Looking ahead to the 2018 class, Javonte Smart just might be the top overall
point guard in the country. He's already 6-foot-5 with a strong, athletic build,
and has turned into an elite playmaker. Coming into the weekend, there were
concerns about his ability to shoot, but he put those to rest by connecting on
multiple threes in a couple different games this weekend. He's already beginning
to collect offers from some of the nation's best programs.
Actions speak
louder than words
College coaches at the highest level have spent the last several months trying
to say the right thing and make their top targets feel wanted. But at the end of
the day, many people believe actions speak louder than words and like to see the
head coach put his money where his mouth is in July by showing up at a
prospect's game. Better yet, another way to show just how important an
individual prospect is to a school is to have the whole staff show up at a game.
Vanderbilt did just that this weekend. It's become pretty apparent that the
Commodores are determined to keep four-star forward Braxton Blackwell home.
Kevin Stallings was a regular at his game throughout the month, but on two
separate occasions in Las Vegas, the whole staff was in attendance to see the
Nashville native play with the Atlanta Celtics.
Duke has become pretty serious about adding five-star guard Frank Jackson to
their program. Stanford feels the same way. If you happened to look courtside at
any of Jackson's games in Vegas, you would see Mike Krzyzewski and
Johnny Dawkins there to see him and usually with an assistant or the whole staff
alongside.
Arizona is one of the schools thought to be heavily in the mix to land Josh
Jackson. After coaching Jackson the USA team earlier this summer, Sean Miller
and an assistant usually could be found somewhere in the gym if Jackson was
playing this month.
Okogie underrated
There are always prospects that fly under the radar in every class before going on to have very productive college careers. A prospect can stay under the radar for a number of reasons, whether they aren't playing enough, aren't getting seen by enough coaches, or they simply don't have the measurable a coach desires.
For Josh Okogie, he plays on a pretty high-profile travel team with CP3 and he plays as much as anybody on the team. He's always productive, yet his offer list doesn't necessarily reflect it. At 6-foot-5, he's a bit undersized for a college small forward, and that's likely what is holding back his recruitment to some extent.
That's not to say he doesn't have some great options. Tennessee's new staff offered him last month after having him on campus for a camp.
Georgia Tech extended an offer as well, and Brian Gregory was spotted watching him quite a bit in July.
He may not have the prettiest game, but one school is going to be very happy they signed kogie. The knock on him in the past had been his shot, but he's become a much better shooter since the high school season ended. His ball handling was another question, but he's improved dramatically in that area as well.
What has never been a question with Okogie are the intangibles. He's always leaving it all on the court. He's a tough kid. He's a team player. Those attributes when combined with the skill he's starting to develop are the recipe for a very good college player.