ASU lands 2016 Top-100 recruit Bailey

Last month, Rivals100 2016 recruit Brendan Bailey visited Arizona State and gushed about the program and possibility of attending the school with his sister, who plays volleyball for the Sun Devils.

Fast-forward to this holiday weekend, when Bailey, a small forward at American Fork High School in Highland, Utah, returned with family and left as a future Sun Devil.

"We came down for Thanksgiving and to watch her play and watch the men's team play," Bailey said. "I just kind of knew it was the perfect fit for me and I have a great relationship with the coaching staff and my sister goes there so we'll be going to the same school at the same time which is pretty cool."

The No. 79 overall recruit in the 2016 class, Bailey said he has grown two inches since this summer, up to 6-foot-8. His primary position is small forward but he could play anywhere on the perimeter with his skill set and mobility.

"I'm really excited and can't wait a couple years to go to Arizona State and play," Bailey said. "I just love it, the campus and atmosphere and everything is awesome so I just can't wait.

"The time I've spent with the coaches, we've just established a great relationship. My family has known coach (Stan) Johnson for a while too. My dad and him have been friends for a while and that just helped build ours stronger. I feel like I can trust them not just with basketball but with life."

Bailey's father is former NBA standout Thurl Bailey, a skilled 6-foot-11 forward who played his college career at N.C. State, where ASU head coach Herb Sendek previously coached.

"He hasn't know him personally that long but he has known him and followed him," the younger Bailey said of his father and Sendek.

ASU, BYU, Tulsa, Southern Utah and Utah offered scholarships at the time of his commitment, Bailey said, and Cal, Colorado, Gonzaga, N.C. State, Notre Dame, Oregon State, Stanford and Texas were also involved.

"Ever since July I think I've gotten a lot better from there," Bailey said in a previous interview. "I'd added more stuff to my game and I think my defense has come a long way. I feel like I've gotten a lot stronger too because the physical part is so much tougher, and the mental part too, so you have to get a lot stronger."

Bailey is friends with a few fellow 2016 high-profile Utah recruits, No. 31 prospect Frank Jackson, No. 141 recruit Gavin Baxter and three-star recruit Yoeli Childs, all of whom have also visited ASU already.

"I think [the commitment] has a little bit of influence on them and I'm really going to try to get them there because we're really good friends and I've played basketball with them for a while so I'm definitely going to try to recruit them to come play with me," Bailey said.