McDonald’s All-American Scottie Reynolds, who led Herndon (Va.) High’s boys basketball team to its first-ever Northern Region championship this past season, has asked Oklahoma to release him from a national letter of intent he signed last March.
The senior point guard decided to re-open his recruitment after former Oklahoma men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson left for a similar position at Indiana and was replaced by former Virginia Commonwealth coach Jeff Capel.
Reynolds spoke with Capel Tuesday and shared his request. If granted a release, Reynolds said he will still consider Oklahoma but wants to revisit the selection process because of the coaching change. Reynolds committed to Oklahoma after developing a close bond with Sampson, who was tireless in his recruitment of the three-time Northern Region player of the year.
“I’m not 100-percent sure I want to be at Oklahoma,” Reynolds said. “I need to be 100-percent sure and in order for that to happen I need to explore other options.”
Reynolds must submit the proper paperwork and Oklahoma can then grant or deny his release request. If the request is denied, Reynolds could still pursue his release through an appeal to the National Letter of Intent Steering Committee.
Reynolds was part of Oklahoma’s highly regarded recruiting class ranked No. 5 in the nation by scout.com, an online recruiting site. Reynolds finished his high school career as the second-leading scorer in the history of Virginia’s Group AAA, the state’s largest classification, and was Northern Virginia’s first McDonald’s All-Americansince 1993.
“This is definitely a lot harder than the first time because I don’t have as much time to break everything down,” Reynolds said of the selection process. “I would like to have a month to figure it out but when I feel like I’ve found the right spot that’s what I’m going to go with.”
Capel is scheduled to meet with Reynolds and Hornets coach Gary Hall at Herndon High Thursday.
