Four-star wing Gage Mayfield recaps Tennessee official, updates recruitment after standout summer
By SAM LANCE
CARTERSVILLE, GA — Class of 2026 four-star wing Gage Mayfield was one of the biggest stockrisers over the summer due to his play on the Under Armour circuit with Pro One.
Mayfield, the 6-foot-8 wing from Hale County (AL), is known as an athletic forward who can score from anywhere on the court. He averaged 13.0 points and 5.1 rebounds in 12 games this summer while shooting 42% from the field.
“I started off a little underground,” Mayfield said of his summer. “I just came out to play hard the first session, and I’ve been building my stock every session just playing hard. I’m just a very overall player. I play defense. I can shoot the three. I can play off-ball, on-ball. I can do and be wherever you want me to be at.”
His best trait? Defense.
“I take that very seriously,” Mayfield said. “So if it’s the best player on the other team, I try my best to stop him.”
Right now, Mayfield is working on improving his 3-pointer, as he shot 14-of-48 (29%) from deep this summer. He said adding a knock down catch-and-shoot jumper would help him take the next step in his game.
On the recruitment front, Mayfield took an official visit to Tennessee in June and has a trip to Florida State scheduled for Aug. 1-2. He’s also working on setting up Miami and named Clemson and Maryland as two other schools involved.
Mayfield broke down these programs and his trip to Tennessee to ZAGSBLOG:
Tennessee: “It was good. They value their players. I’ve seen that they engage with their players a lot. They stay in touch with their players, they check on them. They got a real good system where the players can — they don’t really have to move around much. They’re all around the gym with their classes. The academics were nice. I really liked it a lot.”
On Rick Barnes: “That’s a funny guy. Some of his jokes are corny, but they were funny at the same time.”
Staff message: “If you know who Nate Ament is, who just recently got there, they’re going to play me like they play him now, coming off off-ball screens in the mid-range area. Just let me be a player. You know, just let me be a player because I can pass the ball. I can come off-ball, on-ball. Just being a player and doing what they recruited me to do.”
Clemson: “That’s a program that I have in my top, outside of offering me or not offering me, that’s a school I would love to go to. I haven’t talked to them recently, but I’m sure I’ll be getting back in touch with them very soon. That’s a program I really look forward to. I studied a lot of their games so I’m hoping to hear back from them soon.”
Florida State: “Just the program, the staff, how they stay in touch with me. I’m real cool with coach [Chris] Kent. That’s my guy man. He calls me, checks up on me daily, making sure I’m good. I can tell the staff is really more than basketball. [Coach Luke Loucks], I’ve seen that he has been engaged with his players a lot. With that being his first year, they’re staying in touch with each other. They did a lot of team bonding, they just did a team bonding thing recently. I can tell that he’s staying in touch with his players a lot.”
Maryland: “I hear from Maryland a lot. They text everyday. They’re real close together. They got a lot of team progress and team programs as well.”
Miami: “Coach CY [Charlton Young], that’s my man. I call him a lot too. I didn’t really get to talk to Jai [Lucas] recently, but I can tell they’re real close as well. I got a chance to Facetime him and get introduced to them all. They’re real close. They made a lot of jokes together.”
ZAGSBLOG spotted Loucks and assistants from Clemson, Miami and Tennessee courtside to watch Mayfield play at UAA on July 10.
Mayfield said he’s looking closely at how the players react to the coaches on his visits.
“The players are going to show how the coaches really are,” Mayfield said. “I really pay attention to how the coaches react to the players to see how they really coach and manage the culture.”
The four-star wing is ranked the No. 78 overall prospect by 247Sports. In his freetime, he enjoys fishing or anything outdoors. His favorite NBA player is Paul George, and if Mayfield wasn’t playing basketball, he feels he’d be a standout football player.
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