Holiday Hoopsgiving Friday: Evans' Notebook

RANKINGS: 2019 Rivals150 | 2020 Rivals150 | 2019 Team Rankings

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ATLANTA – There was no slog or fatigue following Thursday’s Thanksgiving feast for the top performers at the Holiday Hoopsgiving. Hosting some of the best from in and out of the Peach State, we digest those who caught our eye including a budding sophomore talent, an emerging senior guard and a Minnesota recruit that didn’t receive his dues this past week.

A 6-foot-4 wing that is just oozing with talent and upside, Chance Moore picked the ideal time to announce his name on the national stage. Holding a lone offer from Rutgers heading into the event, 30 points and displaying the ability to carry his team in spurts was in enough to earn another, that coming from the local Georgia Bulldogs’ program, the lone school that he has visited thus far.

Potentially the best sophomore prospect out of the Peach State, Moore is a fluid athlete that can make shots, defend both wing positions, pass it whenever he has the chance to and handle the ball as a secondary guy.

He finished with a complete stat line of 30 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals and displayed the lofty basketball ceiling that shot make him a coveted recruit by some of the best programs nationally. Clemson and Xavier are just two others that have shown interest but after his breakthrough performance on Friday, his list of early suitors is about to multiply tenfold.

Go ahead and keep saying the name because many others are due to follow. The 6-foot-5 Southwest DeKalb High product was en fuego, as the late Stuart Scott would have said, on Friday evening. Long and slender but full of confidence, Brown nailed seven perimeter jumpers, some on the more difficult side where he was pressed for time and space to get his shot off but thanks to his rainbow high trajectory that he puts on his jumper, finding the mark was not hard to come by.

You better believe that the next time the Rivals150 is updated that Brown’s name is in it and high up within it. He fits today’s game to a tee, the type of rangy defender that can guard multiple positions but also make shots at a high, high rate.

Following his team’s win on Friday, he told Rivals.com that Alabama, Butler, Clemson, Georgia Tech and Mississippi State has already jumped in pursuit with an added priority. He has already been to the campuses at Alabama, Clemson, Ole Miss, and Middle Tennessee State, and he fills confident that an offer might be received during his visit to Butler on January 2.

In the meantime, expect for Brown’s name to become more talked about as the Peach State native is one to know and is due to become an ACC and SEC-type of priority in the coming months.

To say that Richard Pitino has had his peaks and valleys as the head coach at Minnesota would be a giant understatement. What you can’t argue with is that whenever his teams have been healthy, they have more than held their own on the playing floor, this year’s undefeated start proof and point. He has built his program on the backs of talented guards and has another good one headed his way in Tre Williams.

The 6-foot-4 guard signed for the Big 10 program last week without much fanfare. That needs to change. While he was hidden some on a super talented Drive Nation team this summer, Williams looked like one of the sneakier pick-ups of the fall. He has gotten stronger, become a better playmaker and showed the capacity to make shots to the perimeter.

Finishing with a final stat line of 19 points, three assists, three steals and two rebounds in his squad’s win on Friday, Williams should find a comfortable landing spot in Minnesota. Alongside Marcus Carr, Isaiah Washington, Gabe Kalscheur and Payton Willis, the Gophers have a very talented but also versatile backcourt intact next season which should only bolster their chances of success during league play and beyond.

AJ Hoggard showed great strides in Georgia as the long-armed, tough and multi-positional guard has taken thing to the next level. Best on the ball, the 6-foot-2 junior did not struggle in the playmaking department as he threw a number of impressive passes around the basket, leading to easy finishes for his teammates.

Beyond that, Hoggard made two perimeter jumpers, this coming after a summer on the Nike circuit with the PSA Cardinals’ bunch where he struggled to hit even when space and time was provided. Adding such a weapon into his offensive game only expands his basketball ceiling which is a good reason why three programs have made him a top priority this fall.

Following his game, Hoggard told Rivals.com that Ole Miss, Temple and Xavier were the schools chasing after him the hardest. The latter two had a coach on hand for him and he also stated that reclassifying into the 2019 class is a possibility. That decision will not be made until the summer, if he does make such a move at all, but either way, it was nice to see a step forward for the versatile stat sheet filler that is AJ Hoggard.

The 2019 class was not the best to begin with and after the early signing period, it is even more depleted which should make the value of Tyrin Lawrence even greater. A 6-foot-4 scoring guard out of Morgan County High School, Lawrence looks the part and he played like it on Friday. He toss in 18 points and seven rebounds while showcasing toughness and athleticism throughout his team’s win. Lawrence holds six scholarship offers and has taken official visits to Austin Peay and Georgia Southern so far. Look for some of the better mid-major programs along the east coast to become involved.

Dayton had become known for its guard heavy, smaller ball lineups during the Archie Miller tenure and while the same could remain true with Anthony Grant now at the helm, they have a physical specimen in the hopper in the form of Moulaye Sissoko that could allow for some wiggle room in lineup diversity upon his enrollment. Regarded as one of the best rebounds in America where he does not struggle in the shot altering department either, it was nice to see Sissoko show off an offensive game on Friday, too. His low-post fundamentals have vastly improved which equated to 12 point and eight rebounds. The Flyers have an instead energy giver in the frontcourt and someone that could become a building black for their ascension back into the top-tier of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Rob Ehsan has a one-man fastbreak headed his way in Jalen Benjamin. One of the top scorers on the adidas circuit this summer, while others overlooked the somewhat undersized senior, the UAB head coach placed a premium on the speedy guard. More of a scorer than a playmaker, if the Blazers need an infusion of toughness or scoring, Benjamin is just the man for the job. He showed major gusto on Friday leading his unit to a hard-fought victory as he finished with 26 points off of 6-of-14 shooting from the floor. Alongside all-league guard Zach Bryant and budding wing Tavin Lovan, the backcourt will not be lacking for firepower in Birmingham.