Sweet Seven Scoops: DC Hosts Top Talent, Harry Giles Returns & More
Posted by Sean Moran on December 12th, 2014
Seven Sweet Scoops is a weekly column by Sean Moran, the RTC recruiting guru. Once a week he will bring you seven notes from the high-stakes world of college basketball recruiting. We also encourage you to check out his contributions at The Intentional Foul, dedicated to recruiting coverage and analysis. You can also follow Sean at his Twitter account @Seanmohoops for up-to-date news from the high school and college hoops scene. If you have any suggestions as to areas we are missing or different things you would like to see, please let us know at rushthecourt@yahoo.com.
Note: Scout.com used for all player rankings.
1. The Nation’s Capital Hosts Top Talent
Where will the top college coaches descend to after their teams finish play this weekend? Most likely Washington D.C., as two top tournaments take place in the nation’s capital — the Gonzaga DC Classic and the National High School Hoops Festival at Dematha High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. While the Gonzaga Classic has tipped things off already, the National Hoops Festival is like a grand prize fight. Some of the top young talent who will be in attendance include top five juniors in Jayson Tatum (No. 1 – 2016) and Thon Maker (No. 4 – 2016), while five-star unsigned seniors Cheick Diallo (No. 8 – 2015) and Antonio Blakeney (No. 22 – 2015) will also showcase their skills at the event. Other notable names include Terrance Ferguson (No. 10 – 2016) and Dennis Smith (No. 7 – 2016), both five-star talents in the 2016 class. Games go on throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday and you can be sure that coaches from everywhere will be stopping by throughout the weekend.
2. Harry Giles: Getting Back To 100%
Before he suffered a torn ACL playing for the Team USA U-16 team in the summer 2013, 6’10” Harry Giles (No. 2 -2016) was without a doubt the top player in his class. At the time, Dave Telep, the head of ESPN college basketball recruiting, noted “What I’m alluding to here is the chance that Giles is that special player — a phenom, if you will. He’s a unique person equipped with the talent, humility, and big-picture view of his game and impact.” After sitting out his sophomore season, Giles was surpassed in the rankings by players such as Jayson Tatum and Josh Jackson, but now it seems that he is rounding back into form. During the summer he started for the undefeated U-17 team, averaging 10.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game at what was classified as “90%.” Now, he is the unquestioned leader of Wesleyan Christian Academy (NC) as he looks to lead his team their third state championship in three years. As a freshman, Telep also stated, “In my opinion, everyone else should stop recruiting Giles. If he goes anywhere but UNC, Duke or Kentucky, I’d be shocked. Shocked.” Two years later, those three schools are still battling it out for his services. John Calipari, Coach K and Roy Williams have all made stops to see Giles in action over the past few weeks. Wake Forest and Danny Manning have also made inroads on the local star. Giles has been dominant so far in his junior season, and the young Chris Webber is ready to reclaim his spot as the top talent in the class of 2016. In a recent interview with InsideCarolina, Giles said “I want to go somewhere that’s going to help take you to another level. A place that can help you make your brand bigger. That’s why people go to some colleges – you got John Wall here, Jabari Parker there, [Andrew] Wiggins, they went somewhere to help their brand out.”
3. Tyus Battle Returning To The Court, Getting Attention Off It
Five-star small forward Tyus Battle has been recovering from a stress fracture in his foot, but that hasn’t slowed down the recruiting attention on the New Jersey native. The 6’6” junior wing is considered the No. 10 prospect in the class of 2016 and has a list of some 11 schools, including Syracuse, Duke, Kentucky, Michigan, Louisville and others. The Duke coaching staff made a recent trip to see Battle practice during the week as he rounds back into game shape. Just like classmate Harry Giles, Battle spent his summer playing for the USA U-17 team in Colorado Springs and Dubai. He was a surprise selection to the team, but caught the attention of coaches with his physical play on defense and the variety of his game on the offensive end. Battle is already physically ready for college, but right now he is primarily working on his outside shot. He’s already taken a few unofficial visits and his family plans to check out a few more schools and games as the high school season allows.
4. Can Ivan Rabb Reclaim The Top Spot?
After a dominant junior season, Ivan Rabb was awarded with the top ranking in the class of 2015. He struggled a bit through the spring on the AAU circuit, however, and never really played up to his potential during a busy July period. After resting his body in the fall, Rabb is now healthy and trying to reclaim his spot at the top of the rankings. In one of the first games of his senior season, the five-star power forward from California put together a 24-point, 11-rebound performance. While a double-double is noticeable by itself, the fact that it came against two five-star big men in Chase Jeter and Stephen Zimmerman is even more impressive. In an interview with Josh Gershon of Scout.com, Rabb noted: “It’s always a big match-up because there are two of them and one of me,” said Rabb. “I love big games like that.” The 6’10” Rabb previously cut his list of schools down to include Kentucky, Kansas, California, UCLA and Arizona. He’s taken an official visit to Kentucky and several unofficial visits to the west coast schools but he is still planning on a spring decision. “I want to see all [of them] and whenever the time is right I’ll try and see them,” Rabb said. “I don’t have anything set up right now. I’ll have to plan visits around when I don’t have any games.”
5. The Way Too Early Mock Draft
ESPN‘s Chad Ford just came out with his Mock Draft 2.0 which is highlighted with numerous freshmen such as Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow, Kevon Looney, and others. While the mock draft in December is already way too early, why not take a look 16 months into the future at the 2016 mock draft as well. The online NBA draft leader DraftExpress recently updated theirs and nine of the first 11 prospects in 2016 are current high school seniors. The top of the mock draft pretty much follows a standard class of 2015 top 10 list, but the two main discrepancies come with 6’3” guard Isaiah Briscoe and 6’8” wing Brandon Ingram. Briscoe and Ingram are rated No. 15 and No. 26 by Scout.com, respectively, but DraftExpress has the pair going at No. 9 and No. 11. Briscoe is a lead guard (headed to Kentucky) that powered his AAU team to a Nike Peach Jam championship, and Ingram is an undecided lanky wing. While Ingram will need to put some weight on his frail body, his length and perimeter skills will make him very attractive to NBA scouts, as we can already see.
6. ESPN’s Slate Of Televised Games Has Begun
Thanks to the power of ESPN, the casual college basketball fan has ample opportunities each year to watch the future one-and-done stars of tomorrow. ESPN’s first televised game took place last week with two Texas powers in Plano (TX) West and Lancaster (TX). Texas A&M fans were most likely tuned in to watch their future twin towers do battle with four-star big men Tyler Davis (No. 25 – 2015) and Elijah Thomas (No. 30 – 2015). Plano West squeaked out the win, but there are many more games to come that will feature top teams and players from the various high school classes. The next game takes place tonight, featuring Ivan Rabb and Bishop O’ Dowd against the No. 2 senior in Ben Simmons and his No. 1 nationally ranked Montverde team. You might even get a chance to watch one of the top freshmen showcase his skills in 6’8” EJ Montgomery. Tune in to get a jump start on some of the top players in college next season.
7. Malik Newman And Mustard?
While Washington D.C. is the place to be this weekend for high school hoops, the epicenter was at the Marshall County Hoopfest last week. During the action, five-star guard Malik Newman came close to breaking the Hoopfest scoring record set by Monta Ellis when he scored 46 points a decade ago. In a loss to Orangeville Prep (CA), Newman scored 42 points on 15-29 shooting. Toward the later stages of the contest, Newman began to cramp up, and it appeared that a squirt of mustard was the necessary cure.
Malik Newman Recovers From Cramps While Scoring 42 points
Newman has put on many scoring exploits over the years and the No. 11 ranked senior is currently undecided. Schools such as LSU and Kentucky remain in the mix. Just keep the contract with Heinz updated.
