2021 Forward Will Felton commits to the Sun Devils
The recruiting process between Arizona State and Hargrave (Va.) Military academy forward Will Felton was one that spanned over just a few months but was also one that was highly effective and culminated with Felton pledging to ASU Sunday morning.
“I’ve been talking a lot to coach (Anthony) Coleman and coach Hurley, and they told me all about the program,” Felton said. “I’ve been looking up about them on my own too. I really like the atmosphere there, and I think it would be a good place to be at. I saw that their bigs were on the All-Conference teams, and I like how they use them. I know that they get labeled as a ‘guard school’ but they do use their bigs a lot."
Felton reported averages of 20 ppg and 10 rpg last season. National Recruiting Analyst, Eric Bossi, said that the North Carolina native was an “under the radar/late blooming talent” in the 2021 class. In the recent Rivals.com rankings, he made the jump from being the no. 49 power forward in the class to the no. 34 ranked such prospect.
“Will Felton could end up as one of those guys that sneaks up on schools and evaluators,” Bossi described. “His offensive repertoire is still developing, but he’s got long arms, a great frame, good instincts on the glass and plays with some motor. As he fills out and matures, he could get looks at all levels.”
"The Arizona State coaches like my rebounding," Felton said, "They not only like my scoring but also my ability to guard smaller players on a switch and not putting the team at a disadvantage. I'm not only a back to the basket player; I can space out the floor with my quickness."
It's been well documented how challenging the recruiting process in any sport can be for prospects during a pandemic and with the inability to visit schools in-person nor have coaches make the trek to a player's school or home to build a relationship. With the recruiting dead period now extending until January 2021, Felton joins many prospects in his class that have committed to a school and will sign with that program sight unseen. This is why building a formidable relationship under those circumstances with Arizona State assistant coach Anthony Coleman was naturally significant in the forward's decision today.
"Coach Coleman is always easy to talk to," Felton commented. "He didn't always talk to me about basketball and would ask him how I'm doing outside of basketball. I really liked his personality because he treated me like family. Coach Hurley was the same personality, and I liked how much knowledge of the game he had. I thought that was very important when he would show me things about the game that I didn't know and that every player should know.
"It's hard to learn about the school virtually, but I still liked it. A lot of it was new to me because I haven't been to the West Coast before, and I still thought it was pretty cool. We just build a really good relationship first. Then I looked into the school more, and I like what I saw. When I committed to them, they were really excited. I did expect to commit this early and get the recruiting over with."
Mercer and Charleston were the other schools that Felton was seriously considering in recent weeks. Miami (Fla.) was another notable offer he had received during his recruiting process and was pursuing him in earnest.
Felton indicated that he plans to sign with ASU in the November signing period, which is scheduled for November 11-18. The Sun Devils' other commit, 6-6 guard Demari Williams is also expected to ink his name with ASU at that time.
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