Bossi's Takeaways: Hardwood Classic Sunday

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- The 2017 Hardwood Classic came to a close on Sunday as Team Penny won the 17U Division and the Iowa Barnstormers took home titles in the 16 and 15U divisions. Four-star Patrick McCaffery had himself a day in the process and headlines my takeaways.

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Because Patrick McCaffery's father Fran McCaffery is the head coach at Iowa, most assume that the skilled 6-foot-8 forward will play for his father. Honestly, it's probably a pretty good assumption but I can't help but wonder why somebody isn't at least taking a swing at recruiting him?

If it weren't for McCaffery's ties to Iowa -- who had an assistant coach watching him and the Iowa Barnstormers programs on Sunday -- his recruitment would be off-the-charts. He has great size, is a fluid athlete and can make plays off the dribble and at the rim or as a jump shooter. He is on the skinny side, but he doesn't lack at all for toughness.

McCaffery told me that Miami (Ohio) is the only other school to reach out to him. He specifically mentioned Notre Dame -- where is father was an assistant -- as a program he'd like to have recruit him. It's too bad somebody like Bo Ryan isn't around anymore. Maybe a guy like Ryan would have thrown an offer McCaffery's way, even if it was simply to try and troll the eldest McCaffery.

At the end of the day, I think we all have a pretty good idea of how this will unfold. But, if I was a high major program, I'd at least give McCaffery a few phone calls. Why not?

If I were to tell you that Team Penny took out Nike EYBL foes -- in order -- Howard Pulley, the Oakland Soldiers, Boo Williams and the Albany City Rocks to win the Hardwood Classic it wouldn't come as a big surprise. After all, Team Penny was one of the top teams in the EYBL during the 2017 season. Here's the catch, they won all of these games playing without the majority of their EYBL team, using their second 17U program.

Yes, they had top 25 rising junior Chandler Lawson and four-star big man Malcolm Dandridge on the roster, but what mattered most is that they had Rivals150 point guard Alex Lomax on the roster.

Let me tell you something about Lomax, that kid is one of the most fierce competitors that I've come across over the last few years and he's got big time leadership skills. He's not a particularly great shooter, he's not the biggest point guard around and he's not some crazy athlete. But, Lomax is a guy who his teammates rally around, he's a guy who puts his teammates in the right spot and he's one of those kids that will do anything he can to get a win.

Lomax said that Florida, Ole Miss, Memphis, Wichita State, Vanderbilt and Missouri are the main schools in the mix.

On Sunday at the Hardwood Classic, five-star forward Keldon Johnson had Texas head coach Shaka Smart as well as assistant coaches from Oregon and N.C. State following him around.

Also in the mix for the hard playing wing who excels in the mid range and at the rim are Florida State, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Georgetown and a few others. Johnson told me that the next step will be to set his official visits in hopes of making a fall decision.

The plan is to do that sometime in early August and after he finishes up the grassroots season at this week's AAU Super Showcase in Orlando. When I asked him which schools will for sure get an official visit his answer was simply "Texas."

The more I see of three-star wing Buddy Boeheim, the more I'm convinced that he'll end up playing for his father, Jim Boeheim, at Syracuse and I think he'll end up a solid player for his father. He shoots it well, he has a feel for the game and he looks to be a pretty good competitor. Assuming he does end up playing for his father at Syracuse, I can't help but think that Buddy's emergence as a player factored into his father's spring decision to back off of a plan to retire after the 2017-18 season and sign an extension.

Florida Gulf Coast head coach Joe Dooley is familiar with Lawrence after spending several years at Kansas as an assistant, on Sunday he was at his old stomping grounds chasing after Rivals150 wing Jason Wade of Boo Williams. Wade told me that he would definitely take an official visit to Dunk City and also mentioned Old Dominion (who had an assistant following him), VCU and Wichita State as programs that he would visit.

He ran out of gas in the finals, but prior to that I loved what I saw from big man Isaiah Stewart. He runs the floor, he plays like a man around the basket and he's got hands and touch. Texas, Florida State, Oklahoma State, Northwestern and Marquette are some of his more recent offers, but Syracuse likely looms large in this one while others like Indiana, Florida and Xavier -- to name a few -- are still chasing.

It's been a big July for four-star wing Malik Hall of MoKan Elite. He played very well at the Peach Jam and while he couldn't quite replicate that effort at the Hardwood he seems to be coming into his own. He's got size, he can shoot with some range and he appears poised for a big junior year. Hall picked up recent offers from Kansas, Oklahoma State, Butler, Missouri and Oregon to go along with Illinois (where he's from), Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Iowa and some others.