Edwards lights up final live period; more takeaways from Indy

INDIANAPOLIS — Anthony Edwards showcased one of the best scoring clinics seen in recent memory on the final day of the spring live period. The idea of reclassifying a year up is now in vogue and we take another look at which programs were watching who in our Sunday takeaways.

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Already a five-star prospect within the 2020 class, we already knew that Edwards was a blue-chip prospect and one of the best scorers nationally. However, what he did on Sunday afternoon, especially during his team’s second half and overtime, was downright mind-boggling as he finished with 43 points.

Edwards, standing close to 6-foot-5 and with good length, decided he had to step it up a gear after his Atlanta Xpress unit was facing a near double-digit deficit at half time. To say that he answered the bell would be a giant understatement as his theatrics down the stretch was amazing, making onlookers, some of them even college coaches, giggle in amazement with what they were seeing.

By the time that he was done, Edwards knocked in 32 points after halftime. His ability to score out of isolation sets and get his defender on their heels by way of his hesitation and blow-by moves brings James Harden’s workmanlike abilities to mind.

Similar in size and with the ability to take over any contest with scoring prowess, Edwards has some catching up to do if he wants to even scratch what Harden does. Although, he continues to engrave his name on the top scorers in high school basketball lists due to his three-level scoring skills and sneaky athleticism at the basket.

Never did I think I would see a better scoring output after Saturday’s James Bishop out break as he converted 11 of his 15 3-point attempts, en route to 43 points in all. Little did I know, just 24 hours later and in the same gym, Edwards topped it and in an emphatic manner. He is special and his Kobe-like demeanor down the stretch backed this sentiment up entirely.

Over the past 10 years or so, the decision to reclassify a year back, thus retaking the same grade level, became the way to go. It gave prospects another year to physically mature and, in the meantime, another opportunity to outplay its competition seeing in earning bigger and better scholarship offers.

It seems the reverse is now true, as recent decisions by Marvin Bagley, Jontay Porter and Emanuel Akot, indicate people are jumping a year forward rather than a year back.

The talk all weekend has centered around who might reclassify and enroll in college this fall, or in some cases, next fall, though both coming a year earlier than expected. This past week alone, Blake Hinson and Trey McGowens, pledged to Ole Miss and Pitt respectively, deciding to reclassify into the 2018 class, while, just two months ago, were expected to play another year of high school basketball in the fall. It should be noted that both were members of the 2018 class originally.

With the elite prospects who have come to dominate whomever they are set to oppose, the idea of speeding up their college clocks so that they can get to the NBA a year earlier has no longer become a unique situation, but rather the norm.

Will Tyrese Maxey make the leap into the 2018 class this summer? How about Kentucky pledge Ashton Hagans? RJ Hampton has already been spoken on about doing the same, that is jumping from the 2020 class and into 2019 pool of elite prospects. The caveat here through all of this remains on what the NBA and its players association decides regarding the one-and-done rule.

Condoleezza Rice's recommendations last week, coupled with recent talk by Adam Silver, indicates that by 2020, high school prospects will be able to make the direct jump to the NBA. If that is the case, would Hampton decide to remain within his original 2020 class and not risk the heightened platform that college basketball would provide in displaying all of his shortcomings, but instead, remain more of a mystery man within the prep circuit before declaring for the NBA Draft?

It is something to keep tabs on and reclassifying decisions will likely hinge on those developments.

Coaches had one more chance to either evaluate further, or to show face and attend the contests of some of their top high school targets. We take a look at which program was in attendance for which respective Rivals150 prospect on Sunday in Indy.

A top guard prospect from the northeast, for the second straight day Miami head coach Jim Larranaga and his entire staff was on hand, as was an assistant coach from Villanova and Seton Hall.

Arguably a top-five scorer in high school basketball, Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton and an assistant, along with assistants from Georgia, Ole Miss and South Florida were seated courtside.

Providence’s Ed Cooley and Virginia Tech’s Buzz Williams each brought two of their assistants for Gantt, UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins and assistant were on hand, as were assistants from East Carolina, Clemson, and Pitt.

Robinson-Earl drew head coaches from Oklahoma (Lon Kruger), Arizona (Sean Miller) along with assistants from Virginia, Notre Dame, Stanford, UNC and UCLA.

Harvey hosted head coaches from Oklahoma (Lon Kruger), Arizona (Sean Miller), Louisville (Chris Mack), Oklahoma State (Mike Boynton), Kansas State (Bruce Weber), along with assistants from Stanford, UNC, UCLA, Notre Dame, Memphis, and Kansas for his Sunday affair.

Toney continued to show his improvements since the winter as Virginia Tech head coach Buzz Williams and two of his assistants UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins and an assistant, along with assistants from Clemson and Pitt were each on hand.