4* Point Guard Has Canes In Top 7

With 6 scholarships available for the class of 2014 and only one commitment to date, Coach L and staff have been hot on the trail of several local talents, and Lance Tejada Jr. is no exception to that.

Tejada is rated as a 4* prospect by ESPN, and their #96 overall prospect. 247sports and Rivals both rate Tejada as a 3*, with 247sports rating Tejada as the 141^st best overall prospect.

On top of already being a highly regarded prospect, Tejada's stock is currently on the rise. After attending the Future 150 camp in Orlando, Tejada was rated as one of the top 20 prospects in attendance, and here's what recruiting analyst Garrett Tucker had to say about Tejada's performance (LINK):

"Lance entered the camp as the #100 prospect in the class nationally. After his performance from last weekend, he will be rising in the next rankings update. As expected, his court vision and ball skills were top notch, but the consistency on his jump shot and improved athleticism are what had the staff raving all weekend long. A hard worker and a bright kid, one college program will be very lucky to land him in the near future."

I recently caught up with Tejada to talk about his game and his recruitment.

Tejada sees himself as a similar player to Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers, in the sense that he's "an all-around point guard who's a very good passer, but can also score". As for what he's working to improve on? "I'm trying to improve the consistency in my jump shot". If that quote by Garrett Tucker is any indication, Tejada is succeeding.

On the recruiting front, Tejada has narrowed his list to 7 teams, who he says are all even:

Alabama, UConn, FSU, Murray State, Texas A&M, Butler... And Miami.

Tejada told me he's looking for "a school that is going to make me better as a player, and as a person, as well as a school that fits my up tempo style of play".

When asked what he likes in particular about Miami, Tejada replied: "I like the coaching staff. They're straight forward and Coach L is proven to be a winner. They also have a beautiful campus".

One more thing that the Canes potentially have going for them? He would like to play his college ball with somebody that he's played with since the 7th grade - Adonys Henriquez, who has been committed to the Canes for a few months now.

So when can we expect a decision from Tejada? "After I take my visits". The only two that he currently has set up are to Alabama and Murray State in September, but he has visited UM "3 times, maybe 4".

Before we finished the interview, I asked Tejada if he had any requests for Canes fans.

He had just one: "Tell the Canes family to follow me on twitter".

You heard the man.

You can find Tejada on twitter @cantguardL, and find me on twitter @Isaac_Koppel.