TexasHoops Weekly: Ford commits, Pena talks suitors & more (Jan. 21)

TexasHoops Weekly takes a look at some storylines from the past week around the state, including some recruiting updates and a recap of a big week in 4A.

Arlington Martin’s Montreal Pena has been building up his recruitment portfolio this season, and spoke to TexasHoops staff about his situation last week. Big 12 programs have been all over Pena this year, with Oklahoma State, TCU, and Baylor all offering the Martin standout and Texas Tech showing interest. He also holds offers from Wake Forest and UT-Arlington. Pena gave us a quick quote about the programs he’s visited.

TCU: “I loved the team, the guys all give it to each other and that’s a very together program. I saw them play Baylor, and I feel like they’re good at developing players to be better.”

Baylor: “Baylor was a good visit, the campus was really nice and I like how they practiced really hard and non-stop.”

UTA: “They also practice hard, and make it a point to really hit the weight room and get their guys bigger and stronger and conditioning is a big part of their program.”

“I’m just trying to do my part and help the team get wins,” Pena said after his team’s win over Arlington High. “It’s been tough but if we stay together I think we can go to state. I’ve been getting better with my dribbling and working on my outside game for when I get to the next level.”

Quinton Ford has been one of the most sought after prospects in the central Texas 2019 class, and has ended his recruitment with a verbal to UC-Riverside. We spoke with him about why he made that decision:

“I just really believe in the head coach David Patrick and the rest of the coaching staff. I know that they are about to do big things with that program and I want to be apart of that. He (Coach Patrick) got a glimpse of me in the summer then came down for 2 practices this year, then I visited there last week. The campus was nice and the players were cool, everything was good actually.”

We had two top-10 matchups in 4A last week, with Decatur meeting Argyle and Wilmer-Hutchins taking on defending regional champs Dallas Carter.

Decatur was able to beat Argyle for the second time this year after defeating them in the small school Whataburger Tournament championship, winning on the road 46-45. The Eagles sit at 25-3 on the year and have developed a habit of winning close games, with senior leaders like Wilson Hicks leaning on experience to get the job done. Drew Coffman’s bunch have emerged as the clear favorite for the 4A region 1 title, though defending champs Seminole are still strong and teams like Burkburnett, Snyder and Argyle cannot be discounted either.

Wilmer-Hutchins got a huge week from Jakevan Leftridge to boost their district stock, as he scored 60 points over 2 games to take sole possession of first place in 12-4A. Leftridge needs to be a priority for college coaches at this point, as he has beyond proven that he belongs at the next level. And with Davian Sanders and Dyriel Empy providing excellent guardplay for Hutch, the sky could be the limit for the No.1 team in 4A.