CARMEL — Hi, me again.
Today was the first full day of the Charlie Hughes Showcase, Indiana's signature high school team event for the young June evaluation period, and the day the games with the biggest-name prospects began.
A rundown of what I saw today and what it all means.
I'll follow up with stories and video after the weekend, but here's just a quick recap since tomorrow's games will require a 6:30 a.m. wakeup call for me tomorrow.
Purdue's foremost 2023 recruiting target opened Charlie Hughes by helping Cathedral to a couple of narrow wins over Fishers and Kokomo, very much looking like a different player than A) he was during the AAU portion of this spring and B) certainly what he looked like a few months ago.
Booker has been really aggressive attacking off the dribble, bringing the ball up the floor and going all the way to the rim and looking for his jumper, which he'll shoot off the dribble or on the move even.
He's definitely closer to being that 6-11 jump-shooter type of the Durant/Mobley sort of mold — NOTE: HE IS NOT THAT GOOD — that he is being a traditional or even non-traditional center. He's a jump-shooter and dribbling. He is getting more contested rebounds and blocking more shots than I've seen from him before during the year-plus that I've been covering him, which is a very positive step.
That said, he is prone to being quiet still for extended stretches and physical posts are going to be a handful for him from time to time. Tonight, Flory Bidunga got the better of the matchup between the two, dunking on or around Booker at least a half dozen times while Booker's three threes came on probably double-digit attempts. He got Flory a couple times, but even though Cathedral got the win, Bidunga was a tall order for Booker around the rim, as he'd be for a lot of people.
Booker just unofficially visited Purdue again on Wednesday and took an official visit to Notre Dame prior to this event. He'll maintain his five senior visits for the fall, and has one booked to Ohio State for the first weekend in September. We'd expect Purdue to get one of the other four, but he does not have one scheduled yet.
I am astonished to tell you that Matt Painter was the only relevant head coach at Booker's games today. He is the No. 2 player in the country according to Rivals and no other head coaches showed up today. Not sure what the deal is, but I didn't think there were a lot of high-major coaches at this thing in general. Purdue had three coaches there, while Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State and Indiana were the only other Big Ten schools I saw represented. IU didn't even send a coach. Jordan Hulls, their recruiting coordinator, was there, meaning one of their other guys must have been off the road this weekend and he was taking their place.
Auburn was the only non-Big Ten Booker suitor I saw represented. They sent an assistant.
Full interview below
I missed most of Colvin's second game due to logistics, but I know he played very well in that game after playing fairly well in the first game. His team looks the best I've ever seen, and Heritage Christian won both their games today decidedly.
Don't really have much else to say here. Colvin's immensely talented and about to embark on a big week for him at NBA Camp. A chance for him to really make a name for himself.
NBA people are starting to do legwork on him.
Colvin's still really young. Part of the process for him will be learning to brush off some of the calls he doesn't get. He got mugged a couple of times today and didn't get any help from the stripes. Sometimes he gets pissed and that brings a little extra something out of him.
One thing the amateur psychologist in me believes: Keeping Colvin "on edge" will be important. When that competitiveness really comes out of him, he has it all.
Really a positive thing seeing his team play well and win.
Speaking of getting mugged ... this high school event environment is so much less revealing than the grassroots scene, but it's not the most relevant context for evaluation.
Sisley is going to be a perimeter-oriented 4 man at the college level and a very highly recruited one. For his high school, he's playing center and trying to catch lobs between defenders bracketing him the way they would Zach Edey and trying to beat the hell out of him.
Yay.
Personally, I don't need to see any more of Sisley to know exactly what he is. I think that he is so skilled, so versatile and so athletic that he's always going to stand out, even after the rest of his class develops around him. Sometimes those kids who are so advanced so early get passed up over time — think Collin Hartman — but that's not going to happen to Sisley. He's good enough to where he should be insulated from that.
It's great for Purdue that Kanon Catchings isn't at Carmel, due to a family wedding this weekend.
Not that there are any coaches around to see him, but the longer he stars hidden, the better Purdue's chances not just to get him, but maybe to get him relatively early.
Catchings is going to be an interesting case study in the new era of recruiting. He just visited Indiana and Illinois and came away with offers from neither. Not sure what they're seeing or not seeing there that they're not offering, but do certain schools anymore want to develop high school recruits or go buy ready-made transfers?
COUPLE OTHER THINGS
• I'm not aware of Painter seeing him today, but Purdue's definitely watching Penn's Markus Burton, a 2023 scoring guard who could be slotted as a point guard, a dire need for Purdue.
Purdue's 2024 point guard board took a hit today when Travis Perry, who Purdue might otherwise have had a shot with, got offered by Kentucky. That one is over.
• Painter watched both of Jack Benter's first two games today. I missed them so can't tell you how he played, but the writing's on the wall here. My guess is Benter gets offered at some point and winds up a Boilermaker.
I will see Benter tomorrow, as well as Booker and Burton's teams squaring off and Colvin's and Sisley's teams meeting.
• Jalen Haralson is an absolute monster. Unbelievable competitor for his age. Unfortunately he sprained his ankle real bad stepping on a videographer's foot while falling out of bounds in OT vs. Cathedral. He's done for the weekend, and it stands to reason to suggest this would extend into July.
Today was the first full day of the Charlie Hughes Showcase, Indiana's signature high school team event for the young June evaluation period, and the day the games with the biggest-name prospects began.
A rundown of what I saw today and what it all means.
I'll follow up with stories and video after the weekend, but here's just a quick recap since tomorrow's games will require a 6:30 a.m. wakeup call for me tomorrow.
Purdue's foremost 2023 recruiting target opened Charlie Hughes by helping Cathedral to a couple of narrow wins over Fishers and Kokomo, very much looking like a different player than A) he was during the AAU portion of this spring and B) certainly what he looked like a few months ago.
Booker has been really aggressive attacking off the dribble, bringing the ball up the floor and going all the way to the rim and looking for his jumper, which he'll shoot off the dribble or on the move even.
He's definitely closer to being that 6-11 jump-shooter type of the Durant/Mobley sort of mold — NOTE: HE IS NOT THAT GOOD — that he is being a traditional or even non-traditional center. He's a jump-shooter and dribbling. He is getting more contested rebounds and blocking more shots than I've seen from him before during the year-plus that I've been covering him, which is a very positive step.
That said, he is prone to being quiet still for extended stretches and physical posts are going to be a handful for him from time to time. Tonight, Flory Bidunga got the better of the matchup between the two, dunking on or around Booker at least a half dozen times while Booker's three threes came on probably double-digit attempts. He got Flory a couple times, but even though Cathedral got the win, Bidunga was a tall order for Booker around the rim, as he'd be for a lot of people.
Booker just unofficially visited Purdue again on Wednesday and took an official visit to Notre Dame prior to this event. He'll maintain his five senior visits for the fall, and has one booked to Ohio State for the first weekend in September. We'd expect Purdue to get one of the other four, but he does not have one scheduled yet.
I am astonished to tell you that Matt Painter was the only relevant head coach at Booker's games today. He is the No. 2 player in the country according to Rivals and no other head coaches showed up today. Not sure what the deal is, but I didn't think there were a lot of high-major coaches at this thing in general. Purdue had three coaches there, while Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State and Indiana were the only other Big Ten schools I saw represented. IU didn't even send a coach. Jordan Hulls, their recruiting coordinator, was there, meaning one of their other guys must have been off the road this weekend and he was taking their place.
Auburn was the only non-Big Ten Booker suitor I saw represented. They sent an assistant.
Full interview below
I missed most of Colvin's second game due to logistics, but I know he played very well in that game after playing fairly well in the first game. His team looks the best I've ever seen, and Heritage Christian won both their games today decidedly.
Don't really have much else to say here. Colvin's immensely talented and about to embark on a big week for him at NBA Camp. A chance for him to really make a name for himself.
NBA people are starting to do legwork on him.
Colvin's still really young. Part of the process for him will be learning to brush off some of the calls he doesn't get. He got mugged a couple of times today and didn't get any help from the stripes. Sometimes he gets pissed and that brings a little extra something out of him.
One thing the amateur psychologist in me believes: Keeping Colvin "on edge" will be important. When that competitiveness really comes out of him, he has it all.
Really a positive thing seeing his team play well and win.
Speaking of getting mugged ... this high school event environment is so much less revealing than the grassroots scene, but it's not the most relevant context for evaluation.
Sisley is going to be a perimeter-oriented 4 man at the college level and a very highly recruited one. For his high school, he's playing center and trying to catch lobs between defenders bracketing him the way they would Zach Edey and trying to beat the hell out of him.
Yay.
Personally, I don't need to see any more of Sisley to know exactly what he is. I think that he is so skilled, so versatile and so athletic that he's always going to stand out, even after the rest of his class develops around him. Sometimes those kids who are so advanced so early get passed up over time — think Collin Hartman — but that's not going to happen to Sisley. He's good enough to where he should be insulated from that.
It's great for Purdue that Kanon Catchings isn't at Carmel, due to a family wedding this weekend.
Not that there are any coaches around to see him, but the longer he stars hidden, the better Purdue's chances not just to get him, but maybe to get him relatively early.
Catchings is going to be an interesting case study in the new era of recruiting. He just visited Indiana and Illinois and came away with offers from neither. Not sure what they're seeing or not seeing there that they're not offering, but do certain schools anymore want to develop high school recruits or go buy ready-made transfers?
COUPLE OTHER THINGS
• I'm not aware of Painter seeing him today, but Purdue's definitely watching Penn's Markus Burton, a 2023 scoring guard who could be slotted as a point guard, a dire need for Purdue.
Purdue's 2024 point guard board took a hit today when Travis Perry, who Purdue might otherwise have had a shot with, got offered by Kentucky. That one is over.
• Painter watched both of Jack Benter's first two games today. I missed them so can't tell you how he played, but the writing's on the wall here. My guess is Benter gets offered at some point and winds up a Boilermaker.
I will see Benter tomorrow, as well as Booker and Burton's teams squaring off and Colvin's and Sisley's teams meeting.
• Jalen Haralson is an absolute monster. Unbelievable competitor for his age. Unfortunately he sprained his ankle real bad stepping on a videographer's foot while falling out of bounds in OT vs. Cathedral. He's done for the weekend, and it stands to reason to suggest this would extend into July.
