After spending a long weekend taking self-guided tours of two out-of-state campuses, class of 2021 forward Trey Kaufman is ready to narrow things down.
The 6-foot-8 Sellersburg, Ind. product announced his top five schools on Tuesday afternoon, naming Indiana, Virginia, North Carolina, Purdue and Indiana State.
Kaufman made the announcement on his Instagram page.
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Indiana, Virginia, North Carolina and Purdue have been thought to be Kaufman’s top schools for a while. The addition of Indiana State is somewhat of a surprise, although Kaufman has family connections to the Terre Haute school. His uncle Matt Renn is a hall of fame inductee at Indiana State.
Kaufman took self-guided visits to Virginia and North Carolina over the weekend. Those visits were his first on-site at the two ACC schools. Kaufman has previously visited IU and Purdue in person.
The NCAA continues to operate under a recruiting dead period, meaning the schools cannot host targets for live visits. That means that while Kaufman was able to see the Virginia and North Carolina campuses and facilities, he was unable to meet with players and coaches.
Kaufman previously told The Daily Hoosier that it would be difficult to commit to a school that he has not seen in person.
“It would be very hard to commit somewhere I haven’t visited, just because of (not knowing) the players and the culture,” Kaufman said in August.
Kaufman has said repeatedly this summer that his relationship with the players and overall fit with the culture of a program will be deciding factors when it comes to his college choice.
“You try to do the best job through virtual visits but it’s hard,” Kaufman said. “It’s very hard to get a sense of players. I want to know who is on my team. I want to meet with the players. You can’t do that on virtual visits.”
The reigning Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year, Kaufman averaged 25.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.1 steals per contest for Silver Creek High School. Kaufman helped lead the Dragons to a 25-2 mark before the season was interrupted. He shot 64 percent from the floor overall, including 40 percent from three-point range.
Kaufman is currently ranked No. 55 nationally according to the 247Sports Composite. He is the No. 16 power forward and the No. 2 player in the state of Indiana according to that same service.
Indiana currently has one verbal commitment in the class of 2021, Cincinnati center Logan Duncomb. Kaufman and Duncomb were AAU teammates. Current IU freshman guard Khristian Lander was in the class of 2021 before reclassifying.
MORE KAUFMAN COVERAGE
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Post Gatorade award | Start of 2020 AAU | End of 2020 AAU | Coach’s take
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Summer AAU highlights | 2019-20 high school highlights | Battle of the Brands highlights
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