A recruit that got away from Northwestern coach Bill Carmody in the first men’s basketball signing period might be coming to Evanston after all.
Lamar Hurd, a 6-foot-4 guard from Heritage Christian Academy in Cleveland, Texas, is deciding between three schools after reneging on his committment to Baylor.
Hurd will attend either NU, Oregon State or Arkansas after visiting the latter two this week.
“(I’m looking for) a place where I get along with the people most,” Hurd said. “Where I think I’ll have the best educational experience as well as athletic.”
The potential communications studies major was impressed with NU when he visited the school earlier in the year.
“I bonded better with their players than anywhere else,” Hurd said.
If the high school senior decides to come to NU, he will be the second true point guard in the incoming recruiting class. T.J. Parker of Lisle High School signed a national letter of intent three weeks ago, at the start of the late signing period.
Hurd’s decision will come after a signing odyssey that started in the fall when Hurd was sure he would be attending Houston. Two weeks before Hurd’s official visit there, he came into contact with Carmody and his assistants for the first time. Within a week of meeting Hurd, Carmody had offered him a scholarship.
“(I was) close enough (to signing with NU) that I told everybody back home that I was going there, but not the coaches,” Hurd said. “It just happened very fast.”
But Hurd wasn’t quite sure that he wanted to spend his college years in Evanston, so he made his scheduled official visit to Houston. Hurd said he was unimpressed with Houston on the visit but went into the winter deciding between the two schools.
“It didn’t meet my expectations,” he said of Houston.
In December, Hurd began considering Baylor and eventually committed to the school.
But two days before the late signing period began, he reneged on that committment because former Baylor assistant coach Kevin Lewis left to take a similar position with Texas Christian.
“It made me realize that I didn’t choose the whole school, I chose him,” Hurd said.
Heritage Christian head coach Jerome Tang said Hurd excels in a transition style of play but that he can also run a half-court offense, which the Cats employ.
Tang said one of Hurd’s best qualities is his ability to improve the play of the other players on the court. Six of Hurd’s teammates will play for Division I programs in the fall.
“He’s one of those kids that doesn’t have to score to be good,” Tang said.
In his senior season, Hurd averaged 9.7 points, 10.1 assists and 8.6 rebounds per game, with only 1.6 turnovers.
Tang said he followed the Cats during the 2001-02 season. With Hurd on the court, Tang said, NU would have won five more Big Ten games.
“I fully expect him, wherever he goes, to win Freshman of the Year,” Tang said. “I’m just a little biased.”
