ARS Rescue Rooter National Hoopfest: Bossi's Breakdown

RANKINGS: 2019 Rivals150 | 2020 Rivals150 | 2019 Team Rankings

TAMPA, Fla. -- The ARS Rescue Rooter National Hoopfest has developed into one of the country's top high school showcases and the three legged event is making a last stop in Tampa this weekend. Unsigned top-50 senior shooting guard Lester Quinones showed off his shot making and was one of the night's headliners.

In today's game, if you don't have shooters capable of spacing the floor and letting you run a free flowing offense, well you had better have a ridiculous defense or simply insane talent if you don't want to get left behind. That's precisely why I love a guy like unsigned top 50 senior shooting guard Lester Quinones on the college level.

Unsigned or not, there simply aren't many shot makers better than Quinones in the class of 2019 and his ability to soften defenses up with his jump shooting opens up so much. He has legitimate NBA range from three, makes shots off the catch, makes shots off the dribble and most importantly makes high degree of difficulty shots. On top of that he's physically tough and wants to accept defensive challenges on the wing.

To date, Quinones has taken official visits to LSU (he's expecting Will Wade and an assistant to visit next week) and Maryland and could reasonably be expected to play big minutes at either place as a freshman. Memphis assistant Mike Miller was in to see him on Friday and Quinones mentioned that the idea of playing with James Wiseman as intriguing. He's looking to set up a visit with the Tigers and mentioned Georgia, Michigan and Miami as three trying to make moves to secure visits. Though he's not in a hurry, Quinones does recognize that it's getting down to decision time and said that he's hoping to meet with his family and coaches to bang out a decision as soon as the season ends so any school looking to add a valuable shooter late is going to have to make a strong move to get involved.

Gonzaga: Mark Few and the Bulldogs have arguably their best recruiting class ever coming in and that's not a good thing to think about for schools out West. As celebrated as their class is, big man Pavel Zakharov is still a bit of a mystery. He won't be for too long because the guy can really play. He's every bit of 6-foot-10, runs the floor very well, has touch and has the upside to perhaps play at the highest level at some point in the future. There is still a chance that he could wait until the 2020-21 season to make his way to campus, but whenever he arrives he's a potential difference maker and not many schools have a better big man combo on the way than the Zags do with Zakharov and five-star Drew Timme.

Whoever lands Terrence Shannon Jr.: A high flying four-star lefty from Chicago who is taking a prep year at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG, Shannon is in his first year of truly focusing on basketball. A former football player, that mentality shows on the floor with the way he attacks and seems to love physical contact. His skill level is still evolving, but this is a guy who works hard to make plays and most coaches will take the good that comes with that. He's got a top five of DePaul, Florida State, Georgetown, Illinois and Texas Tech (had an assistant in earlier in the week) and he's seen each of them. Arizona State and Miami are among those trying to get involved but he made it pretty clear that it will take a pretty big effort to knock out any of the five that he's visited. He's not a finished product by any means, but there simply aren't many players left with his upside and he should make whichever school lands him quite happy over the course of the next three or four years.

Penn State: Friday was my first ever look at three-star forward Patrick Kelly and I like what he can bring to the table in Happy Valley. Kelly has good size at around 6-foot-7 or 6-foot-8, he can knock down timely shots from deep, does dirty work and seems to be on the positive side of game deciding plays. He'll need some strength before he can make a big impact but I see a lot of potential value in him

Louisville: There's a lot of excitement, and justifiably so, from Cardinals fans over new coach Chris Mack's start and their top five 2019 recruiting class. Five-star McDonald's All-American Samuell Williamson and rugged four-star big man Aidan Igiehon have generated the most excitement of their four Rivals150 signees, but Quinn Slazinski has a shot to make a nice impact too. Almost the forgotten man of the class, the slender stretch four man could probably benefit from a redshirt year but this is the second time I've seen him be a difference maker this year. His Huntington Prep team was bogged down against a stingy zone defense and Slazinski stepped up to make some big threes and delivered some pretty passes that led to baskets. Most importantly, he's gotten much tougher than when he first hit the scene a few years ago.

Western Michigan: Give it up to Western Michigan for dipping into the state of Florida and pulling three-star big man Chase Barrs of Tampa (Fla.) Berkeley Prep. A long and skinny 6-foot-8 four man who is very bouncy around the rim, Barrs definitely needs strength and would likely benefit from a redshirt year. But, there's no question he can play and has the tools to be a nice big man in the MAC. In addition to his quick twitch athleticism around the rim he has touch, instincts and a motor. I'm quite surprised to see a guy like this get out of the Southeast.

One of the more improved players of the winter is Huntington (W.V.) Prep point guard A.J. Hoggard. It showed during he and his team's narrow victory in a slow and often ugly game with host school Tampa (Fla.) Berkeley Prep.

Hoggard never panicked, he didn't waver from the game plan and he made one play after another off the dribble in a close win.

He's a throwback guy who uses changes of pace, skill and a feel for what any situation needs and it is a big change from the past when he would rush things or force trying to score the ball.

Hoggard has proven many times that his strong winter is no fluke and he will enter the spring as a closely watched guy. He told me that he's seen Kentucky, Seton Hall, Xavier, Rutgers and Temple unofficially. Wake Forest, Ole Miss, Providence, VCU, La Salle, DePaul, Dayton, New Mexico and Virginia Tech are among the many others involved and he says that he'll wait until at least the summer to start to narrow things down.