2019 wing Terrence Hargrove coming into his own

BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- Three-star junior wing Terrence Hargrove Jr. is moving closer and closer to earning high major offers.

Friday night, the 6-foot-5 swingman scored 24 points as his East St. Louis (Ill.) High team fell short to a tough Belleville (Ill.) West squad featuring four-star forward E.J. Liddell.

Last year, Hargrove played a secondary role to star big man Jeremiah Tilmon. With Tilmon now starting as a freshman at Missouri, the ESL is now Hargrove's team and he's looking to lead.

"I really like it," said Hargrove of his expanded role. "Now I get to step up and lead my team. I get to be that big voice on the court and to have my team's back and to lead my team."

So far, Hargrove has landed offers from Missouri, St. Louis, Cleveland State and New Mexico. He mentioned interest from Illinois and Iowa among others. On Friday night, Missouri's Cuonzo Martin was on hand to watch and on Saturday Hargrove will visit Missouri for their game with North Florida.

"Cuonzo (Martin) was here checking me out," said Hargrove. They are still checking with me about how I'm doing and how my family's doing."

Moving forward, it won't be a surprise to see Hargrove earn more offers and he's going to compete for a spot in the next 2019 Rivals150. He has tremendous length and athleticism and has really improved as a jump shooter and ball handler.

"A lot of colleges are starting to notice me more because I'm stepping up and leading the team," said Hargrove. "Last year I was playing behind Jeremiah and now that I've stepped up this year a lot more colleges can see me and hopefully offer me a scholarship."