Vegas Saturday: Koprivica an elite prospect

LAS VEGAS -- The grind of travel and games began to show on Saturday in Las Vegas, but elite 2019 prospect Balsa Koprivica dug down and found the energy to advance Nike Team Florida in the 16U bracket of the Las Vegas Classic. On a day spent focusing on that bracket and the Adidas Summer Championships, Koprivica was just one of many breakout performers.

Nike Team Florida is actually playing up an age group as a 15U squad in the 16U bracket of the Las Vegas Classic. But future five-star big man Balsa Koprivica looked like he would have been just fine playing up another age group.

A mobile seven-footer from the Miami area, Koprivica is exactly what an elite prospect looks like. To go along with his size and mobility he is highly skilled on the offensive end with touch to out near the three-point line. Defensively, he erases shots around the rim, clears the glass and can move his feet when he has to help in pick and roll situations.

Obviously things are still very early with the class of 2019, but at this point he's looking like a potential top-five type player in America.

"I think my game is versatile and I feel like I can score from all three levels," Koprivica said. "I can adjust to my defender. If I have a bigger guy I want to take him outside and put the ball on the floor. If I've got a smaller guy I feel like I can hurt him in the post."

So far, Koprivica has offers from Louisville, USC, Miami (head coach watched Saturday), Florida, Baylor, Georgia State and Murray State.

Those who stuck around for the nightcap between Baltimore based Team Melo and Chicago based Mac Irvin Fire were treated to a high-level 16U game. Four-star point guard Noah Locke led Team Melo to a three-point win in an up and down, high-scoring affair that may have been the best game we saw all week in Vegas.

A strongly built floor general who loves to shoot pull-up jumpers, Locke has some Kyle Lowry in his game. He creates contact, is crafty and is a scoring point guard who simply has a great feel for creating offense. He listed offers from Cincinnati, USC, Rice, Tulsa, Kansas State, Providence, UNC Greensboro, George Washington and Old Dominion. Penn State was one of the schools that stuck around (along with Minnesota, George Washington, Cincinnati and a few others) and offered him after the game.

He tailed off some in the second half, but shooting guard Demetrius Mims was another good looking prospect for Team Melo. He's 6-foot-4 with burst, long arms and some creative offense. VCU and St. John's have already offered.

On the other side, 2018's No. 20 ranked player, Ayo Dosunmu, was sensational despite essentially playing on one leg. The point guard was laboring due to an ankle injury but showed guts and toughness while scoring 26 points and playing through pain. He is thin and slippery with the dribble, and one of the coaches in attendance nailed it when they described him as a professional layup maker.

While Dosunmu was producing at the rim, teammates Kezo Brown and Talen Horton-Tucker were making deep jumpers. Brown is a strongly built three-star combo guard who also made a few nice drives. Horton-Tucker is a wide bodied and skilled wing who has game at all three levels.

Four-star wing Musa Jallow isn't yet in the class of 2018 rankings, but that will be changing shortly. He had a virtuoso 31-point performance on Saturday to help Team Blaze make a comeback win and knock out the Portland Basketball Club.

A well proportioned wing with a strong frame and good athleticism, Jallow does his damage driving to the hoop. He was relentless in getting into the lane and once he had defenders on their heels to try and take away his drives, he dribbled right into wide open jump shots.

A Bloomington, Indiana native, Jallow has received an offer from the hometown Hoosiers along with Vanderbilt (Bryce Drew watched), Toledo and IUPUI. Virginia's Tony Bennett was there to watch him and he's also got interest from Stanford, Michigan State, Ohio State and Butler.

Jallow said his driving style simply allows him to make the smart basketball play on his team.

"Our team is a bunch of shooters who space the floor," said Jallow. "They all love to get open and all I have to do is drive and I can find them or get all the way to the rim myself."

Just a few months ago, Kolby Lee of Team Fast didn’t have much action in his recruitment. He had a couple offers and some interest, but now he’s into the double digits in offers. It’s easy to see why.

The 6-foot-8 post player from Idaho had a terrific first half against Brookwood Elite on Saturday morning. He pumped 18 points and only took nine shots to get there. He knocked both of both of his attempts from three-point range, hit a jumper from the elbow, had some nice buckets off post moves, and connected on both of his free throw attempts.

Head coaches from BYU, Oregon State, Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, Oregon, and Boise State watched Lee go for 23 points and haul in nine rebounds for the game. A few of those schools have been involved with Lee of late.

“BYU was my latest offer,” Lee said. “The biggest offers I have are BYU, Boise State, and Utah State. Oregon State has contacted me a lot lately.”

We are buying stock in the future of 2018 combo guard Eric Hunter of Team Harris. Standing 6-foot-3 with long arms, he's capable of shooting from deep, getting to the rim and making athletic plays in transition. He was on the campuses of both Butler and Xavier in June and Xavier has offered. Toledo, Ball State, Kent State, IUPUI and IPFW hae also offered while West Virginia, Nebraska, Ohio State and Indiana also checked in during July. He should be a factor in updated 2018 rankings after the summer.

Since we first saw 2019 shooting guard Marcus Tsohonis with his Portland (Ore.) Jefferson high school squad the 6-foot-4 scorer has come along nicely. On Saturday he showed plenty of skill and crafty play with his pull-ups, floaters and nose for putting the ball in the hole

Luguentz Dort of Brookwood Elite is a big part of the reason why Team Fast came up short on Saturday morning. The 6-foot-4 guard took over the game in the second half by being super active on both ends of the court and dominating in transition. Right now, he’s more of a slasher than shooter from the perimeter, but he did show the ability to knock down the three ball.

Nate Reuvers is the type of post player that will go to Wisconsin and have a terrific career in Madison. He’s a legitimate threat to shoot from the perimeter, and he has enough toughness and post up game to play on the interior as well. Greg Gard and staff locked up a good one.

Roy Williams showed up to check out 2019 forward Matthew Hurt on Saturday morning. Hurt is another 6-foot-9 prospect who can step out and shoot. He’ll be one of the more highly recruited players in his class.