clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Marques Bolden Decision Date Set

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

The recruitment of Marques Bolden is thankfully coming to an end soon.

The five-star center will announce his college plans Thursday at a ceremony for Desoto High School after it originally looked like it would come Tuesday.

Whatever he opts to do, the long-lasting saga of Bolden will soon end as both schools move on with their teams. That's not knock on Bolden for taking this long to decide, which he has every right to do with such a life-altering decision.

That said, this recruitment has worn on a little too long as both Kentucky and Duke need a decision now so they can have somewhat of a chance to pursue a backup option.

After all, Bolden is such a key player for both schools as they lack a true center, and Bolden is not only the best in this class, but one of the top overall players. Though his ranking was in the 20-30 range in most major recruiting services during this cycle, Bolden got a significant bump when the final rankings came out for the 2016 class.

247 Sports Composite, which accounts for all the major services, had Bolden ranked as the 15th-best prospect and top-ranked center. He'll be a huge addition for whoever lands him, but the loser will still be great without him as both UK and Duke are championship contenders with or without Bolden.

At this point, it's just a matter of who's a stronger contender.