While the whole world seems to have come to a standstill, college coaches across the country are trying to keep up their recruiting, and highly prized recruit Shayne Van Ness is a top priority for a few coaches.

Van Ness finished his junior season at Blair Academy as the top-ranked 132-pounder in the nation, a spot he'd held since right at the beginning of the year when he defeated Dom Serrano and Jesse Mendez at Who's #1.

Van Ness is now a two-time National Prep champ, and I reached out to his father Rodney to discuss Shayne's recruiting process and see what his potential suitors look like. Although COVID-19 may have changed the timeline of his recruitment, the school list doesn't look all that different from the one he put out on January 1st.

Shayne Van Ness School List

• Princeton
• Michigan
• Cornell
• Penn State
• Rutgers
• Ohio State

We have Van Ness as the #2 recruit on the class of 2021 Big Board, and I imagine most coaches would agree that he is right at the top of this junior class. As such the family is not in a terribly big hurry to make a decision, but they would probably be further along in the process were it not for the current pandemic.

He plans on visiting each of the six schools, though one will have to be an unofficial visit. He first visited Princeton, where his teammate Peyton Craft is also committed from the current crop of juniors. Current 141 Marshall Keller would be a senior by the time Van Ness got there, though they are also bringing in Anthony Clark and Jonathan Miers around those weights. However, it doesn't seem like there are any real hurdles to fitting Van Ness into the lineup if he goes to Princeton.

The next school they visited was Rutgers, the alma mater of his father Rodney, who is tied for third all-time on the Scarlet Knights' career wins list. Looking at the lower end of their middleweights, JoJo Aragana was a freshman this year at 141, Gerard Angelo was a freshman 149, and Rob Kanniard redshirted at 157. Ryan Vulakh was also on the roster but did not wrestle any matches and they're bringing in again Al De Santis and Andrew Clark, but again there's a pretty clear opening for Van Ness to come in and start right away. Joey Olivieri, whose only loss this season came in the Beast of the East finals, was the 132lb New Jersey state champ and is committed to Rutgers from this junior class.

The final school they've visited is Cornell, where former Blair wrestlers Andrew Merola and Julian Ramirez both attend. Cornell could similarly have a great fit lineup wise if Van Ness is willing to greyshirt, as they could see a run of Josh Saunders-Van Ness-Cole Handlovic between 141 and 157, with Gage McClenahan in that mix as well. The wildcard there is junior Ryan Sokol, depending on how big he gets. He was a 145 this year, so he may project closer to 157 or 165, but he will have to fit in with all these guys as well.

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I should mention that although we currently have him projected as a 149, there's no guarantee that's his college weight. Rodney mentioned he experienced a big growth spurt between his junior and senior years of high school, ending up as a 167 in college. But right now he believes 149 is perhaps most likely for Shayne, though he knows it can possibly be 141 or 157 and isn't ruling those out.

The three schools he has not yet visited but probably would have already had it not been for the coronavirus shutdown are all in the Big Ten: Penn State, Michigan, and Ohio State. The Buckeyes were not listed on his Instagram post but are very much being considered among his list of possible schools.

There's a probable logjam in Columbus if Van Ness ends up there, which is not something Shayne or his family is concerned about but it will be something the Buckeye coaches have to address. Sammy Sasso would be a senior if Shayne redshirts, though there is, of course, the possibility Sammy will grow into 157, and tOSU is not afraid to roll guys out as true freshmen. Then there is of course Anthony Echemendia, who is probably their best option at 141 but has four years of eligibility ahead of him.

There are also the guys who will have to work in around those two: Quinn Kinner, Dylan D'Emilio, Bryce Hepner, and JD Stickley. Again while the Van Ness family doesn't want Shayne to make his decision purely around the guys in the lineup, there will need to be some reshuffling. Rodney did make it clear though that they are certainly flexible in trying to maximize the impact of his future teammates with the timing of when a potential redshirt may occur.

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Van Ness had three battles with Beau Bartlett last season as a sophomore, and the two could potentially wind up as teammates together at Penn State, similar to the Bo Nickal/Mark Hall rivalry in high school. If Shayne grows into a 149 as expected, he'd probably overlap with incoming 2020 recruit Austin Boone, who finished #2 at 145 this year. As it stands now if they don't get Van Ness, it will probably look like Bartlett-Boone-Matt Lee from 141-157, but one will be the odd man out if they can spread out across three weights.

Michigan has been on several top prospects' final school lists since Sean Bormet took the head job, but they've missed out on more than they've landed. If they can land Van Ness though that might mark a big change, particularly after getting Stevan Micic and Myles Amine qualified for the Olympics and adding Alex Dieringer to the Cliff Keen WC. It's also a great lineup fit, with Kanen Storr graduating and Nick Lombard leaving the year after that. If Van Ness can beat out a senior Nick Freeman, or if Joey Silva can stay down and Van Ness can make 141, there seems like plenty of room for the Blair standout. He would be joining current assistant Kellen Russell as former Buccaneers who wrestled in Ann Arbor.

Six great school options, and Van Ness is a very coveted prospect for each of them. The family is letting Shayne make the decision and isn't focused on lineup fit so much as cultural fit within a team at a program where he feels he can succeed. If he is able to make his visits sometime this summer or fall, a decision is likely before the folkstyle season begins.