City of Palms: Bossi's Tuesday Takeaways

FT. MYERS, Fla. -- Top five forward Nassir Little proved he belonged in that he deserves that status in the class of 2018. The race for No. 1 in 2019 between incumbent Vernon Carey Jr. and challenger James Wiseman is still as clear as mud. That and much more in our takeaways from the City of Palms.

Nobody could blame North Carolina head coach Roy Williams for cracking a smile as he watched signee Nassir Little on Tuesday. Early second half foul trouble derailed what could have been a truly special performance, but the 6-foot-7 forward had nothing left to prove when it came to backing up his No. 5 national ranking in the class of 2018.

Little is one of the top athletes in the class and because of his size and strength can play as a small ball four, but he looks more and more like a big and physical wing on the next level. During the summer, Little made big strides with his jump shot and watching him hit four from deep in the first half displayed a pure shot with excellent mechanics.

I would expect for Little's impact to be immediate and significant in Chapel Hill next year and he looks like he has the potential to go high in the 2019 NBA Draft.

I've already written about this subject a few times, but waiting for either Vernon Carey Jr. or James Wiseman to create separation from the other in the race for No. 1 in the class of 2019 is getting tough.

Each time one of the five-star big men seems to be inching ahead, the other comes right back. On Tuesday, they took the floor in back to back wins with Wiseman going for 20 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in Memphis (Tenn.) East's win. Immediately after, Carey faced up with five-star senior big man Moses Brown and went for 23 points, eight rebounds and two blocks of his own.

Wiseman is the longer, leaner and more sleak of the two. The southpaw is coming on quickly but is more of a long-term stock. A huge target of Kentucky, Memphis, North Carolina, Kansas and many others, he's the guy with the "upside" argument and after USA Basketball in October appeared to be inching ahead. Then there's Carey, who is a big and physically tough kid who is every bit as skilled as he is strong. He's trimmed up some to add explosion and holds the skill level argument in his favor.

The current belt holder, Carey is trying not to get caught up and said that he didn't watch Wiseman play on Tuesday -- before changing courses and admitting that he watched him for "maybe two minutes" with a grin.

"I just try to go out and be the best version of me that I can be," said Carey. "The last time I played him as at USA Basketball in October, we have a nice little rivalry."

The biggest concern with Wake Forest-bound combo forward Jaylen Hoard has been his lack of physical strength. The top 30 senior at High Point (N.C.) Wesleyan Christian appears to be remedying that.

Taking the floor on Tuesday, Hoard looked noticeably stronger from the summer and rather than float to the rim he attacked the bucket. He's so quick that he's going to be matchup problem for big men and the added strength is going to help him overpower smaller players.

Danny Manning could use a guy to help space the floor around rapidly improving center Doral Moore next year, and Hoard looks to be on target to contribute early.

Miami (Fla.) Gulliver Prep has a nice team full of talented underclassmen, two of them in particular -- Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Tony Sanders -- stood out to me as players that will be important to track closely.

Given his namesake's career as an NBA player, Mashburn gets instant name recognition, but he's a completely different player than his father. Like his old man he can really shoot and he has a high skill level and feel for the game, but he's only about six-feet tall and is a combo guard instead of the long floor stretching four his father was. A four-star prospect, Mashburn would have been tough to beat Louisville on, but with Rick Pitino (who coached his dad in college at Kentucky) out, things have opened up. Florida and Miami have offered while Florida State is also heavily involved. Head coaches from Florida and FSU watched him on Tuesday.

I'll want to watch Sanders more down the road, but the lanky and athletic 6-foot-5 wing has a nice looking jump shot and the type of basketball body you look for in a wing. Sanders said that he didn't know of anybody recruiting him yet but if Tuesday was any indication he's one to watch and could ultimately be recruited at the high major level.

It was good to see 2018 five-star Moses Brown go head up with a talent like 2019's No. 1 player Vernon Carey. Carey had the edge, but Brown competed and looked much more comfortable dealing with a high level big man than the 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-6 post men he usually sees in high school ball who hack at his arms. Brown competed pretty well and held his own with 18 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. Brown is still considering Florida State (Leonard Hamilton watched), Maryland and UCLA after visiting all three in the fall. He mentioned that Duke and Kentucky are most likely competing for his final official visit and that Georgetown could sneak in there. Duke, UK and the Hoyas also watched him.

Also playing well for Archbishop Molloy was three-star wing Khalid Moore. The lanky swingman headed to Georgia Tech was very active slashing to the rim and 23 points and seven rebounds.

It shouldn't come as a surprise, but 2019 five-star shooting guard Bryan Antoine had a big bounce back game on Tuesday. Antoine came out smoking hot with his jumper and playing with a physical edge to score 22 of his 30 points in the first half of a consolation game. After getting watched by Kentucky and others on Monday, Duke had an assistant on hand Tuesday.

Bob Huggins keeps finding guys who are a perfect fit for him at West Virginia. The latest is three-star senior Trey Doomes from the University School in Florida. A high flying guard who attacks the rim, Doomes has the same relentless motor and physicality of seemingly every Huggins guard. He's not yet a huge threat as a jump shooter, but he will get minutes for his defense and driving until he irons that out.

Score another impressive performance for South Alabama-bound guard Berrick JeanLouis. A big-time athlete who accelerates to the hoop and can be a playmaker for others, he's also potentially elite defender. He should at least be in the discussion for the 2018 Rivals150 when we finalize it in April.

Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei didn't have an answer for 2019 five-star forward Trendon Watford who went off for 31 points and 11 rebounds for Mountain Brook (Ala.) High. But, their experienced senior corp of Division One recruits Spencer Freedman, Michael Wang and Harrison Butler helped to make enough plays and get a one-point win. What really impressed me about Freedman was something he did in the second quarter. Early on he picked up his third foul on a questionable offensive foul call. Despite it being early in the game, he remained on the floor for a bit longer and helped to calm down his team against a swarming press. The Rivals150 guard will surely be a valuable piece at Harvard.

Also ticketed to play in the Ivy League, at Penn, Wang is a skilled big man who can shoot and has gotten much tougher. It's easy to see him as a five man who spreads the floor and creates space for drivers and cutters with his shooting and passing. Headed to Southern Utah, Butler is a forward who I really like as mismatch four on the next level. He can pull bigs away from the hoop and drive or shoot and would be a problem for more traditional bigs to keep up with in transition.

Among the coaches I spotted on Tuesday were head coaches from Florida, Florida State, North Carolina, South Alabama and Wake Forest. Dispatching assistants were Duke, Kentucky, Penn, Rutgers, Georgetown, Drexel, USF and Villanova.