College basketball recruiting live updates: Rankings, transfers, commits, decommits and latest news

Describing Class of 2024 prospect George Turkson Jr. is simple, he's a winner and an unbelievable student-athlete. He is the ideal type of player you want in your program as he is more than just an athlete but a leader and does things the right way.

Turkson Jr. is one of the best defenders in the country and will immediately make an impact at the college level on that side of the floor.

The No. 51 overall prospect per 247Sports Composite rankings, and he breaks down his recruitment for The Athletic.

Cal: "One of the schools that's been really active in my recruiting process, most recently. Coach Mark Fox and Coach Andrew Francis have been really consistent with showing love and support this summer. Coach Francis, taking the time to sit down with me and go over my AAU film from this summer, I take that to heart, and is something I'm going to remember greatly and be grateful for during this process."

Boston College: "Boston College is right outside the neighborhood, Boston College and Coach Anthony Grant have always shown love and gratitude for me and what I stand on as a person and basketball player. They advocate for gritty, tough basketball, and that's something I look for in a school, it's how I play and how I learned to play."

Providence: "One of the schools that have offered me and been consistent from the beginning of my recruiting process, coming off a great Big East Championship and NCAA tournament run they really put their money where their mouth is when they say that they look to develop players and play the long game. Watching them practice proved all of that. Going out there to see Providence play at their home court, at Dunkin' Donuts Center, was an absolutely amazing experience, the students, fans, supporters, the energy, everything about the culture, and support the athletes receive is unbelievable. Coach Ed Cooley and Coach Brian Blaney, amazing coaches and people, taking the time to look at me and say "he can make a difference here" is something I most definitely appreciate and take into consideration ."

VCU: "Another school that's been appreciating how I play, they are also big on development, getting players to fill bigger roles, and being versatile. Coach Brent Scott and Coach JD Byers continue to show love to me and my values ​​as a basketball player."

Texas A&M: "Texas A&M is a school that has been recruiting me and building a relationship with me a lot over the past two years. Lots of great things to say about the coaching staff and the morals/values ​​they stand on. They send me motivational TikToks here and there to tell me they're coming to watch my game, great game, all the little stuff, it goes a long way. Being appreciative of the relationships built with the coaching staff over at Texas A&M would be an understatement."

Rutgers: "Rutgers is a great school, with amazing facilities, amazing coaches, amazing selfless and charismatic atmosphere. Coach TJ Thompson is one of the coaches at Rutgers that has continued to show love throughout this process and was consistently at Traveling AAU games and tournaments. I have a great relationship with Rutgers and its staff."

Turkson Jr. plans on taking an official visit to Texas A&M in September and is planning to visit Cal Berkley but hasn't set a date yet.

Turkson's Jr. AAU team MassRivals won the Adidas 17U Open Championship by "playing the long game" and buying into the culture of their program.

"This summer was definitely one to remember, had an amazing AAU run with the Mass Rivals. We had a bunch of young guys on our 17u squad, so we definitely wanted to prove something and had a chip on our shoulder throughout all of spring and summer. We all bought into the rigorous play style and gritty/physical basketball that has run in the rivals for years. After tough losses, we always come together and come back stronger, and we have to find it within ourselves to be selfless and play for each other," Turkson Jr. said. "That's what we did all summer long, we played the long game and continued to get better in the gym 3-4 times a week. And I'm talking hard practices, if you come to a MassRivals practice you will understand why we' re able to go so far and win the open Adidas circuit despite some of our deficiencies, for example, height. But we counteract all that with playing hard, all game and physical. And overall, it was fun, made new relationships and new memories ."

The 6-foot-8, 205-pound SF has high expectations for his junior year and plans on expanding his game.

"Going into my junior year I want to develop more, be able to expand my game, become a consistent shooter, be able to handle the ball more, and overall create more options offensively," he said. "I want to continue to improve defensively, communicate more, create energy on the floor, etc. just expand in all assets of my game."