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Bossi's Best: Players who could have been focus of July

Paolo Banchero
Paolo Banchero (https://rivals.com)

Were it not for COVID-19, this would have been the most important week of summer basketball as the major shoe companies and independent operators would be holding events that were approved for NCAA coaches to evaluate.

In this week's edition of Bossi's Best, a look at 10 undecided players from the 2021 Rivals150 that national analyst Eric Bossi would have been locked in on to either get a better feel for their recruitment, game or both.

MORE: Three-Point Play | Twitter Tuesday | Ranking the Contenders for Patrick Baldwin Jr.

2020 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position

2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Position

2022 Rankings: Top 75

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Recruitment: Final six of Arizona, Duke, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Tennessee and Washington.

Why him? It's hard to imagine a player who ranks No. 3 in the country feeling that he's underrated or overlooked, but Banchero seems to me like a highly ranked player who has the drive and chip on his shoulder of a player who is unranked and without offers. He's remarkably efficient, very skilled and does so many things well that his excellence can sometimes be taken for granted. Plus, having watched how his junior season ended in the Washington state tournament, I can guarantee it left a bad taste in his mouth and had him hungry to get out and compete with Seattle Rotary Select.

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Recruitment: Offers from Florida, Georgetown, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisville, Maryland, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest, among others.

Why him? Given that he's ranked in the top 15 nationally, Mohammed has to have the most mysterious recruitment of any highly ranked player. Nobody seems to have a great feel for where programs stand with him or about who is really prioritizing the tough and athletic wing. Seeing which coaches were on - or off - his offer list while following his every step with his Boo Williams team could have revealed a lot.

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Recruitment: Offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, California, Long Beach State, Michigan, Missouri, Oregon, Texas Tech, UCLA, USC, Washington and more.

Why him? Watson is another player whose recruiting chatter has been relatively quiet. He's a big wing with length, skill and loads of athletic upside, and frankly I'm a bit surprised that his recruitment hasn't yet turned into an all-out fight among the best of the best. He seems destined to stay on the West Coast at this point. Could a power player from outside of the region have made a push in July by tracking him with the Oakland Soldiers?

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Recruitment: Final 10 of Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Houston, Kansas, LSU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech.

Why him? I was looking forward to watching Collins probably as much as any player in the country this summer. The way he emerged out of seemingly nowhere last summer, his size, his athleticism and potential for growth all intrigued me. I was really looking forward to seeing how he would look for Team Griffin with added strength and experience. Also, his list is pretty Big 12 heavy. Could anybody from outside of that conference have really made a push?

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Recruitment: Nearly 30 scholarship offers from programs including Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisville, Miami, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, St. John's, Syracuse, Ohio State and Tennessee.

Why him? A few things make Etienne intriguing to me. For one, he could still enroll as a class of 2020 kid, and after that he's big and skilled and has a really diverse list of schools. I tend to think he stays on the East Coast and maybe not too far from New York, but is that the case? It would have been interesting to see which head coaches made sure he saw them every step of the way as Etienne hit the floor with the PSA Cardinals.

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Recruitment: Boston College, Clemson, Indiana, Louisville, Iowa State, NC State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and several others have offered.

Why him? When I speak with coaches and others whose opinions I value, they are a bit split on Whitt. I know they love him in North Carolina, and many there feel we have him way underranked. Some time to lock in on him playing with Team Thad against the nation's best would have been great to help solidify an opinion about him. He's got some flash to him and he doesn't mind talking some trash, so he's he fun to watch, too.

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Recruitment: Arizona, Clemson, Louisville, North Carolina, Marquette, Maryland, NC State, Texas, Wake Forest, Xavier, Vanderbilt, VCU and several others have offered.

Why him? Actually getting to see Dunn in person would have been extremely beneficial to myself - and everybody else. The vast majority of schools offering him have done so primarily off of high school film and we certainly based his ranking on watching multiple high school games on film. How big is he really? What's his athleticism and his ability to create like? We could all get a much better idea in person to decide if he was getting enough attention, ranked properly and all of that.

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Recruitment: Cincinnati, Indiana, Louisville, Purdue, Texas A&M, Virginia and Xavier have all offered.

Why him? I'd like to get a more intimate look at Kaufman. When I saw him last summer with Indiana Elite, I didn't see him at the same level as some others who had seen him more regularly. His junior year film was more promising and he seems to be getting bigger and stronger. Have we given him a fair shake so far? I'd like to have gotten a better idea. Also, prevailing thought has been that getting him outside of Indiana borders is going to be tough. I'd like to know if that is still the case.

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Recruitment: Offers from Arizona State, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Iowa State, Marquette, Miami, Texas Tech and Virginia Tech.

Why him? There are lots of reasons why I would have loved to lock in on Hunter of Phenom U-Team Herro. His film showed a lot of upside as a creator for others and a dangerous scorer with lots of room to grow into his body. I worry we could have him a ranked a bit too low. At the same time, I'm always curious when I see a guy that I really like but it seems like much of his recruitment is coming from outside of the region he's from. Are local schools missing the boat? Do they know something the rest of us don't? Or is he just looking to get away from home?

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Recruitment: Arizona State, Auburn, Creighton, DePaul, LSU, Marquette, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina A&T, Oklahoma, San Diego State, TCU and USC - just to list some of his offers.

Why him? In the summer of live-streamed events, Washington has been one of the most talked about floor generals in America. He transferred high schools during the middle of his junior year, has grown into his body and looks to have developed into a very dangerous scorer. Putting up big numbers in a weekly league is one thing, but how would he have done in much more organized and competitive grassroots games? Would he have backed up the hype? I'd have loved to see what he could do against players from all around the country and not just Arizona.

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