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Elite 2014 recruit Craig Victor has plenty of serious suitors

craig victor

Scott Phillips/NBC Sports

LAS VEGAS, Nv. -- Craig Victor is a wanted man.

The New Orleans native is being tracked by some of the premier programs in the country and as the No. 21 overall recruit in Rivals’ 2014 national rankings, Victor has a lot of coaches present when he takes the floor with New Orleans Elite at the adidas Super 64.

The 6'8" forward told NBC Sports that Louisville, Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma State, LSU, Oklahoma, Miami, Florida, UConn, Texas A&M, UCLA, and Oregon were among the schools that had offered scholarships.

Victor noted that a few schools were putting in a big effort to recruit him.

“Arizona’s real hard, LSU’s real hard and I hear from Kansas and Louisville a lot too,” Victor told NBC Sports.

During the game NBC Sports saw of Victor’s at Valley High School in Las Vegas, head coaches from Arizona, LSU and Louisville were present while Kansas also had an assistant coach. Victor said he notices which coaches attend his games.

“Oh yeah, of course, of course; (I notice who is watching) all the time,” Victor said. “I pay attention to all of that. That lets me know that the team really is interested in watching me.”

Now that coaches are able to text with prospective recruits, Victor also has a bevy of text messages to cycle through as he’s cooling down after a game.

After each game, Victor checks his phone to see which coaches have been in touch.

"(They tell me) ‘good game’ or what I did right, what I did wrong. They’ll tell you the truth and let you know if you did something wrong or need to improve something,” Victor said of the texts from coaches. “Most of the time they’re letting me know that they were here watching.”

One of the unique things about Victor is his enjoyment of big games and big matchups. While some prospects shy away from speaking about matchups or don’t wish to speak about them publicly, Victor openly embraces the chance to play good competition.

“It’s a blessing and a good opportunity for me and the other guy I gotta play because it’s going to be a battle,” Victor said. “The coaches come to see when I face guys like Kevon Looney or Leron Black. It’s matchups like that that people want to see so we’re going to come out and compete.”

Victor particularly enjoys the competition he gets when facing Milwaukee-native and top-ten prospect Kevon Looney. The two engaged in a tremendous battle at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in June and also faced earlier during the July evaluation period at the adidas Invitational in Indianapolis.

“I like facing Kevon Looney,” Victor said. “Not just the (NBPA Top 100 Camp game) but we played them in Indy too. I look forward to playing him again; hopefully in this tournament.”

It’s hard to say if Victor will face Looney in the adidas Super 64 -- or another time in the future -- but no matter the opponent, Victor will come out and play hard.