Indiana’s scholarship offer to Arrinten Page in early April was his first from a high major program, and he didn’t appear in any national rankings at the time.
Up to that point, the 6-foot-9 Atlanta, Ga. product (Wheeler H.S.) had been flying under the radar, wondering when his recruitment might take off.
He now has his answer, and Page has his hands full.
The IU offer marked the beginning of what has become a whirlwind spring for Page, who now claims at least nine high major offers over the last two months along with a lot more interest from others, and he made his debut in the class of 2023 rankings in the 247Sports top-60 as a 4-star prospect.
“It’s been very overwhelming at times, but I’ve just gotta do what I’ve gotta do,” Page told The Daily Hoosier on Saturday at the Nike EYBL session in Louisville, Ky. “It’s all coming pretty fast. It’s just been a lot of traveling to be honest, to different schools, and different tournaments.”
A major part of Page’s spring emergence has been the motor he plays with. He can impact the game in a number of ways despite not always having the ball, including rebounding, blocking shots, defending inside and out, and running the court. When he’s on top of his game, it seems like Page is making his presence felt on every possession.
“When he’s ready to play, he’s capable of being one of the best bigs at 17u,” head coach of The Skills Factory 2023 EYBL team and longtime NBA player George Lynch told The Daily Hoosier on Saturday.
Page says he is working on developing his lateral quickness, athleticism, and jump shot this summer. He’s already proficient at all three but wants to take things to another level. He’s an interesting study positionally at the high major level. Page said he believes he’s a stretch-four. His head coach thinks he could be a four or a five.
“I think he’s a stretch four, but depending on what conference he’s in he could play the five, and depending on how they play,” Lynch said. “The way the game is going he could be a five man, with his motor I could see him almost being like a (Bam) Adebayo from Miami. With a little bit more development, he can get there.”
Because he’ll be a high school senior, Page is trying to be fully engaged in his recruitment as well as his development, and a few factors have started to emerge as his keys when it comes to making a college decision.
“I’m taking it very seriously, from the education, to how they play, to the environment, and everything like that,” Page said.
While he says recruiting has been overwhelming at times, Page says he is getting used to the process, and four schools — Indiana, Cincinnati, USC and Missouri — are pushing the hardest right now. He’s taken official visits to Missouri and USC so far, and Page said he had a visit with Cincinnati right after the weekend in Louisville.
As far as Indiana goes, Page intends to get to Bloomington, but more likely after AAU basketball ends.
“Later in the summer I’ll have a visit with Indiana,” he said.
With his deep Georgia ties, IU coach Yasir Rosemond did the early work to get Indiana involved, and Page enjoys his interaction with the energetic assistant.
“He’s a cool dude, very young, he knows about the younger generation and stuff like that,” Page said of Rosemond.
When it comes to the IU program overall, a couple things are standing out so far.
“Coach Woodson has told me about their play style and how he gets everybody involved in the offense, and I like that,” Page said. “It’s like a big family over there, and just real good people over there.”
With everything happening so fast and relatively late for Page, he says he is still thinking about a timetable for reaching a decision.
Indiana has two guard commits in their 2023 class so far, so look for them to continue to push on one of their top big man targets, however long it takes.
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