FT. WAYNE, Ind. Saturday's session of the Bill Hensley Memorial Run-N-Slam at the Spiece Fieldhouse was a marathon running from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Among the big-time performers was one of the prospects Rivals.com national analyst
Eric Bossi most looked forward to seeing over the weekend, junior wing
Keita Bates-Diop.
The No. 3 player from the state of Illinois in the recently updated rankings of the class of 2014, Bates-Diop showed plenty of what got him ranked No. 39 in the country on Saturday.
A silky smooth forward who can play some in the high post, Bates-Diop's future is on the wing and he wields one of the smoothest, most accurate jump shots in the sophomore class. More than just a shooter, the 6-foot-7 forward has length, ball skills and is a graceful athlete who is light on his feet and plays with a high level of intelligence.
Bates-Diop went for 26 in an afternoon game and did so without needing a bunch of shots.
"My shot felt good out there today," Bates-Diop told Rivals.com. 'I feel like I've had a good spring. I'm just trying to play hard and show what I can do."
Major college basketball programs have already taken notice of what Bates-Diop is doing and the Normal (Ill.) University product has already drawn offers from
Purdue,
DePaul and
Northwestern while he's getting interest from
Michigan - where he will take an unofficial visit in June for its elite camp -
Illinois,
Wisconsin,
Louisville,
Oklahoma State and others.
People who think there isn't good coaching or team play in grassroots/AAU basketball clearly haven't spent much time watching the Iowa Barnstormers 16 and under team.
The roster has plenty of D-I talent, but the entire team plays selflessly, with purpose and with a good level of skill. It also has a lot of size for a 16 and under team and can complement that size with shooters.
Against the Mac Irvin Fire, 6-foot-7 forward
Ethan Happ showed plenty of toughness and athleticism but he wasn't alone in impressing.
Big man
Seth Bonifas is already every bit of 6-foot-9 and still looks to be growing. 6-foot-1
Wyatt Lohaus has a good-looking floor game and above average ball skills for a young point guard. Also doing good things while Rivals.com watched were 6-foot-8 forward
Casey Schlatter and sharp-shooting wing
Kyle Haber.
The Mac Irvin are loaded with size and talent including the No.1 player in 2013,
Jabari Parker, and the No. 3 player in 2014,
Jahlil Okafor. While Okafor and Parker were as expected on Saturday, the guy really making noise is 6-foot-1 point guard
Kyle Davis.
One of the most athletic playmakers in the country, the Chicago Morgan Park junior plays with attitude, swagger and never stops attacking. Previously viewed as a bit of an undersized shooting guard, Davis is proving that he's a point guard and with his performances this spring.He's built a pretty strong case to be included the next time the class of 2013 Rivals150 is updated.
He plays like a kid with a point to prove but doesn't worry about how others classify his game because he's confident that he can do a little bit of everything.
"Anybody can classify me as anything," Davis told Rivals.com. "Right now I really don't care I'm just going to play my game regardless. I can shoot, I can dribble, I can get to the hole. I can do everything."
A few weeks ago, Davis took an unofficial visit to
Nebraska where former Mac Irvin Fire coach
Ron Coleman is an assistant. He classified the visit as a success and was impressed by the facilities.
In addition to Nebraska, Davis mentioned
Ohio State and
Florida as having shown recent interest to go along with offers from Northwestern,
Xavier and Wichita State.