Rivals Roundtable: Second live period thoughts
The second evaluation period of July is in the books and the Rivals.com hoops staff offer their thoughts.
1. Which player that you didn't know much about prior to the second live period boosted their stock the most last week?
Eric Bossi: The answer to this one is pretty easy for me, Zion Griffin. He was about as far off the radar as a guy could be for me and once I found him playing for the Hoopers Basketball Club in the Hardwood Classic, there weren't many other players that I wanted to watch. He's physical, he can shoot and while he's a bit left hand dominant he can get to the rim off the dribble thanks to his strength, athleticism and motor. Iowa State has now offered and so has most of the Misouri Valley while other programs like Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech evaluated him over the weekend.
Corey Evans: Trey McGowans did a phenomenal job of boosting his stock last week in Washington D.C., with VCU and Ole Miss jumping in with offers. However, I knew absolutely nothing about D.J. Carton entering the weekend and, after a few live viewings of the Quad City Elite product, I was immediately transfixed with his two-way skillset, toughness and intangibles. College coaches were also impressed as Iowa and Nebraska came in with offers, joining Marquette, Wisconsin and Northern Iowa.
Dan McDonald: I had seen Amanze Ngumezi on a few different occasions in the past and knew he was talented, but he took his game to another level this weekend. He went from a prospect mid-majors were hoping to steal with high-majors keeping tabs to a prospect who will no doubt sign with a Power Five school. At 6-foot-9 and somewhere in the 225-pound range, he's a great athlete with a high skill level. He has post-up game and can also play on the perimeter. His motor needs to be turned on more consistently, but he has the talent to find a spot in the Rivals150.
2. Which player is the most talked about among college coaches?
Eric Bossi: Probably the guy sparking the most heat at either event I stopped at was 2019 lead guard Tyrese Maxey. Maxey is a tough and skilled scoring machine with recruiting interest from all over the country and he was a hot topic of conversation for several reasons. For one, he's super talented but he's also apparently open to leaving the state of Texas and coaches had plenty of theories on that. The other thing contributing to making him a guy they were talking about was debate over his ultimate position. Some see him as a high scoring shooting guard while others see him as a combo and the other third see him as a scoring point guard.
Corey Evans: Two guys seemed to be discussed by college coaches more than others: Devon Dotson and Tyler Herro. Dotson has continued to go up against some of the top point guards in his 2018 class and come out on the other side as the winner of each battle. He has been described as a bad dude, the perfect phrasing for the competitive nature and consistent winning background of the Carolina native.
Along with Dotson, many were impressed by Herro, a Wisconsin commit. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard had a rough spring while recovering from a knee injury, but Herro was at his best in his hometown of Milwaukee. No longer is he just a one-sided scoring weapon that is just an average athlete. Herro was dunking on people, creating for others and scoring at will.
Dan McDonald: This one is easy. Every coach in the building, whether they were recruiting him or not, wanted to talk about Nassir Little. He's become an elite, can't-miss prospect. His strong, athletic body at 6-foot-6 combined with his overall skill-set have coaches thinking he'll be an NBA player before long. Mike White and Josh Pastner were following him around most of the weekend. Sean Miller, Chris Mullen, Roy Williams and Jim Larranaga made appearances at his games as well. Coaches talk about not only how great of a prospect he is, but also wanted to speculate on where he might end up.
3. It seems like the top point guards are sitting around waiting for each other to make the first move. Where do you see the top uncommitted 2018 point guards -- Tre Jones, Immanuel Quickley, Darius Garland, Jahvon Quinerly and Ayo Dosunmu -- ending up?
Eric Bossi: While we are waiting for one of these big-time point guards to pop, I do think that where they are leaning is starting to clear up. As far as I can tell, Duke is the runaway favorite for Tre Jones. Immanuel Quickley has publicly named Kentucky his leader and while Darius Garland's recruitment does appear to be open, I think that Vanderbilt is ultimately in the best position to keep him home in Nashville. Jahvon Quinerly looked like he might be leaning toward Arizona, but given it has now been a month since his visit to Tucson with no commitment, he's maybe a bit more open than thought. The Wildcats are still in it, but I think at this point I'd lean towards Villanova though I wouldn't totally rule out UCLA or Kansas either. As for Ayo Dosunmu, I give Illinois the slight edge with Xavier right on their heels and in almost even position. If his friend Charlie Moore likes things at Kansas during his transfer year and the Jayhawks start to apply a little more pressure, they could make a run at him as well.
Corey Evans: The point guard dominoes are due to fall in the coming weeks and, just as we described in this week’s #TwitterTuesday article, all it takes is one to commit before the real drama begins. Immanuel Quickley is likely headed to Kentucky as I would be very surprised if he ends up anywhere else. Tre Jones, though he won’t come out and say it, is going to be a Duke Blue Devil. There has been talk about an elite point guard tandem in Durham and while I think things remain on the fence between Duke, Vanderbilt and Indiana, Archie Miller comes up with his first big-time pick-up as Garland heads to Bloomington. Ayo Dosunmu decides to stay home and commits to Illinois, though I could see the standout guard choosing Xavier, too. Lastly, Villanova has gone all in on Jahvon Quinerly as Jay Wright wins out, however, watch for a possible package of the five-star guard and his best friend, Naz Reid, to UCLA as the Bruins continue to gain ground.
Dan McDonald: The easiest predictions are probably slotting Immanuel Quickley to Kentucky and Tre Jones to Duke. Darius Garland likely comes down to Indiana and Vanderbilt, but I think Bryce Drew makes his first major recruiting splash by keeping Garland home playing for the Commodores. Likewise, I think Ayo Dosumnu stays in-state to sign with Brad Underwood at Illinois. Jahvon Quinerly's is probably the toughest recruitment of the bunch to peg, but I'll give the nod to Villanova. Jay Wright has prioritized the five-star lead guard, and I think it pays off.