Rush The Court

Ted Kapita, a four-star center and intriguing prospect, committed to Arkansas on Thursday. The big man from Africa is ranked No. 43 in the class of 2015 but has a high upside and has slowly been improving his skill level at Huntington (WV) Prep. Kapita already has a professional body. With long arms and a chiseled frame, the 18-year old does not look like your normal high schooler. He can run the floor and throw down highlight reel dunks that will no doubt draw some “ooohs” and “aaaahs” from the Razorbacks’ faithful next year. His coordination and overall skill set are still trying to catch up to his body, though. He’s a strong rebounder in the paint but sometimes thinks too long before reacting. Kapita played with Pan Africa this past summer at the Nike Global Challenge, and in his first game in front of a plethora of NBA scouts, he put up a monstrous stat line with 36 points and 16 rebounds. Unfortunately he struggled to do much of anything the next game out. At Arkansas, Kapita will join four-star guard Jimmy Whitt, who is a smooth jump shooter. The pair will look to turn their inside/outside potential into consistent production in the SEC.

2. Oregon Lands High Scoring Tyler Dorsey

Dana Altman’s Oregon teams routinely rank among the nation’s top 100 teams in adjusted tempo. This means that the Ducks like to get up and down the court, and they recently got the perfect recruit for their style of play in four-star guard Tyler Dorsey (No. 34 – 2015). The 6’4” guard from Southern California who chose Oregon over Kansas and a host of Pac-12 suitors will look to step in and fill the shoes of Joseph Young right off the bat. Young is currently averaging 18.7 points per game and will end his Oregon career as the team’s leading scorer for the second year in a row, so it’s a good thing that Dorsey can put the ball in the bucket. A year ago Dorsey was ranked in the top 10, but after committing to Arizona early, things quickly started to go south. A disappointing spring AAU season led to rumors about the firmness of that commitment, and sure enough, Dorsey decided to look elsewhere when five-star shooting guard Alonzo Trier (No. 16 – 2015) committed to the Wildcats over the summer. In addition to looking for a new school, the rising senior was also looking to repair his reputation in the national rankings. Now at a new school this year (Maranatha (CA)), Dorsey has routinely scored 40 or more points in games, including a 48-point effort against USC-bound Benny Boatwright. After a brief dip in production and consistency, the explosive Dorsey is again scoring at will and will look to continue his productive ways in Eugene.

3. Alex Barcello Gets Arizona Offer

A few weeks ago we went out to Arizona to learn about a high-scoring sophomore guard named Markus Howard, who has already committed to Arizona State. Well, guess what? There is another high0scoring sophomore guard right down the street, named Alex Barcello. The 6’2” guard is ranked as the No. 3 player in Arizona, but he isn’t even the best or most well-known player on his team. That honor belongs to freshmen phenom Marvin Bagley III. In a high-stakes game against Howard’s team last week, Barcello stole the show by scoring 50 points on 19-of-25 shooting. While Howard scored 47 on his end, it was Barcello’s Cornoa del Sol team that got the win. “This smart, tough, fast point guard knows only one speed – full speed. He is as pure a point guard that there is in Arizona,” noted the Arizona Central. Fresh off the 50-point game, Barcello received an offer from Arizona. Could these Howard-Barcello duels continue into college?

4. Louisville: Latest School Show Interest In Caleb Swanigan

Five-star Caleb Swanigan (No. 10 overall) is picking up interest from schools all over the country as Louisville is just the latest top program to join the recruiting fray. At 6’8”, Swanigan is a manchild down low who imposes his will on defenders on every trip into the post. The bruiser was selected to the USA U-17 team last summer and was recently named to the McDonald’s All-American game as well. Recruiting interest has been growing at a slow pace for Swanigan. The Indiana native had strong early interest from Michigan State and several other local schools, but he now has the likes of Arizona, Kentucky and Duke recruiting him as well. In the past couple of weeks, Swanigan witnessed two stellar ACC games. First he took a visit to South Bend and watched Notre Dame defeat Duke followed by the UNC-Louisville game at the Yum! Center. According to Swanigan’s guardian, Roosevelt Barnes, Rick Pitino sees the big man as a potential replacement for Montrezl Harrell on the low block.

5. Nike Hoop Summit Team Announced

One week after the McDonald’s All-American rosters were released, the Hoop Summit selections were released. For those that have followed the younger Team USA groups, the names should look very familiar as all 11 players won a gold medal on either the U-17 team or the U-18 team. With a host of five-star players set to play in Portland against the International team in April, only five players remain unsigned: Jaylen Brown, the top player in the country, along with Ivan Rabb, Malik Newman, Stephen Zimmerman, and Swanigan. Along with those five, other players include two future Blue Devils in Luke Kennard and Chase Jeter. The main game will take place on Saturday, April 11, with a set of prior practices that will be visited by numerous NBA Scouts.

6. 2016 Illinois Big Men

Illinois will have to wait a long time to see another high school class featuring two top-five in-state big men (Jahlil Okafor and Cliff Alexander), but the current 2016 crop is shaping up nicely. While there are not any five-stars that stand out in the state, there are certainly a few names that appear throughout the Top 100. 6’9” Rapolas Ivanauskas vaulted into the recent top 100 and currently sits as the top junior in Illinois and the No. 55 ranked player in the country. Joe Henricksen recently touted the Ivanauskas who plays at Barrington (IL) High School and this is the guy who was touting Tyler Ulis and Jalen Brunson long before everyone else. In addition, 6’10” Nick Rakocevic is the No. 64 ranked player and 6’9” Barret Benson comes in at No. 98. Rakocevic is the known quantity and with a soft outside shot has enticed coaches from Illinois, Virginia and UCLA amongst others. Benson, on the other hand, is coming into his own as a post player and has been picking up high major interest as of late. The trio might not stack up to Okafor and Alexander, but they are drawing plenty of attention from schools across the country.

7. Kobie Eubanks Cuts List

One of the top unsigned senior shooting guards is down to five schools. 6’5” Kobie Eubanks, who was previously committed to Baylor, announced that he is interested in Oregon, Missouri, Georgia, Texas and UCLA. Eubanks currently is playing his prep school year at Elev-8 Prep Academy in Florida and put on quite the performance back in November at the National Prep showcase in Connecticut. With a strong upper body and athleticism to boot, Eubanks became a hot commodity when he decided to de-commit from the Bears. Per Evan Daniels of Scout.com, Eubanks recently took a visit to Oregon in late January and is now trying to set up visits to Georgia and UCLA.