2017 Makai Ashton-Langford Granted Release from UConn, Re-Opening Recruitment

The rumor mill had been buzzing that 2017 point guard Makai Ashton-Langford was considering re-opening his recruitment after signing a binding National Letter of Intent with UConn in November. On Friday, it became a reality. ESPN.com’s Adam Finkelstein reported that the top-40 recruit out of Brewster Academy was in fact asking UConn to be released from his NLI. The rumor mill began it’s buzzing after Glen Miller, longtime assistant coach and lead recruiter for Ashton-Langford for the Huskies, left the program last week. A report by Gavin Keefe of The Day indicated Miller was asked to leave. UConn is now looking at the possibility of losing one of their prized 2017 recruits in Ashton-Langford and two current players, Vance Jackson and Steven Enoch, to transfer since the news of Miller’s departure.

“At first, it was mainly because of Coach Miller leaving that made me think about [re-opening],” Ashton-Langford told Finkelstein. The quote from Ashton-Langford in that ESPN story that might truly intrigue Providence fans is what followed that first one. “But as I started to do that, I realized I kind of made my first decision spontaneously right after my visit.” Ashton-Langford had two finalists when he committed to Kevin Ollie and UConn and the other was Providence. This doesn’t guarantee that he flips to the Friars now, but it certainly is an interesting bit of news on a Friday afternoon. The same ESPN story indicates that Ashton-Langford is expected to get a “full release [from his NLI]…no later than Monday.”

Ashton-Langford also tweeted this statement:

Stay tuned… pic.twitter.com/jSPiqkHVeV

— makai ashton-langford (@makaiashton11) March 31, 2017

Providence does have two open scholarships for next season after the departures of Ryan Fazekas and Ricky Council. Ashton-Langford told Finkelstein he wants immediate playing time with control of the basketball and apparently realized that UConn wasn’t a fit for that with Jalen Adams and Alterique Gilbert both returning to the Huskies’ backcourt. This will certainly be a recruitment to monitor heavily — again — for Friar fans.

Follow me on Twitter @pcbb1917

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Mike Hopkins

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