Saturday, December 13, 2014

A few words with Tremont Waters, Tyler Dorsey

Wife and kids are out of town, so I went up to watch New Haven's own Tremont Waters up at South Kent School on Saturday evening. Right now, there's no doubt he could help out UConn (which looks to get back on track on Sunday against Coppin State)  in at least one department: breaking fullcourt pressure. His ballhandling is that good.

"Teams are throwing two men at him, three men at him," said South Kent coach Kelvin Jefferson, "and I've never been in a situation where I panic when he has the ball. Even if they have two or three guys on him, I let him go. Because I just believe no one can guard him. And he busts it, and we have advantages."

Waters is best-known as a shooter, and he's a terrific passer, too. Here's some (admittedly raw) video of Waters in action in Saturday's 92-85 win over Coastal Academy, during which he had 23 points and seven assists before fouling out (he's No. 4):



If there's one question about Waters right now, it would be his size (5-foot-9, 145 pounds). But he more than makes up for that with his quickness and ballhandling skills. And anyway, he's still just a sophomore, with plenty of time to grow.

"I think if a school doesn't recruit him based on his size, they're crazy," said Jefferson. "I think they're nuts. I think he's the best point guard in the country, in that class. I think he's an elite shooter, an elite passer and an elite ballhandler. And he has a good IQ. As a sophomore, does he always make the right decision? No. But by the time he's a freshman in college, I think he's going to be one of the best in the country."

Spoke with Waters a bit after the game, and while talking about how he likes to keep his teammates involved, it didn't take long for him to bring up the name: "Shabazz Napier."

Waters spoke with Napier briefly while on an unofficial visit to UConn last season.

"He just told me to stay focused, stay in the books. Without books, you can't really do anything else. So it was like, stay focused, stay humble."

UConn has already offered Waters, and is one of many schools heavily in on him, along with Duke, Louisville, Ohio State, Stanford and Clemson, to name just a few.

Asked if UConn was his "dream school," Waters paused for a moment and answered: "Well, it's my home state, so, I'd have to say 'Yeah.' Or Duke. Since I was little, I used to watch Duke all the time. They have a ton of point guards that they've produced. I just like the way they play."

(No, he won't be at the IZOD Center Thursday night for UConn-Duke. South Kent's playing up in Worcester that night).

Anyway, don't expect a decision any time soon from Waters. His parents want him to enjoy being a kid up at South Kent, away from a lot of the pressures of both the city and the recruiting world. And, of course, a lot depends on what other recruits are brought in -- and who's still coaching where -- once 2017 rolls around.

*** As reported by Adam Zagoria recently, UConn is trying to get back in the mix with Tyler Dorsey, who recently decommitted from Arizona.

Spoke with Dorsey by phone on Saturday night.

"Yes, I'm considering them right now," he said of the Huskies. "I don't really know what I'm doing with this college situation. I'm just watching games, still talking to coaches. I'm still considering them."

Dorsey added that he has "no leaders. Nobody has an edge right now."

Dorsey played with current UConn freshman Daniel Hamilton at St. John Bosco High in Bellflower, California (though he's playing at Maranatha High in Los Angeles this year as a senior).

Asked if playing alongside Hamilton would make UConn more intriguing, Dorsey said: "It does. That's my boy, Daniel. That is intriguing, when I look at UConn and that situation ... I talk to him. He's doing good, trying to make me lean towards coming over there with him."

But Dorsey doesn't know when he'll make his decision.

"I have no clue. It depends how I feel and whenever I feel the right school is for me, I'm going to just choose it. But there's no real set date.'

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