Commitment Day: What Are the Odds on Indiana Landing CJ Gunn?

In-state guard CJ Gunn will be announcing his commitment on Sunday, and Indiana is right in the mix. But can they finish first and land him?

Dylan Wallace | Feb 7, 2021

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Lawrence North guard CJ Gunn is committing on Sunday, Feb. 7, during halftime of the Super Bowl.

Gunn is a four-star recruit and is currently ranked No. 101 nationally by the 247Sports Composite and is the No. 11 shooting guard in the class of 2022.

With decision day finally here, we take a look at who the top schools are in Gunn's recruitment and which of those has the best chance of landing the dynamic guard.

Indiana — 30 percent

Gunn has been on Indiana's radar since last summer. Archie Miller and Tom Ostrom are the two who have been heavily involved in his recruitment.

As an in-state guard, Indiana is the top school from the state to hand out an offer to Gunn.

Though Indiana's backcourt is a bit crowded for the coming seasons, the Hoosiers will likely lose Al Durham, who is a starter right now. Gunn is still the type of player Indiana could use — a 6-foot-5 guard who can drive to the rim and defend at a high level.

Rob Cassidy, a basketball recruiting national analyst, predicted that Gunn will commit to Indiana. He wrote, "I like the in-state Hoosiers here. A number of high-major programs have been linked to Gunn, but it seems as though the communication between the well-rounded prospect and most programs cooled as Indiana began to look like his likely landing spot."

On Gunn's 247Sports recruiting page, his crystal ball to land at Indiana is at 100% from the six people who gave a prediction.

Cincinnati — 25 Percent

Cincinnati is one of the few schools Gunn was able to visit before the pandemic hit.

One reason the Bearcats could have an edge is because Mike Saunders Jr. is on the roster. Saunders played at Lawrence North from 2016-2018, so he has ties to Gunn's high school.

Cincinnati is trying to rebuild right now with John Brannen, who has an innovative offense that could be appealing to young players.

Kansas State — 20 percent

Kansas State was Gunn's first DI offer, which could always mean something to a young player.

According to recruiting analyst Nick Baumgart, "The Wildcat staff has made Gunn feel wanted."

Nigel Pack, who was a senior last season at Lawrence Central — Lawrence North's rival — is now a starter at Kansas State in his freshman season.

The Wildcats are filled with a lot of young players, so adding Gunn to the youthful backcourt with another fellow Indianapolis guard could be enticing.

Wake Forest — 10 Percent

According to Baumgart, as soon as Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes took the job in April, he immediately made an offer to Gunn, promising him "immediate playing time in the ACC and a world-class education."

Forbes has also reportedly been very involved with Gunn's recruitment himself and not having assistants take total control. Gunn's family has noticed that.

Even though Wake Forest may not be the most successful program on the list, there's a lot of opportunities to be had for Gunn if he joins the Demon Deacons.

Missouri — 10 Percent

Fresh off a top-10 win on Saturday against Alabama, No. 18 Missouri would love nothing more than to get Gunn to commit on Sunday.

Missouri has been pitching the message of family to Gunn, but aside from that, there haven't been much specifics discussed.

The Tigers seem like the least likely of candidates to land Gunn, but Gunn's camp has kept things pretty quiet on their end, so anything can happen when he announces during halftime of the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Xavier — 5 Percent

There hasn't been many reports on Gunn's connections to Xavier, but since he never cut his list down to a top ten or top five, Xavier remains one of his best offers.

Sports Illustrated Indiana will continue to provide updates on Indiana recruiting.

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