COLUMBUS, Ind. – Southport center Joey Brunk, a 6-foot-10 prospect in the 2016 recruiting class, has taken two of his five possible official visits, but he doesn’t have plans for any upcoming visits.
Brunk took an official visit to Oklahoma during the last weekend of April and one to Butler in early June, according to the Indianapolis Star.
“I had a good time on both visits,” Brunk said Wednesday night after recording a double-double in a winning effort in the Indiana Jr. and Sr. All-Star Game at Columbus North High School. “I have a good relationship with both coaches, (Oklahoma) Coach (Lon) Kruger and (Butler) Coach (Chris) Holtmann. I had a good time being with the guys.”
Brunk’s connection to Oklahoma originates from his father, who coached small-time college basketball in the state and has a friend whose son walked on at University of Nevada, Las Vegas during Kruger’s tenure there.
“That’s kind of how the connection started,” Brunk said.
While the rising senior said he doesn’t have a list of top schools, he doesn’t have a shortage of offers either. Almost half of the schools in the Big Ten have offered him a scholarship.
Brunk has offers from Butler, Illinois, IU, Iowa, Michigan State, Missouri, New Mexico, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Purdue and Xavier.
IU Coach Tom Crean and IU associate head coach Tim Buckley recently had an in-home visit with Brunk during a live recruiting period.
“Coach (Crean) talked about how he wants me to — I can be more versatile at Indiana, and I can do different things,” he said. “It was a good visit.”
The center said he frequently talks with the IU coaching staff and has developed a good relationship with them.
IU remains in touch with Brunk through the mail.
“Coach has sent me a couple pictures with me in an Indiana uniform, and stuff like that is neat,” he said. “You can kind of see it’s a little bit of a competition between the schools, you know, the mail and who sends what, that type of thing.”
Brunk explained the criteria he’ll use to evaluate potential schools. He said he wants to find a program where he fits in with the coaching staff, players and scheme. He also wants to attend a school where he can get a good education.
“It’s got to be a big overall fit,” he said.
In the offseason, Brunk said he’s committed to becoming stronger and more athletic.
Last season he averaged 16.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game for a Southport team (23-3) that suffered a season-ending, one-point loss to Pike in the playoffs.
“I want to continue to improve as an individual player, but more importantly as a team,” he said. “Winning takes care of everything that you could ever want so as long as we win, we’ll be okay, and we’ll get it all figured out.”
In terms of making his college decision, Brunk said he doesn’t have a timeline. He’s letting his recruitment run its course.
“I’m just kind of letting the process happen,” he said. “Whatever happens, happens.”
