Even if he moves up to the high school graduating class of 2022, five-star guard Kylan Boswell still has plenty of time to make a college decision.
But if his choices are between Arizona and Illinois, there’s probably no reason to wait, either. By now, Boswell already knows pretty much everything there is to know about the two schools that appear to be finalists.
Not only did the 6-foot-1, 180-pound guard in the Class of 2023 grow up in the Champaign-Urbana area where Illinois is based, but he’s also visited Arizona nearly a half-dozen times already, the latest last weekend when he took an official visit to soak up ESPN’s “College GameDay” show and the Wildcats’ charged win over Oregon.
“U of A’s atmosphere is crazy,” Boswell told the Star. “To have a packed gym for a game like that is pretty wild. That’s something I really like.”
Boswell plans to announce his college choice on Monday.
During his travels — he moved from Illinois to Southern California in 2018 and to Chandler last fall to join the AZ Compass Prep program — Boswell has gained a long list of college suitors. Interest in him picked up further last summer when Boswell led Corona Centennial High School to the Section 7 high school title in Phoenix and Team Why Not U16 to an EYBL Peach Jam title.
The other schools pursuing Boswell include Kansas, Michigan, Oregon, Texas Tech, UCLA and USC. Longer-term interest helped UNLV, Arizona and Illinois land official visits.
Boswell’s father, Brandon, said the UNLV visit stemmed from a longtime relationship the family has had with Rebels coach Kevin Kruger, who lived in Champaign, Illinois, when his father, Lon, coached the Illini in the late 1990s.
“They had an interest in Kyle and (Kevin Kruger) came to see him out in Section 7. They offered him around then, when Arizona did, and I think Illinois actually offered a little before,” Brandon Boswell said. “So those were kind of our early-interest programs who kept going, and that’s why we just wanted to make sure we visited them first.”
Even though he spent most of his life in Champaign, Boswell returned there earlier this month just to see how things have changed.
Brandon Boswell said it was “kind of crazy to hear his name chanted by the Orange Crush (student section),” while Kylan said he found it kind of surprising to see how much better the Illini are now than when he was growing up nearby.
“Illinois wasn’t really the best team at that time, so I wasn’t locked up with them,” Boswell said. “But coach (Brad) Underwood has done a really good job building the program back up… It was nice to come back and see everything. Come back home, basically.”
During the short time that Boswell has lived in Arizona, he’s also seen coach Tommy Lloyd take over what was a would-be fringe NCAA Tournament team last season (had the school not self-sanctioned) to what is now a potential No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed.
Boswell first visited the Wildcats in early August, about six weeks after Lloyd offered him a scholarship. He returned for the Red-Blue Game on Oct. 2.
Arizona Compass Prep's Kylan Boswell, right, defends a National Christian Academy player during a game last month. Boswell, a point guard, said he's impressed with UA coach Tommy Lloyd's transition offense.
Intrigued, Boswell also zipped down Interstate 10 for an early-season game, then caught the Wildcats’ home wins over UCLA and Oregon. He says he’s also made sure to catch the Wildcats on TV whenever he can, too.
“I’m definitely getting to watch Tommy throughout the year, to see how he is with his point guards because that’s my position, and see how the entire team plays,” Boswell said. “I love the transition offense. It’s really hard to guard. And Coach (Jack) Murphy, Coach ‘Rob’ (Steve Robinson), Coach Ricky (Fois) and all them are great assistants. So seeing seen this program just grow throughout the years has been an incredible thing.”
After making his official visit to Arizona last weekend, Boswell said it was “kind of nice” to see a great game for a change after having witnessed the Wildcats blow teams out during earlier visits.
The morning of the game, Boswell sat with Lloyd to watch the “College GameDay” broadcast from McKale Center, saying he also had a chance to meet ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, who played for Duke in the 1980s.
Bilas “was kind of telling me to take my time, be patient with my decision-making,” Boswell said. “This next decision I make is gonna be a path to my future.”
But Boswell has already put in plenty of time, especially with Arizona and Illinois, so Monday it is.
Rim shots
Utah coach Craig Smith said Tuesday that starting center Branden Carlson is “day-to-day” with an ankle injury, making him questionable for Arizona’s game with the Utes on Thursday. The Utes’ leading scorer, Carlson missed Arizona’s 82-64 win over Utah on Jan. 15 because of appendicitis.
Former UA guard Brandon Williams has reportedly agreed to a two-way contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. Williams signed a 10-day contract with the Trail Blazers earlier this season between stints with the G League’s Westchester Knicks, where he has averaged 22.8 points and 6.4 assists over 13 games.
