Was able to get ahold of Zach's dad, Mike Collins, late last night following his basketball game. It sounds like San Diego State is now a serious player for Zach. He took an unofficial last summer but this visit was completely different and the family feel much more comfortable about the school and coaching staff.
A lot of questions were answered.
-Mike called the visit "unexpectedly, really, really good," because "in the recruiting business, you hear all kinds of things, and it couldn't have been more opposite of what we were led to be believe."
(Gotta' think other schools have really been negative recruiting SDSU for whatever reason.)
-The other schools are Cal, Gonzaga, UNM and Utah. He's already visited Cal and SDSU officially. In two weeks, he'll be up in Utah. After that, he'll go to The Pit for a visit when the Lobos play UNLV (Rebels aren't really in consideration as of now). After that, he'll go visit Gonzaga for his final official. Zags' are considered the favorite. Utah's playing catchup. Cal, UNM and SDSU are right behind.
-Zach has told all the east coast schools on him that he's staying out west. A west coast school can sneak in and get an unnofficial visit but UNM, Utah and Gonzaga will likely get the officials no matter what.
-With the Collins family, there's supposedly no difference between an unofficial and official. They don't care too much for the wining and dining part of trips. There more about building a relationship with the staff and players and taking notes on how Zach will fit into the program's style of play.
Against Utah State, Angelo Chol and Skylar Spencer combined for 5-of-7 from the field, earning 10 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. More importantly, SDSU also got a lot of touches inside to JJ O'Brien and ran the offense through him as usual. If schools have been telling Collins 'San Diego State doesn't use their bigs,' he found out that the staff indeed does on Saturday.
It's also worth noting that the Collins' family understands that Spencer isn't exactly an offensive scoring machine and they know SDSU is known for adjusting their style of play to best suit the players abilities.The Aztecs don't have anyone that's like Zach, but if they did, he would be able to do what he's really good at doing on offense.
Collins' family also really liked the Aztecs pressing defense. At Bishop Gorman, where they also have five-star bigs Chase Jeter and Stephen Zimmerman, Collins sometimes has to play the wing and he helps a lot when the team runs a full court press. Mike said his son had six steals in his game last night, for example.
-Zylan Cheatham was Zach's official host during the trip but he also hung out with the entire team following the game.
(I'm assuming Collins is very aware of Cheatham's recruitment between SDSU and UNM, and I wouldn't be surprised if he asked him why he chose the Aztecs over the Lobos.)
Another note on Cheatham: Mike, who's also coached at a high level for a very long time, said Cheatham has LeBron James-esque athleticism. That's the first time I've heard that comparison.
-SDSU made it clear that they want Collins bad. In 2016, Chol and Spencer will be gone. Collins wouldn't arrive at a more perfect time. "We need him," Mike said Fisher told him.
-Mike on Fisher: "He's the most genuine, big-hearted person we've ever met during this process."
Collins knows that Fisher is year-to-year in terms of retiring despite the three-year contract but they like that there will be continuity with Brian Dutcher whether he leaves or not.
-Zach Collins will decide on a school sometime between March and May. He wants to get his recruitment done early so he can enjoy his senior year and begin receiving coaching (and criticism) from the college staff before he even enrolls in school.
This post was edited on 2/3 1:42 PM by RubenMeza
http://sports.yahoo.com/sandiegostate/basketball/r
