Basketball Recruiting Scoop
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The Florida staff was in Atlanta for the Under Armour Association Finals Wednesday through Saturday as was InsideTheGators.com, here's some of what we learned on quite a few of the Gators basketball prospects.
Sacha Killeya-Jones hand an uneven week in his play. The one game I saw he had difficulty getting into a rhythm against Atlanta Xpress Boyd but looked really good in spurts. His inconsistency has kept him from moving up in the rankings, but he has the offensive package the Gators are looking for in a forward to spread the floor.
The four-star power forward has no current timetable on his recruitment other than saying that he does not want things to stretch out into next spring. Killeya-Jones added that he's hearing the most from Kentucky, California, Florida, North Carolina and N.C. State.
The staff watched skilled WeR1 2016 big man Sedee Keita. This kid is 6-foot-9, and possess guard-like ball skills because two years ago he was a 6-foot-3 guard. The No. 74 ranked prospect in the Rivals150, Keiata originally attended school in Delaware before transferring, and repeating a year, at Vermont Academy (VT). Following a coaching change Keita transferred to 22-Feet Academy (SC).
Keita has a high octane motor, runs the floor great and is a solid rim protector. UF may begin to recruit him if academics are in order.
Another WeR1 player the Florida coaching staff watched was 2017 small forward Kodye Pugh who recently picked up an offer from the Gators. Pugh's mother attended UCF and her husband has family in Winter Garden. She said they come down to visit family once a year for a week, usually in August, and might take an unofficial to Gainesville at that time.
A true student-athlete, Pugh is attracting attention from the likes Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern and Vanderbilt along with George Washington, Temple and Georgetown.
Gators assistant Jordan Mincy was noticed watching Atlanta Xpress wing M.J. Walker and 6-foot-8 forward Rayshaun Hammonds. Word is there is mutual interest, particularly with Hammonds. Walker is also a standout football player and it remains to be seen which sport he'll play at the next level. On the hardwood, the 6-foot-5, 200-pounder seemed to get to the rim through traffic with ease, he hit contested jump shots and even spent some time playing point guard.
Indy Hoosiers point guard Paul Scruggs is NICE. The 6-foot-3 class of 2017 guard led his team with 14 points in the title game loss to the Florida Vipers. Using a quick first step, spin moves, and crisp passing he's able to create offense for himself and his team off the dribble. What he didn't do this week, was show an ability to knock down three-pointers.
Wyatt Wilkes of SE Elite Florida 16U team dislocated his left (non shooting) shoulder when his tomahawk dunk was blocked in a Thursday morning game against Florida Elite. Friday, the small forward was back in action, hitting shots and diving for loose balls. Saturday he told me his shoulder was sore and he'll get it looked at in Winter Park. Wilkes picked up an offer from Rice on Tuesday, he also holds offers from Clemson, UAB, UCF and Virginia Tech.
Florida coaches are tracking Wilkes progress closely and an offer could come in the near future.
Speaking of offers, Florida offered 2017 Oak Hill / Boo Williams point guard Matt Coleman this weekend.
Remember the names RaiQuan Gray, Paul Atkinson and Zach Kent. They are 2017 forwards who play for the Florida Vipers 16U team -- they won the Under Armour Association Finals championship Saturday - and they're on the Gators radar.
Gray is an undersized 6-foot-7 power forward who competes hard, doesn't mind contact and has some finesse to his game. I've been told that his doctor thinks he'll grow to 6-foot-9.
Atkinson passes the look test of a long, lean athletic potential stretch four -- 6-foot-9, 200 pounds but he didn't impress me until Saturday. In fact earlier in the week there were times I didn't notice that he was in the game.
In Saturday's championship game Atkinson had eight points, six rebounds, one block and played with a greater sense of urgency. Right now his offense exists in the paint but if he develops a face up game and adds muscle over his high school career he could attract high major attention.
Kent is a mobile 6-foot-10 class of 2017 big man who looked good whether he was operating out of the low or high post when we saw him against Philly Pride. He set screens and hit the pick-and-pop three-pointer. Kent can use either hand around the basket and made good passes out of the double-team.
Miami Norland 2016 five-star power forward Dewan Huell told me that Florida State and Miami are dead even. Both have been recruiting him since the ninth grade and he loves the coaches at both programs. He listed other schools in the mix, but Florida was not one of them.
Huell also said that he will sign in the spring.
Rising senior Brison Gresham trimmed his list of schools over the weekend and Florida made the cut. The 6-foot-8, 205-pounder Tweeted his list Saturday. The Gators offered Gresham shortly after Mike White arrived in Gainesville.
De'Jon Jarreau, a teammate of Gresham, also trimmed his list Saturday. Florida offered Jarreau recently and made the cut. The two players have steadfastly said that they are going to attend the same college and a review of the schools on both players lists back that up. The only school not to make both player's cut was Mississippi State - who has yet to offer Jarreau.
In the 'it's never too early to identify prospects' category, the Gators watched Team Florida Elite class of 2019 7-foot Center Balsa Koprivica. Prior to this weekend, ITG had only seen video of Koprivica, who just turned 15 on May 1. He is a legit 7-footer, 247 pounds and moves very well. Coming from Europe (Serbia), Koprivica has some four-man face up skills and is a surprisingly good ball handler and passer on the move.
Baylor, West Virginia, Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Georgia State have been in touch with his travel coach Adrian Sosa, who doubles as Koprivica's coach at University High School in Fort Lauderdale, Koprivica played on the varsity team last season as an eighth grader.
Firmly on the Gators radar is Team Thad 16U point guard Tyler Harris. Listed at 5-foot-10, Harris put on the best performance that these eyes saw on Friday. The rising sophomore scored 28 of Team Thad's 63 points in a loss to the Florida Vipers in 16U action. Harris used his quickness to get to the rim and he connected on half of his 12 three-pointers. He also grabbed four rebounds and had two assists and two steals. He simply made plays and when he wasn't in the game Team Thad's offensive efficiency tanked. Due to his size, Harris will need to learn to create space so that he can get better looks at the rim.
Harris has a connection to the Gators program. Team Thad is the program Chris Chiozza played for and Harris told us that his father was Florida assistant Jordan Mincy's AAU Coach.
Russ Wood is a contributing national basketball recruiting analyst for Inside the Gators & Rivals. You can click HERE to follow him on Twitter.