Published Jul 25, 2017
Bossi's Takeaways: What we learned in Dallas and Kansas
Eric Bossi  •  Rivals Network Hoops Hub
National Analyst
Twitter
@ebosshoops

Rivals.com national analyst Eric Bossi spent the second July live period at events in the Dallas area and Lawrence, Kan. Here's what was learned during his travels.

MORE: What we learned in Atlanta | Bossi's Starting Five

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OUT OF STATE SCHOOLS WILL CONTINUE TO RAID TEXAS

If it seems like elite prospects from the state of Texas are willing to leave home for school, it's because they are. On top of that, there is so much talent in the state that there's more than enough to go around for the in state schools and those that want to raid the state.

Consider this, from 2002-19 there have been 168 four and five-star high school prospects who played high school ball in the state of Texas. Of those 168, 151 have made college choices. Of those 151 who have made their choices or gone off to school, a whopping 83 of them went out of state while 68 stayed home.

With numbers like that, why wouldn't any program want to get into the state? Not surprisingly, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have prioritized the state. But programs such as Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kentucky, LSU, Michigan State, Oregon, Purdue, UCLA and many more are putting a greater emphasis on getting into the state of Texas on a more regular basis.

Look at the recruitment of the state's three highest ranked players. Class of 2018 guard Quentin Grimes is a real threat to leave the state, 2019's No. 2 ranked player Charles Bassey may already be leaning to Western Kentucky and five-star lead guard Tyrese Maxey is getting bombarded by out-of-state programs.

With strong staffs at Baylor, Houston, SMU, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and other in-state programs, the battles for Texas talent -- at all levels -- are going to be more intense than ever.

TEXAS COULD BE HOME TO A PAIR OF TOP FIVE PROSPECTS IN 2020

Speaking of Texas talent, the class of 2020 may be home to two of the top five prospects in the country when we release our first ranking of the 2020 class in the next month or so. Point guard R.J. Hampton and Greg Brown look that good early on.

A flashy point guard with size and scoring ability from all over the floor, there's some young Jamal Crawford in Hampton's game. He doesn't mind talking trash, he puts up huge numbers without jacking a bunch of shots and most importantly he does make his teammates better. Baylor, Kansas, LSU, Oklahoma State, SMU, Texas A&M and Texas Tech have all offered.

Then there's Brown who looked incredible given the chance to play as the main man. A long and athletic small forward, Brown has great size and is incredibly fluid in the open floor and driving to his off (left) hand side for such a young player. There's some minor things to work on with his jumper but he has the ability to be a switch defender at multiple positions and has early offers from Baylor, California, Kansas, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas and Texas A&M for very good reason.

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KELDON JOHNSON HAS VALIDATED FIVE-STAR STATUS

Not that there were many out there questioning Keldon Johnson's status as a five-star prospect in 2018, but he proved again at the Hardwood Classic that he's worthy of that lofty status.

A tough and physical wing with a big time middle game, Johnson is an efficient scoring machine who has an extremely well developed feel for how to attack his opponent. He rebounds well and he's turning into a strong positional defender.

Johnson told Rivals.com that Texas is the one school that he is sure he will set an official visit to while others like Kansas, Florida State, Georgetown, Maryland, NC State, Oregon, Virginia Tech and others are vying for his services.

MIDWEST HIGH MAJORS NEED TO BE SURE TO SEE ZION GRIFFIN

After watching him play in the Hardwood Classic, Iowa State was quick to offer a scholarship to new-to-the-radar recruit Zion Griffin. I don't think they'll be the last Big 12 program to offer and I'm betting Big Ten programs get in on the action as well.

If I am a coach at a high major program in the Midwest, I'm making it a priority to get somebody on my staff out to Kansas this week to evaluate the high flying and tough lefty wing at the Sunflower Showdown.

Maybe Griffin's breakout performance at the Hardwood was the weekend of his life, but if it wasn't he's a guy that I would want to be very sure about before passing up on him. Consider this, when given the chance to play against Nike EYBL powers Howard Pulley and Boo Williams, Griffin went for 42 and 31 points. That type of production against high level grassroots competition is awfully tough to ignore and because of that Griffin deserves more looks.