Ozark Mountain Shootout: Micah Peavy electrifies, Bossi's takeaways

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- They love their basketball in Southwest Missouri and Texas Tech bound Micah Peavy electrified the Thursday night crowd at the Ozark Mountain Shootout on the campus of Springfield (Mo.) Glendale High.

I made the short drive from my home in Kansas City and left with some valuable takeaways.

Over Thanksgiving break, I walked away from the Thanksgiving Hoopfest in Dallas thinking that Chris Beard and Texas Tech had really scored one in Micah Peavy of Duncanville (Texas) High. Frankly, Peavy didn't even play very well but as I wrote at the time, you can learn a lot by seeing how a player handles tough times and though Peavy struggled to score against two loaded teams (No. 1 ranked Montverde and No. 2 ranked Sierra Canyon) his effort, communication and team play never once suffered. You don't play like that unless it's your character and built into your DNA.

Thursday night, all of that effort and commitment to team was there and this time against five-star North Carolina commit Caleb Love and St. Louis (Mo.) CBC, Peavy had his confidence on the offensive end and was thus able to dictate play on both ends of the floor. He also gave the crowd a show with above the rim finishes and endless energy.

Today's game is all about versatility and being able to provide value in many ways and Peavy does that. Yes, his jump shot needs work and he has to get more of a left hand. But, his leadership, athleticism, work on the glass, scoring in transition and elite defensive potential make him the kind of guy that any coach would want on their team.

They've built a strong culture of work, selfless play and being accountable in Lubbock and Peavy is a perfect fit. Bottom line, he's a winner and I wouldn’t bet against him ultimately playing at the highest level.

.... There were times that the above mentioned Peavy's defense caused some problems for Caleb Love, but he had more than his fair share of wow moments too -- in particular a soaring one handed sideline interception in CBC's press. The future Tar Heel should very much be considered in the mix for a McDonald's All-American game and in my opinion would be a very deserving pick. He ended up with 33 on the night and was draining some seriously deep bombs. With ACC level weapons around him, he's going to do some serious damage and he's steadily gotten better each step of his high school career.

Sticking with CBC, sophomore guard Larry Hughes Jr. is starting to show a little more each time out. The son of long time NBA player and St. Louis legend Larry Hughes, he's about 6-foot-4, has a great looking stroke and plays with some poise and feel. He is coming back from a freshman season knee injury and it's easy to see he's going to a player down the road. As he matures, adds strength and adds pieces to his game, look out.

.... I had never seen Dora (Mo.) High's junior combo guard Isaac Haney prior to Thursday night but I had heard about him. He was the class 1A state player of the year as a sophomore and has been off to a great start as a junior. I watched him go for 32 and lead his team to a come from behind, overtime win over Oklahoma City (Okla.) Heritage Hall and now I would like to see more of him because he looks like he has the goods and rates high on the entertainment scale. He's extremely skilled, can light it up from deep, plays with swagger and is creative off the bounce. Missouri State head coach Dana Ford saw enough on Thursday to offer a scholarship.

.... Ranked in the top 50 of the class of 2021, Trey Alexander just couldn't get his jumper rolling from deep on Thursday night in Heritage Hall's loss to Dora. But, he was very effective off the bounce and found ways to get to the free throw line, find open teammates and to make enough from mid range to finish with 31 points. His game is evolving from pure scorer to scorer/playmaker. He has been to Oklahoma officially and saw Arkansas, Oklahoma State and TCU unofficially during the fall. Look for him to set up an official with Arkansas in the near future.

.... In the last week or so, 2021 three-star guard Damon Nicholas of Duncanville (Texas) High has added offers from SMU and North Texas. He showed why. He's a versatile and tough guard who knocks down shots, plays excellent defense and has a feel for making the right play at the right time. He plays hard and does all of the little things that winners do. Pretty much par for the course on a very well coached Duncanville team.

.... Finally, as much as coaches swear they are looking for shooting, I'm pretty surprised to find out that Denton (Texas) Guyer net stripper Tyler McGhie doesn't have a lot going on with his recruitment. He impressed some last year with his size and shooting and on Thursday with star big man JaKobe Coles out with an ankle injury, McGhie was big time. If his feet are set, he's not going to miss many looks. He works hard off the ball, has 6'4" maybe 6'5" size and plays hard. I'm not sure what else a low to mid major Division One program would want to see to start getting a bit more involved.