As top 2023 hoops prospect Isaiah Collier preps for his decision on Nov. 16, JasonJordanSI went all-access for a peek behind the curtain as he and his family candidly weighed each school while mourning the tragic loss of his cousin
Marietta, Georgia covers just over 23 square miles—a stone’s throw from Atlanta and its infamous, traffic-ladened pop-and-glitz vibe. It might as well be clear across the country.
Wheeler High's star recruit plans to reveal his decision on Nov. 16, the last day of the NCAA Basketball Early Signing Period, but on this late October evening, he “has no idea” which program to pick. “We talk about it sometimes,” Dwain says of discussions about the recruitment process. “But it’s an important conversation to have because this is a big decision.”may not even capture the magnitude for a player of Isaiah’s caliber. He’s already a schoolboy legend in arguably the most basketball talent-rich state in the country, leading Wheeler to two state titles in three years.
"Of course I know what Isaiah is going through; this is a big decision," Mgbako says. "It’s not easy. For me, it was easier when I found trust in the people I hold dearest to me and just let things be the way they are. It’s not too difficult when you have people by your side that can help you through it. That's the best advice I'd give him."“He’ll just randomly ask us sometimes what we’re thinking,” Chandra says.
The aftermath has been devastating, to say the least; evident in the tears that stream down Chandra’s cheeks as she describes Isaiah’s and Hardison’s bond. Collier, right, regularly worked to improve his skills on the court with Hardison before his accident.To that end, the family now lives by the phrase “Live Like Khalil,” a call to action that they reference daily on custom purple rubber bands, the color of his belovedToo fresh and too painful, Isaiah doesn’t talk about the tragedy. Instead, he throws his focus into his training, a relentless regimen that begins every day at 5:30 a.m. with voluntary rehab for his knee injury.
Problem was, the team was having so much fun they decided to stay up after the practice, play music and run routes on the football field into the wee hours of the morning. As much as Dwain gives his son a hard time for being “tight-lipped” about his thought process to this point, he’s “not worried” about Isaiah doing his due diligence.Ever since he was 6, Isaiah has been accustomed to gathering intel. Back then, it consisted of him scouring YouTube for clips of his youth football team’s opponents for the coming week.
“My sorority sister called my mother and told her about an article she saw about Isaiah,” Chandra says. “So my mom, who takes a computer class, looks it up, prints it out and then mails it to people. She’s so proud of him and they talk all the time, but even she can’t get anything out of him.” “That’s a big thing for me,” Isaiah says. “I want to be close to the whole staff. Not just the head man, the whole staff.”“I won’t say it’s make or break,” Isaiah says. “But I’m a relationship kind of guy from the top to the bottom.”
This time, Isaiah defers to Dwain, who opens up about how passionate Wes Miller and his staff have been throughout the process while Chandra talks about being wowed by learning their history with legends like Oscar Robertson suiting up from 1957-60. Isaiah loves the energy there and lauds the relationship he’s built with Miller and his staff.
Thompson agrees that Miller and his staff have done “an amazing job” of building the relationship but interjects his pause about Isaiah being the first player of his stature in Miller’s career. Isaiah concedes the point, but his perspective is that it all adds to the passion in their pitch. “I feel like that’s why they go so hard,” he says.She pauses briefly, then moves on to USC. Isaiah starts this time, once again leading with how grateful he is to have built a relationship with every coach on Andy Enfield’s staff. “Every single one of them,” he says.
Chandra grilled the head coaches and their staff about the importance of education, much in the same way her parents, who were first-generation college graduates, instilled in her. “On the basketball side, Mick Cronin didn’t play freshmen a whole lot at Cincinnati, and he liked to control the game by calling a lot of sets,” Thompson says. “Now, that could be because of a lack of personnel, but it’s something we certainly have to look at.”
“That part is great,” Chandra says. “The assistant coaches are great and, of course, the campus is beautiful. Then, of course, you love Russell Westbrook.”
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