Bossi's Takeaways: Hardwood Classic Saturday

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Saturday brought another stop in Rivals.com's second live period coverage. The Hardwood Classic featured many top teams and national basketball analyst Eric Bossi's takeaways are led off by a few guys who look to be closing in on decisions in teammates Joey Hauser and A.J. Green.

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The grind of the grassroots basketball circuit is nearing an end for four-star teammates Joey Hauser and A.J. Green of the Iowa Barnstormers. I think that the recruitment of both players is nearing an end too.

In fact, Green said that he's likely going to decide in August before the start of his senior year of school. A slick point guard, my guess is that it bodes well for Northern Iowa where his father Kyle Green is an assistant coach. UNI's Ben Jacobson watched Green closely on Saturday and he also drew assistants from Iowa State and Minnesota. Green mentioned Virginia, Clemson, Nebraska and Gonzaga as others who have watched closely but the family ties look like they will be tough to beat here.

A skilled and tough stretch/combo forward, Hauser was watched by Michigan State's Tom Izzo, Marquette's Steve Wojciechowski, Notre Dame's Mike Brey, Wisconsin's Greg Gard and a Kansas assistant on Saturday. After leading his team the quarterfinals, Hauser admitted that he's getting close to a decision but wouldn't commit to a timeframe saying simply, "as soon as I know I want to do it, I will do it."

The upshot here is that Hauser's recruitment is nearing the finish line and it wouldn't be a surprise to see a decision sometime in the next few weeks or so. Marquette has been looked at as a favorite by many and a lot of that is probably because Hauser's brother Sam Hauser plays there. But, depending on who you talk to, there is still enough Michigan State and Wisconsin chatter that it's too early to call him a lock anywhere.

Walking into the gym, I just wanted to find one guy that I didn't really know much about who made me do some homework. Class of 2018 small forward Zion Griffin did even better because I had never heard of the 6-foot-5 wing for Hoopers Basketball from Hinsdale (Ill.) South. I know his name now, that's for sure.

Moving from one floor to another, I saw this well built lefty sky for a really explosive dunk out of nowhere so I naturally stopped to watch. He then hit some threes, intimidated his opponents and while Griffin didn't play great that first game, it was clear to me I needed to see more.

Spent some time watching him later on in the night and this is a kid that will be watched very closely on Sunday and during the final live period. Drake, Loyola (Ill.), Illinois State, Wright State, Western Michigan, Chicago State and Toledo have all offered but Iowa State's Steve Prohm watched as did assistants from Northwestern, Virginia Tech, Minnesota and others for stretches.

Bottom line, it's fun to see a kid who has no hype machine pumping out his name earn looks the old fashioned way, by going out and balling.

Fresh off of a stint with his native Mali's national team where he averaged a double double at the FIBA U19 World Championships, class of 2019 center Blaise Keita of MoKan Elite's 16U squad really seems to be figuring things out.

He's a true center who clears out space in the lane, hands out some tough fouls from time to time and does what he can to protect the rim. Essentially, he's coming to understand -- and this isn't easy for young bigs to do -- how simply being big and playing big can have a huge impact on both ends of the floor.

Keita is getting more active on the glass, looks more comfortable when he gets the ball and given his size and the trajectory of his improvement, high majors are going to start taking serious interest in him.

Let's be real here, winning tournaments in July is nice, but the month is really about being seen by coaches and earning scholarships. With that in mind, I wanted to mention some of the coaches on hand in addition to those I've already listed above.

Minnesota's Richard Pitino was on hand to watch Tre Jones, Gopher commits Daniel Oturu and Jarvis Thomas and target Gabe Kalscheur of Howard Pulley. It wouldn't be a surprise if Kalscheur -- a sharp shooting two guard -- pulled the trigger soon and Minnesota looks to be in good shape. Also watching Jones was an assistant coach from UCLA.

In the house in Lawrence was new Georgetown head coach Patrick Ewing. According to event organizers an other coaches in attendance Ewing has spent a lot of time at the Hardwood and he seems particularly locked in on the always loaded Boo Williams organization. Keep in mind, five-star wing Keldon Johnson's older brother Kaleb Johnson is a Hoya.

Speaking of Johnson, Texas continues to be a presence each time he hits the floor and Kansas recently offered and was watching.

Missouri Valley head coaches like Niko Medved of Drake, Barry Hinson of Southern Illinois, Paul Lusk of Missouri State and Porter Moser of Loyola (Ill.) were highly visible throughout the day.

A Connecticut assistant was on hand to track Peach Jam MVP James Akinjo and he said that he will definitely visit the Huskies. California was also watching Akinjo and his Oakland Soldiers teammates very closely.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim was on hand to see his son Buddy Boeheim with the Albany City Rocks who also feature Jeenathan Williams and Isaiah Stewart.

Creighton head coach Greg McDermott was on hand to watch four-star commit Christian Bishop. Bishop and Team Rush are into the quarterfinals.

Finally, among the other programs I saw represented at the Hardwood Classic on Saturday were Northwestern, Missouri, Oral Roberts, Dartmouth, Northeastern, Ole Miss, Princeton and Harvard.