Bossi's Takeaways: Vegas Friday
LAS VEGAS -- The first three days of July's third live period have now come and gone and the end of the grassroots season is in sight. National Basketball Analyst Eric Bossi was checking in on five-star Moses Brown and others at the Fab 48.
WITH MOSES BROWN, IT'S ABOUT THE LONG HAUL
The thing about top 10 rising senior Moses Brown is that you have to be willing to be in it for the long haul with him. What I mean is that at this point the mobile 7-footer is a bit inconsistent but the potential long term payoff is considerable.
I'll be real interested to see how Brown looks after some time in a college weight room. The key for Brown is going to be picking a place that has proven to play through their big men for long stretches.
St. John's, Kansas, Kentucky, Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, Florida, Arizona, Louisville, Arizona and UCLA are among those giving heavy chase.
TYLER HARRIS HAS HAD A STRONG JULY
I think that four-star point guard Tyler Harris has had a pretty strong July.
He scores, he plays with heart and most importantly he's been leading his teams to wins.
Sub 6-foot tall point guards can scare some coaches away, but Harris' size isn't a concern to me because of his elite quickness and ability to score the ball off the bounce.
Harris has taken an official visit to Iowa State and the Cyclones look to be in good shape. Ole Miss, Cincinnati, Wichita State and Mississippi State are working hard too. Colorado state is putting in some effort and according to Harris' coaches Virginia has been in touch.
DEVOE HAD ME REMINISCING
First, I'm glad that we moved Michael Devoe into our top 100 in 2018. I think he could do some more climbing.
Watching Devoe with his Nike South Beach team on Friday, I couldn't help but think back to watching Kendall Marshall run the point for Boo Williams when he was in high school.
Devoe is blessed with good size, doesn't get rattled by mistakes, can hit a few jumpers if you back off of him and he's a very high level passer. Indiana and Ohio State are a few of his more recent offers while others like West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt, Florida, Georgia and many more would love to land Devoe.
STOCK UP IN MY EYES
Saturday was good to me when it came to finding guys whose stock is trending up. The three that stood out to me on Saturday were three-star prospects Kris Monroe, Jamal Bey and Tyrese Haliburton who are all in the class of 2018.
Playing with Team Wall, I was impressed by Monroe's unique blend of physical play and shot making. He looks like a college player already and has really added more skill to his perimeter game. Monroe mentioned Providence, Boston College, Rhode Island, Old Dominion and Middle Tennessee State as having offered scholarships. Miami, Xavier and Oklahoma State have reached out.
Playing with Vegas Elite, Bey had the opportunity to play on his high school floor at Bishop Gorman. Bey also had the opportunity to make an impression on coaches and I think he's doing that. He was knocking down contested jumpers, playing with some fire and looking much improved since the high school season. Washington, Arizona State, Oklahoma, UNLV, Utah and San Diego State are among those in the mix.
Finally, I really like what I saw from Tyrese Haliburton. He's a long and fluid lead guard who is smooth off of the dribble and has a nice feel for the game. Haliburton needs a lot of strength, but he looks like a very good long term prospect. Most of the Missouri Valley has offered him a scholarship and Cincinnati, Iowa State and Nebraska are taking a look at the Wisconsin United standout.
TRACKING THE COACHES
Once again, the coaches were out in force and I did my best to track them while I was at the Fab48 on Friday.
Nike Team Florida and the New Jersey Playaz drew a crowd. John Calipari of Kentucky was there, Miami had their entire staff on hand, while coaches from Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida, Memphis, Texas A&M, Georgia and UNLV. Nike Team Florida features top 3 junior Vernon Carey and likely top 10 2020 forward Scottie Barnes. Five-stars Jahvon Quinerly and Nazreon Reid were sitting out for the Playaz.
Memphis based Team Thad and the Georgia Tornadoes attracted head coaches from Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Georgia, Memphis, Iowa State, TCU and Mississippi State for an afternoon game.
Tad Boyle and his entire staff at Colorado were on hand for Earl Watson Elite forward Riley Battin. EWE's game against Nike South Beach drew other head coaches from Davidson, Florida (plus two assistants) and Clemson along with Indiana's Archie Miller.
Bob Huggins, Danny Hurley and Chris Holtmann could be seen taking in WeR1 and the New York Rens on Friday night.
Checking in on Vegas Elite -- who features the previously mentioned Jamal Bey and four-star shooting guard Trey Woodbury-- where head coaches from Oklahoma, Hawaii, Grand Canyon University and Santa Clara.
Kris Monroe of Team Wall had Ed Cooley of Providence and Danny Hurley of Rhode Island among those watching him on Saturday.
Finally, coaches such as Chris Mullin, Steve Alford and Sean Miller showed up for the final game of the night to check in on Bol Bol.