INTEL: Ranking the contenders for 3-star Macaleab Rich

Three-star Macaleab Rich has been kept quiet. Somehow, in this day of social media, the 6-foot-6, 225-pound forward has remained largely under the radar.

The 6-foot-6, 225-pound forward averaged 19.2 points and 10.8 rebounds last season for his 28-6 East Saint Louis (IL) High program. He added 2.1 assists, 2.6 blocks, and shot 65 percent from the field.

Rich claimed 12 offers along the way and has recently narrowed his list to a top four; Kansas State, Ole Miss, Illinois-Chicago, and Missouri.

Rich scheduled official visits to each program; Missouri (8/25), Ole Miss (9/1), Kansas State (9/9), and Illinois-Chicago (9/16). He announced a commitment date for September 26, his birthday.

Let’s go through all the intel and see where Rich is going as of pressing ‘publish’ on this piece. Recruiting is a very fluid process with a lot of moving pieces that can change at a moment’s notice. Here is a snapshot.

Macaleab Rich Was Dominating In Win Over Hinsdale Central! @macaleab @ESTLFlyersbball pic.twitter.com/ssdfjb71qA

— Hoop Highlights (@h00phighlights1) June 18, 2022

1. Kansas State

Jerome Tang was on Macaleab Rich early, and he let it be known from the start that Rich was a top priority. The three-star visited Kansas State in early September, and Tang and crew checked all the boxes necessary.

Kansas State’s chances: 85 percent

2. Ole Miss

Ole Miss battled on this one, enough so to make a late run that made Rich think. Assistant coach Brock Morris built a great relationship and stayed on the three-star forward hard. They sold the system, and it had Rich’s ear.

Ole Miss’s chances: 10 percent

3. Missouri

With Kansas State has been in the lead for a while, Missouri was thought to be a sleeper here. On the intel side, things were back and forth with the Tigers passing, then pushing, then keeping warm, then pushing. The spark was bright around the time of the visit, then quickly dimmed over the last couple of weeks.

Missouri’s chances: 5 percent

Final thoughts

The general thought here is Kansas State has had this one done for a while. Intel suggests that Rich wanted to go through the process, and he did so with an open mind. Ole Miss did make a late push, and Missouri made a quick mark. However, Jerome Tang and the staff answered any questions that may have been left lingering during the visit and finalized things.

While recruitments are never done until the ink dries on the dotted line, Kansas State is trending to get their third commitment of the 2023 class.

On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine

I have placed my expert pick in On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM) for Macaleab Rich to choose Kansas State. I set my pick with 75 percent confidence.

The On3 engineering group teamed up with Spiny.ai to create the industry’s first algorithm and machine learning-based product to predict where athletes will attend college. Starting from the ground up, On3 built an entirely new product that utilizes data, human expertise, and machine learning.