Iowa interested in 2021 rising prospect
Recruiting never stops and that’s the case with the Iowa basketball coaches, who are working the phone and reaching out to potential prospects.
One of the new names that they have reached out to this week is R.J. Keene, a 2021 wing forward prospect from Texas. Keene will be familiar to Iowa fans because his father, Richard, was a standout player for the Fighting Illini from 1992-96.
This week Iowa assistant coach Sherman Dillard reached out to Keene to say that the Hawkeyes were very interested in ramping up their recruitment efforts.
“Coach Dillard called and said they were really interested in me,” Keene said. “He said he has watched me play in the past and saw some film this year and thinks that I would be a great fit with their style of play.”
What Dillard didn’t know is that Keene is actually quite a fan of Iowa basketball. He’s watched nearly every Iowa game this year and is a big fan of the Hawkeye style of play under Fran McCaffery.
“I’m a college hoops junkie, so I’ve watched probably every game this year,” he said. “I’ve always kind of wanted to go to Iowa because I love the energy they play with. I love watching Joe Wieskamp and Luka Garza and the effort they give on the court.”
Keene said his father is perfectly fine with Iowa being a possibly destination and affection for the Hawkeyes because they are just big basketball fans. At this point the Illini haven’t shown a whole lot of interest in the 6-foot-7 wing prospect from Texas. The only other Big Ten team to become involved was Purdue, who has limited scholarship options in his class.
Thus far, Keene holds scholarship offers from Steven F. Austin, Incarnate Word, and Sam Houston State. Beyond Iowa, he has had interest from Princeton, Purdue, Illinois, Santa Clara, Creighton, and BYU. He said this week over 20 schools have reached out to touch base with him.
Right now with the sports world on pause, Keene’s recruitment is also on hold. He said he hopes to visit Iowa once things clear up and visits are once again allowed. It’s unfortunate that the AAU season has been paused for now because Keene was poised to be one of the rising prospects in the Nike EYBL playing for Houston Hoops.
This past season, Keene averaged 20 points and 5 rebounds per game, while making 135 three pointers and shooting a sparkling 41% from distance.
“It stinks because I felt like I was playing great heading into the April period and a lot of coaches were going to watching me. I was ready to show that I could play at the highest level.”