The recent addition of Anthony Coleman to the Arizona State staff was naturally going to bring some new prospects to its recruiting board. One of those recruits is 6-7 Lutheran East (Ohio) forward, Jalin Billingsley whose relationship with Coleman has generated interest with the ASU program.

“I was a little surprised when Anthony Coleman gave me that Arizona State offer,” Billingsley said. “He offered me when he was at Colorado, so I didn’t know if he was going to offer me again after he moved to Arizona State. But he said he still wanted me to be able to play with him, so he offered me from there too.”

“Coach Coleman and me have been really close for a little bit. I can be myself with him. He relates to me. He’s kind of young too, so it all just feels natural, just the relationship we have. He reminds me a lot of my high school coach too. They’re about the same age.

“He started recruiting me when I was a sophomore, and we have been building a relationship ever since then. He says he thinks I could play at that level and that the Pac-12 will be a good conference for me with my combination of skill and toughness.”

The 2021 forward who models his game after NBA star Paul George said that his playmaking abilities are his dominant trait.

“I think my biggest strength is being able to create for myself and others,” Billingsley remarked. “My biggest weakness is probably consistency right now.”

Billingsley admitted that he is just getting to know ASU head coach Bobby Hurley, bt already knows that he’s “a legend” and plans to view the ESPN E:60 piece that featured Hurley as well as do some more online research.

“Coach Coleman told me how coach Hurley is a really good person,” Billingsley remarked, “and how it just travels down from him to the rest of the coaching staff. Everybody there at Arizona State just wants the best for me. I have been on a lot of Facetime calls with Coach Coleman and we talked about doing a virtual tour when my schedule is less busy.”

Penn State, Temple, Georgetown, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech and VCU are the schools that Billingsley mentioned are recruiting him the hardest along with ASU. He added that to date he had visited Dayton, West Virginia and Ohio State. The Sun Devils are the only school that would be considered a primary suitor that isn’t located in the Eastern time zone, and Billingsley noted that he wouldn’t have that aspect tilt his recruitment process.

“When I was younger, I said I wanted to go away from home,” Billingsley recalled, “but I’ve been talking to people who have been saying it’s better to stay close to home. I feel I will go anywhere in the country. So that (distance) is not a problem for me.”

The ASU prospect is more fortunate than many other players in his class when it comes to the recruiting attention he has been receiving. Nonetheless, with the recruiting evaluation period which was supposed to take place this month and now is questionable due to COVID-19, Billingsley has mixed emotions about potentially never playing again with his AAU club Nike True Game.

“I’m definitely happy with where I am,” Billingsley stated. “I didn’t think I would be this far from the start of my freshman year. But I would love to play AAU, ball not just for offers, but just to be able to play against the best competition. But if I didn’t get another offer after today, I would be perfectly fine. And if I did get more offers, I’d be perfectly happy as well.

“The hardest thing (under COVID-19) has been being able to still get in shape and workout. That’s been the hardest for sure. Also, the recruiting has been hard too, because now we have to do phone calls and can’t visit.”

Billingsley fully intends on signing his Letter of Intent in November, and has a fairly clear idea of which schools he plans to visit officially, once the recruiting dead period ends.

“I’m definitely going to go to Georgetown, Cincinnati, and Virginia Tech.” Billingsley said. “I’ve been to West Virginia and Dayton already. I would love to go to Arizona State. I got to go to Temple too.”

“When I commit to a school, the biggest thing for me is fit, and who shows me they want me the most. That way, I can know they genuinely have a plan for me. They can show me they got a plan for me and not just saying they want me because other schools are saying they want me.”