Cade Phillips already has two official visits in his rear view, as the four-star forward toured the campuses of Tennessee and Georgia months ago. His recruitment is on a sort of quasi-pause while he plays his junior season at Alabama’s Jacksonville High School, but visits will resume at its conclusion.

Rivals.com recently caught up with Phillips to discuss the schools in the mix and what could be next.

ON HIS JUNIOR SEASON

“I missed eight or nine games with a foot injury. I was in a boot for four or five weeks, but things are good now. We’re about to start sub regions. I’m about two games back, so I’m a little out of shape, but we’re doing well.”

ON WHAT PARTS OF HIS GAME HE’S TRYING TO POLISH

“Just skill stuff and trying to score the ball more efficiently. I get a lot of shots up and I do a lot of working on handling it a lot better. Then, like always, trying to put weight on.”ON

ON VISITS HE’D LIKE TO TAKE

“I think I’m going to take an official to Stanford for sure. The other two, we’ll just kind of play them by ear.”

ON STANFORD

“What they talk about is just kind of their culture and what they're building out there. That’s what I want to go see. I want to see how the coaches interact with the players on a personal level and all that.”

ON PREVIOUS OFFICIALS TO GEORGIA AND TENNESSEE

“You know, I really liked them both and they’re still in contact a lot.”

ON UGA

“Georgia has pout guys with my size, build and playing style in the league. Coach [Tom] Crean has done that wherever he’s been, so that’s the pitch to me. Coach Crean knows the formula for guys like me.”

ON TENNESSEE

They think that I’m just a perfect fit for what they do. They really use the athletic forward types heavily when it comes to scoring. They run plays though guys like me and put some forwards in the league. That’s stuff you look at when you are being recruited, so that’s the pitch. That and the Tennessee culture. The fans and the coaches and players are all just really cool.”

ON OTHER SCHOOLS IN THE MIX

“Clemson has sort of jumped in. So has Virginia Tech. Alabama and Auburn are still there, too. Georgia Tech stays in touch, too.”

ON THE IN-STATE SCHOOLS

“Auburn is probably staying in contact a little better than Alabama.”

ON AUBURN

“Their success right now is hard to ignore. They have Jabari Smith and he’s about my height. He’s crazy good. So when you see that at your size and build, it’s nice to see. I might take an official there, but I don't know. I’m not going to talk about visits until after my season is over.”

RIVALS REACTION: It seems like Phillips has been waiting to see Stanford in person before getting too serious about choosing a school. This makes his upcoming trip to Palo Alto a crucial one. It’s beyond presumptuous to assume the Cardinal are the leader, but Jerod Haase’s program definitely figures prominently into the process. Tennessee and Auburn will also be players until the end.