The truth of Talen Horton-Tucker's recruitment, according to those closest to him

CHICAGO — Shirley Horton sits on the bottom bleacher of Simeon Career Academy’s practice gym, with its pale overhead lights reflecting gray off concrete walls.

She watches her son, Iowa State mega-recruit Talen Horton-Tucker, run through drills for a while during basketball practice. Then she sighs.

"We said 'no comment' that day," she says, "because we didn't want to take the attention away from Talen."

She shakes her head.

"It got blown way out of proportion."

Horton is talking about the day her son committed to Iowa State — when reporters asked the questions she still hears.

Did Illinois pull your son’s scholarship?

What happened with the Dosunmu family (an important name in this year's Chicago recruiting cycle)?

Were the Cyclones actually Talen’s first choice?

Rumor shoved truth to the side, Horton said, as stories about her son’s under-the-microscope recruitment caught fire. Horton-Tucker committed to Iowa State over Illinois and Xavier on Oct. 26. He was considered a major loss for Brad Underwood and his new Illinois staff.

Here’s the gist of what was reported regarding Horton-Tucker’s recruitment:

He played with five-star Morgan Park guard Ayo Dosunmu, who was long sought-after by Illinois, for premier-level Chicago-area AAU squad Mac Irvin Fire last spring. But he left for Meanstreets and later Team Rose in the summer.

Mac Irvin Fire took its frustration over Horton-Tucker's departure to Twitter, and the Dosunmus reportedly weren't happy with it, either. Meanwhile, the Illini continued to pursue both Dosunmu and Horton-Tucker.

Dosunmu committed to Illinois on Oct. 19. The next day, Horton-Tucker took an official visit to Illinois, and it was reported he was trending toward the Illini.

But "the Dosunmu camp" didn't want Horton-Tucker playing with Ayo, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. That essentially forced Illinois to choose between the two, pull Horton-Tucker’s offer and damage the Illini's relationship with Simeon head coach Rob Smith. Mac Irvin Fire ferociously denied these claims.

Got it? That’s the information that circulated in late October. It stemmed from well-sourced reporters who have seen the ins and outs of Chicago recruiting more than most.

Still, according to those closest to Horton-Tucker, that information is not the truth.

"Here in Chicago, we can take something and make it worse than what it is," said Jerrel Oliver, Horton-Tucker’s coach with Team Rose. "It can be a kid saying, 'I heard this!' And it just gets all over the place because we’re so big of a town."

We may never get the full story. But, for now, let's unwrap the bullet-point version of Horton-Tucker's recruitment, according to the Horton-Tucker camp.

Did Illinois pull the scholarship?

No, Shirley Horton said. Oliver said he never heard that had happened, either.

"Now, did I hear rumors? Yeah, I heard rumors," he said. "I heard people talking and saying things like that. But I hear bad rumors all the time in Chicago. False rumors.

"I probably (heard some) right before I got on the phone with you. I mean, it’s just so competitive. I tell people that Chicago is one of the only towns where you’ve got Under Armour, you’ve got Nike, you’ve got Adidas. You’ve got two Nike teams. It’s so competitive."

Horton said she never felt any ill will toward the Dosunmo family or Mac Irvin Elite. If either of those two thought poorly of her or Horton-Tucker, they never told her, she said.

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Was Illinois Horton-Tucker's first choice?

No, Horton said. Same from Simeon head coach Rob Smith, who thought the tabloid treatment of his star senior's recruitment was ridiculous.

"I don’t know if people know this, but Iowa State was Talen’s first choice, anyway," he told the Register. "Those other guys came in and they did their job and they made him have to think on, 'Should I go to Iowa State? Or should I go to Illinois? Or should I go to Xavier?' But Iowa State was the No. 1 all the time, and I don’t think people really knew that."

Smith said Iowa State jumping in the earliest out of his top choices mattered a lot, as "he’s not the kind of guy that wants people to jump on his bandwagon."

"(Illinois' coaching change) kind of threw it off, and they were trying to figure out who they needed and all those factors, but Iowa State was still steady," Smith added. "Xavier was steady, too, but they jumped in kind of late. They were on the hot pursuit, I’ll give you that much. They really were."

(For what it's worth, Smith said his relationship with Illinois is good.)

Horton said much of Talen's decision came down to how quickly he could contribute. The options weren't as intriguing at Illinois, which hauled in three guards in its 2017 class.

"Illinois has like five guards," she said. "If Talen doesn’t grow any more, that’s not a good fit."

Any bad blood with Mac Irvin Elite?

No, Horton-Tucker said. He wishes Dosunmu the best at Illinois. His decision to leave Mac Irvin Elite had nothing to do with any kind of strained relationship, he said.

Instead, he wanted more opportunity and freedom to showcase his skills.

"Everybody in Illinois made it seem like I just left the Mac Irvin Fire because I didn’t want to play with Ayo," Horton-Tucker said. "That wasn't it. This summer, when I switched teams, I was able to show my whole game, basically. I just felt like I was able to play without looking over my shoulder to see if I was going to have to come out. Just playing more free — that’s what basketball is about. If you’re playing free, you’re just playing."

Matthew Bain covers college football and basketball recruiting for the Des Moines Register. He also helps out with Iowa and Iowa State football and basketball coverage for HawkCentral and Cyclone Insider. Contact him at mbain@dmreg.com and follow him on Twitter @MatthewBain_.