City of Palms Monday: Watford impresses, Florida & Memphis recruits shine

FORT MYERS, FL. – The first day of the City of Palms Classic hosted some of the top senior commits and a few others that have kept their college recruitments open. Trendon Watford kicked things off on a strong note as Florida, Maryland and Memphis recruits gave reason for excitement for their future fan bases.

Trendon Watford cut his list to four on Friday as the five-star forward will end up at Alabama, Indiana, LSU or Memphis. While each can offer a variety of things to the 16th ranked prospect in the 2019 class, a commitment is still far off, though his game continues to improve.

kicked off his return to the City of Palms on Monday by scoring 31 points off of 13 shot attempts. Efficient would be an understatement in describing all that Watford can and does do. He can pass, rebound, shoot and finish, each an asset that make him one of the most potent but also versatile forwards in the nation.

Following his team’s win, Watford again stated that he will take an official visit to Alabama on January 5 and while it is not solidified just yet, could finish his visit tour to Indiana on the weekend of February 26. Having already been to the campuses at LSU and Memphis, much of the talk has surrounded Penny Hardaway and Avery Johnson’s bunches for where he might land. However, do not expect for a commitment anytime soon as the earliest one might be made would be in March.

The headliner for the night, Cole Anthony did not fail to excite as he remains one of the most talented and productive players in high school basketball. Athleticism has never been in short supply with the five-star guard but it was impressive to see Anthony take the next step with his game on Monday as he showed the ability to control the pulse of the game, whether it was slowing things down and getting his team into their half-court sets, or pushing the pace whenever the numbers were in their favor.

Blessed with tremendous size, explosiveness, and stat sheet touching capabilities, there is not much that Anthony cannot do on the hardwood. He is a walking triple-double just waiting to happen but what gets swept under the rug oftentimes is just how great of a rebounder he is. No, he is not your typical guard that swipes in to grab boards whenever his bigs box their man out but rather the out of area rebounder type that can snatch balls within the trees.

Anthony’s stat line was sparkling to a tune of 25 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists as his Oak Hill squad kicked off their stay in the Sunshine State with the win. Focused on a group of six schools, UNC was the lone finalist to have an assistant coach on hand for him. He has already taken official visits to Georgetown, Notre Dame, Oregon and UNC, as Miami and Wake Forest remain involved. A timeline towards a commitment has not been set yet but in the meantime, Anthony is in line to put to bed one of the better resumes from a guard standout in recent years.

Florida has a stud of a guard this year in Andrew Nembhard and while there are questions as to whether he will become Mike White’s first ever one-and-done product, the backcourt should be in great hands either way with Tre Mann headed to Gainesville next year. Mann didn’t begin on a strong note but he sure did end it on one. A stat line of 27 points and five rebounds, all while knocking down 11 of his 12 foul shot attempts, equates to a good outing in my book. His ball skills, vision and playmaking abilities, coinciding with his now 6-foot-5 standing stature, makes him that much more of a difficult stop. He only continues to get better which should make the Gators’ perimeter one of the best nationally next season, especially if Nembhard were to return.

Memphis has made major noise this fall with the signing of three Rivals150 prospects, one of them being DJ Jeffries. The four-star forward was in action on Monday and while his commitment was thrown on the backburner quickly thanks to the pledge of James Wiseman just weeks later, his impact on the AAC unit should not be understated. For a program that was at its best whenever they could rely on rangy and versatile forwards that could plug a number of holes, consider Jeffries a throwback to the good old days at the FedEx Forum. Jeffries can act as a giant playmaker at times but it was his perimeter shot that really stood out. He finished with 38 points off of five made 3s as Jeffries should be an integral member of Memphis’ ascent within the sport beginning next season.

Makhi Mitchell’s team went down in defeat but it was impressive to see just how much time he has put in with his body in recent months. Knocked in the past for his conditioning levels, it was definitely the best that I have seen him since I began covering him three years ago. Mitchell finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds as he should be another strong anchor inside for the Terps. The potential is there for Bruno Fernando and Jalen Smith to leave after this season which will make Mitchell’s services that much more important to Maryland’s continued fight for Big 10 legitimacy.