Paul Scruggs completes second official visit, cuts Big Ten school

Paul Scruggs has two official visits in the books.

The 6-3 Southport guard completed his official visit to UConn over the weekend, following an official visit to Xavier previously this month.

“UConn is a great institution, and Paul really liked the place,” said Mike Peterson, who took the visit with Scruggs and is his coach with the grass-roots Indy Hoosiers program. “UConn has a top-notch point guard (Alterique Gilbert), and (coach Kevin) Ollie said he needs a big guard like Paul that can play either guard position. We know Ollie has played it at the highest level and could help Paul’s maturation.”

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The distance from home could be a potential negative in UConn’s recruitment of Scruggs. He’s also considering Indiana and Michigan State, though he hasn’t set official visits yet to either. A previously scheduled official visit to Illinois won’t happen, Peterson said. Trent Frazier, a four-star point guard from Florida, committed to Illinois last week.

“(The Illinois coaching staff) was awesome in letting us know the situation,” Peterson said. “It was a tough conversation but a good one.”

Peterson said Louisville remains in the picture for Scruggs and is hoping to get him on campus for an official or unofficial visit.

Scruggs, the No. 28 prospect on the 247sports national composite in the 2017 class, averaged 19.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists as a junior to help Southport to a Class 4A semistate appearance.

Call IndyStar reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. Follow him on Twitter: @KyleNeddenriep.