to win, and that’s what I am about.”
Ogden’s father being there is a bonus.
“Texas offers excellent resources and has a powerful brand, and being close to my family is an added plus,” he said.
A 6-foot-5 wing out of Westlake High School (Texas), Ogden was one of the best scorers on the Adidas 3SSB circuit in the spring and summer. He’s ranked No. 42 in the SC Next 100, a top-20 player at his position. Ogden is one of the best catch-and-shoot and movement shooters in the country. He plays with a high basketball IQ, toughness and understands how to move without the ball to create space for his jumper. Defensively, he demonstrates strong awareness, applies pressure on the ball and works to stay in front of the dribbler with a commitment to help-side defense and rebounding.
Ogden averaged 20.9 points on the Adidas circuit, ranking ninth in scoring. He shot an eye-popping 52.8% from 3-point range, making 3.5 shots per game from behind the arc, while knocking down 86% of his free throw attempts.
Miller now has his first high school recruit in the fold since replacing Rodney Terry as Texas’ head coach in the spring. He kept top-100 recruit John Clark, who had committed to the Longhorns under Terry, then signed two international prospects and five transfers.
