Three-star Bassa talks about his "late" offer from the Cavaliers

Three-star Utah standout Jeffrey Bassa thought he had it all figured out. He had fielded all of the calls and learned about the schools and done all he could to get the info he needed. He had come to the point where it was time to move forward.

And he did, cutting his list to a group of six: Arizona State, Baylor, Louisville, Oklahoma State, Oregon, and Utah

“These are the schools where I felt most at home,” Bassa wrote at the time, “as well as which universities have my best interest academically and athletically.”

And then, UVa came through with an offer. Meaning that the 6-foot-3, 204 pounder now has to do a little bit more work despite having trimmed his list down.

“Yeah, it was an offer that kind of came out of nowhere,” he told CavsCorner on Monday night. “It was the day that I was posting my top six. Coach (Shane) Hunter gave me a follow on Twitter and the next day, he let me know they were offering me. So, it was just really eye opening and really just out of the blue.”

So, how much does that new offer complicate things for the Salt Lake City native?

“I wouldn’t say it really, like, complicates it that much,” Bassa explained. “It’s kind of still a relief to have the list cut. Now, I’ll learn a little bit and I’ll focus on the schools and not leaning on a bunch of schools that you’re not really interested in or really don’t see yourself choosing.”

In recruiting, a “late” offer like this doesn’t always mean the player will take a look at the new school. But in this case, it does.

“I most definitely want to see where it goes first,” he said of learning more about UVa. “I want to see what they have to offer academically and athletically.”

Bassa said that he chose the six schools on his list recently because of the mix of what they each offered.

“It was really just what they offered me academically and athletically and just the relationships I’ve had with those coaches,” he said. “Since those schools have offered me and started recruiting me, each of those schools has been in it with me and shown me constant love and really invested in me. I feel like I could thrive in each of those programs and they were showing me why I was important to them and that they have my best interests as well.”

In terms of position, pretty much all of those schools like Bassa in the defensive backfield. Virginia, meanwhile, thinks he could make a perfect inside backer.

“Yeah, all of those schools it’s not really inside backer but its strong safety, Nickel, free safety,” he said. “Somewhere in that area. None of them are inside backer.

“Ya know, it would be different but it wouldn’t really be a big thing, just something I’d have to adjust to and stuff like that,” Bassa added. “He told me how they would use me and stuff, I would go from guarding the slot to guarding the middle of the field in like a Tampa 2 or something like that, or rolling out to third in trips and guarding No. 3 and stuff like that, blitzing me all over the place. So, he was just really explaining to me how it works in their system.”

Part of the information gathering process will include not just learning more about that potential role but also hearing more about the school and the coaches, despite their previous stop.

“I’m really like new to all of it,” Bassa said. “Both to the whole UVa thing and the coaches. Coach Hunter talked to me about how many of the guys on their staff are from the west coast, how the head coach was at BYU and how a lot of them played for BYU including him.”

Luckily, Bassa believes the process has been very good to him.

“It’s been really fun,” he said. “It’s just such a huge blessing to be offered and have these opportunities, from my first to my last. I don’t know when the end will come but it’s just a huge blessing. I’ve had a chance to teach my parents a lot about the recruiting process and we’ve all enjoyed it.”

As he looks forward, as an early enrollee he’s looking to make a decision in the late fall.

“I think this might be my final six but I might cut it down again,” he said. “As of right now, this is my final group and if anything pops up maybe I cut it down again. I plan on making my final decision after my senior season, if we do have a season. If we don’t have a season, if the virus cancels the season or something like that, I’ll just focus on making the best college decision I can make because I do plan on graduating early.”

For those in the 2021 class, the pandemic has certainly wrecked many plans. That added pressure is even more intense for early enrollees.

“It most definitely messed with it a lot,” he said, “because you can’t go out and see it for yourself and get that first-person point of view. You’ve just really got to take the virtual visits and stuff like that seriously. You’ve got to ask a lot of questions about the universities, ask the coaches the questions you need to.

“Right when the whole virus thing happened, I was working out with my trainer every day, trying to stay in shape and keep my weight up, lifting weights and stuff like that,” Bassa added. “But as of right now, we’ve already been in helmets. We’ve been at it for like a couple of weeks now. In Utah, basically we all start early and we’re all practicing and stuff. This week we start in helmets, then we’ll be in shells, and then we’ll go for full pads.”

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