Rivals Roundtable: Sizing up committed prospects in 2024 class
Commitment announcements are coming fast and furious these days, so this Friday’s Rivals Roundtable focuses on committed prospects in the class of 2024. Below, Rob Cassidy and Jason Jordan address three questions related to prospects that have already made their respective college choices.
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MORE: FutureCasts for five 2024 prospects
PLAYER UPDATES: Marcus Allen | Tre Johnson
2024 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
2025 Rankings: Top 130
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RANKING AND SKILL LEVEL ASIDE, WHICH COMMITTED PROSPECT DO YOU PERSONALLY ENJOY WATCHING MOST?
“As a member of the Beefy Boy Club myself, I’m a Peyton Marshall fan. This is bending the rules because Marshall doesn’t commit until Friday afternoon (likely to Mizzou), but I enjoy watching him enough to bend the parameters. I obviously understand the modern game and what the NBA wants from the center position, but I’ll always have a place in my heart for a bruiser that knows exactly what he is and imposes his will through brute force. I get a special thrill watching Marshall bounce guys off him, grab an offensive rebound and then finish and-1 with multiple dudes draped on him like crappy suits. It never fails to get a smile out of me. The 7-foot, 300-pound Marshall doesn’t complicate things. Some guys have games that feel like poetry in motion. Others have games that feel like they’ve been handed a baseball bat and turned loose in a wine shop. Marshall is the second guy. Watching his games rarely feels like work. If he does, indeed, pick the Tigers I’ll be watching a lot of MU hoops down the road.” – Cassidy
“Oh man, I love watching Marcus Allen. I've been a big fan ever since the first EYBL session. He was at AZ Compass, where you can easily get lost in the shuffle because of all the talent, but Allen proved why he was special early in the spring. He’s 6-foot-7, and if I tried to truly pin down a position I’d be doing him a disservice. He literally does everything: rebounds, scores, defends, gets deflections, plays the passing lanes, plays with energy, makes the extra pass. I’ve always been a fan of guys that serve as the glue that helps teams win games. He more than fits that mold.” - Jordan
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WHICH COMMITTED PROSPECT FEELS LIKE THE BIGGEST STEAL FOR HIS FUTURE TEAM?
“I thought UMass commit Nate Guerengomba showed some very positive signs this summer and could be a guy with big-time upside in the long term. The consistency of effort isn't quite there yet, but the 6-foot-4 guard has some serious physical tools and has shown flashes of skill development all year. Guerengomba has a thick build and is able to bully his way to the rim and finish through contact and he has also shown some progress as a spot-up shooter and a threat from long range. I think versatility will come, making him worth monitoring as a prospect that could help the Minutemen for a long time. Kudos to head coach Frank Martin for identifying and landing Guerengomba before he started stacking late-arriving offers.” – Cassidy
“I’ve been pretty consistent all summer with this one, and I think it’s Christian Anderson and Michigan, based on everything he was able to prove on multiple circuits and while leading the German National team. But I’ll switch it up on this one and say Cooper Koch. I’ve been super impressed with his feel as a stretch-four. He’s a consistent knockdown shooter but he also recognizes situations and makes the right basketball play consistently, whether it’s a skip pass, a slip or setting an extra screen. He’ll need to add bulk down the line but he’s a feisty competitor in the paint, which really makes up a lot of ground. Iowa got a major steal, in my opinion, with Koch.” - Jordan
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WHICH COMMITTED PROSPECT DO YOU THINK COULD BE IN FOR A STOCK-BOOSTING SENIOR SEASON?
“I’m really interested to see how things turn out for Providence commit Daquan Davis at Overtime Elite, as the four-star guard could use the opportunity to add muscle and refine his physical gifts in a pro-style setting like OTE. He’s always been intriguing from a facilitation standpoint, and now he’ll have access to one of the best basketball facilities in the country. That, combined with the exposure he’ll get playing OTE’s new, beefed-up and wide-ranging schedule make him one to watch as a player that could take a massive step forward and slide up the rankings by the time he arrives on campus at Providence.” – Cassidy
“So, on this one I’ll have to come back to my redundancy just because I can’t think of someone with a better stage set for his ascension than Christian Anderson. He had an amazing summer, super productive and dominant on the toughest circuit. Then he starred with the German National team to end of the summer and now he’s suiting up with Oak Hill Academy in the NIBC. The NIBC has all of its games on ESPN and there’s no bigger platform in high school basketball than the murderer’s row that is the NIBC. He’ll face Montverde Academy, IMG Academy, La Lumiere, AZ Compass and Long Island Lutheran multiple times, and if he’s able to stay on par with what he was able to do this summer Anderson could make a big leap in the 2024 rankings.” - Jordan