Spent the morning at the National Prep Showcase at Albertus Magnus College. Many college assistant coaches were there, including UConn's Glen Miller and Ricky Moore, who were taking in the Brewster-South Kent game that featured 2015 Husky recruiting targets Donovan Mitchell and Jarred Reuter, both of Brewster, as well as a potential big star down the road: South Kent freshman Tremont Waters of New Haven.

Miller was there all day Saturday, watching kids like West Haven's Mustapha Heron, who poured in 35 points on 12-for-17 shooting in Wilbraham & Monson's 89-82 loss to Elev 8. Moore was slated to stay for most of the day Sunday, ostensibly to see Cushing's Jalen Adams play the tourney's final game at 6:30 p.m. And it appears Kevin Ollie showed up Sunday night, as well.

Here are some observations:

*** Waters, who's being touted as one of the top freshmen in the nation, seems worthy of that title. He popped off the bench about five minutes into the game and immediately knocked down a 3-pointer almost as soon as he touched the ball. Hit a few more treys as the game went on and finished with 17 points. On Friday evening, Waters, a 5-foot-10, 145-pound point guard, was 8-for-14 from the floor (including five 3-pointers) to score 26 points in a 94-91 win over Elev 8.



He's a quick, smart player with remarkable poise for a freshman. Perhaps just as important, his parents, Ed and Vanessa, are very protective and won't allow him to get swallowed up by all the hype. Waters is definitely one to keep an eye on for the future.

*** Perhaps the biggest revelation of the day was South Kent's Schadrac Casimir, a 5-foot-9 guard from Stamford. Casimir was lightning-quick and athletic and draining 3's all game, finishing with 36 points on 13-for-20 shooting (4-for-6 on 3's). He had 22 points on Friday in the win over Elev 8.

Casimir, a postgrad who starred at Trinity Catholic, hasn't been getting much recruiting attention. That could very well change after Sunday, with possibly even some high majors taking a greater interest.

"It's been really quiet," said South Kent coach Kelvin Jefferson. "I think what a lot of people are concerned about is his size. He's small, he's always going to be small. I love him. I saw him in high school, he was one of the top scorers, if not the top scorer, in Connecticut. I've seen him play AAU, he led his team to numerous championship games. And, I've seen him play here, and I think he's one of the best guards around. Regardless of size, all the kid does is put the ball in the basket, whoever he's playing against. I'm hoping that college coaches see what I see -- that he's a great point guard, he can put the ball in the basket, and he's got a lot of heart."

Casimir has another good guy on his side: ex-UConn guard Craig Austrie. Austrie is living in Fairfield and runs the Craig Austrie Basketball IQ Skills Academy in Stamford. Casimir is one of his prized pupils, along with several other high school kids from around the area. Austrie, who was at Sunday's game, said he'd like to get into coaching some day.

*** There are some good bloodlines on the South Kent team: Jordan Strawberry is the son of Darryl, who was also at the game. Meanwhile, guard Kalvin Hobbs is the nephew of UConn assistant Karl Hobbs.

*** Brewster won the game, despite just seven points from Mitchell and 10 from Reuter. On Saturday, Mitchell had netted 17 in a win over Kiski School.

Here, Mitchell drives to the hoop and misses, but Reuter is there for the rebound putback and foul:

UConn and Boston College resume their rivalry on the court tonight at Madison Square Garden. They could even play again next year in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off tourney.

But one area where their rivalry has never ceased is on the recruiting trail. UConn won the battle for Shabazz Napier four years ago (though BC didn’t put up much of a fight for the Roxbury kid).

Currently, there are quite a few recruits both schools are in on – and some of those kids will be in New Haven this weekend, at the National Prep Showcase at Albertus Magnus College.

Here’s a look at some of the players UConn is recruiting who’ll be playing in the tournament:

Jalen Adams, 6-2 G, Class of 2105, Cushing Academy: A Boston kid who was at the Huskies’ First Night festivities last month. UConn has offered Adams.

“For what it’s worth, I don’t know the staff there that well now, but they’re telling me and his AAU coach that he’s a priority for them,” said Cushing coach Barry Connors. “They’ve probably been up on campus multiple times this fall. They’re definitely pursuing him pretty good.”

Connors added that Adams is a combo guard, an undersized scoring guard, who’s playing off the ball more this year because Syracuse-bound Kaleb Joseph is manning the point.

“I think he kidn of is a UConn guard,” said Connors. “He’s good with the ball in his hands, being given free rein to make plays with the ball. He can definitely score it. He reminds me a lot of guys that they’ve had: Kemba, Shabazz is more a true point guard.”

When asked who else is recruiting Adams, Connors quickly responds: “Providence.” But the Friars aren’t the only ones: Kansas State, Minnesota, Creighton and VCU are all in on him, as well.

“Jalen’s a funny duck, he doesn’t talk much about (his recruitment),” Connors said. “I don’t know if he’s intimidated by the process or uninterested in the process, or he’s just not far enough along that he hasn’t given it a huge priority. It’s best to say that he is definitely wide-open.”

Kimani Lawrence, 6-6 G/F, Class of 2017, Cushing Academy: A Providence native who hasn’t been offered by UConn yet, though they’re believed to have interest. The two Rhode Island schools – PC and URI – have already offered Lawrence.

Donovan Mitchell, 6-3 G, Class of 2015, Brewster Academy: Mitchell, who recently moved to Greenwich with his mom, was slated to be at UConn’s First Night but wasn’t able to get there. Don’t put too much stock in that, however.

“I think he had the crazy notion that Midnight Madness would actually start at midnight,” Brewster coach Jason Smith joked. “I think that he’s just taking his time, going through the process, developing relationships with people.”

PC, BC and UConn have been recruiting Mitchell the longest, Smith noted, while St. John’s, Iowa, Maryland, Kansas, Florida and Syracuse have also jumped aboard recently.

Mitchell is more of a combo guard, according to Smith.

“As a kid, he’s tremendous, off-the-charts, extremely high-character,” the coach said, “somebody any community would love to have. From a basketball perspective,  he’s a tremendous athlete, very explosive. He shoots the ball very well.”

Jarred Reuter, 6-8 C/F, Class of 2015, Brewster Academy: It’s appeared that UConn has cooled off on Reuter’s recruitment recently, though that may not necessarily been the case. Again, it’s been PC, BC and UConn who’ve been in on him the longest. Northwestern, Iowa, Virginia and Nebraska have also joined the fray.

Smith said Reuter has lost about 35 pounds since last June and now tips the scales at about 230.

“When people see him this weekend, they’ll see a noticeable difference in how athletic he is, how well he moves,” the coach noted.

Devonte Graham, 6-1 PG, Class of 2014, Brewster Academy: Now that UConn has received a commitment from Sam Cassell, Jr., it no longer appears to be in on Graham, who still hasn’t been released from his letter-of-intent from Appalachian State. He’s currently in the process of his final appeal.

Terance Mann, 6-4 G/F, Class of 2015, Tilton School: It seems BC, Georgetown, George Washington, Florida, Iowa State and VCU are most interested in Mann, though UConn has shown interest, as well.

“We’ve heard from them about Terance,” said Tilton coach Marcus O’Neil. “It’s still just the start of his junior year, I don’t think he’s come out and said his final list. We have tremendous respect for UConn. We’ve had a couple guys go there, win a national championship with Calhoun. Kevin Ollie’s done a tremendous job, he’s a world-class guy. Anybody they recruit out of here is gonna give it serious consideration.”

Indeed, just because the UConn careers of Tilton grads Alex Oriakhi and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel didn’t end well, doesn’t mean there’s any negative feelings about UConn up at the New Hampshire school.

“I don’t, personally or professionally,” O’Neil said. “Alex went a long way towards graduating (at UConn), he built a lot of important friendships he maintains with players, coaches that were there. It’s a high-pressure situation. It would have been nice for them to cross the finish line, but we had two guys go there and win a national championship.”

Mustapha Heron, 6-4 G/F, Class of 2016, Wilbraham & Monson: A Meriden native who now lives in West Haven, he’s getting serious looks from major programs all over the country. More on him this weekend.

Tremont Waters, 5-10 G, Class of 2017, South Kent School: It’s never too early to start inquiring about a New Haven kid who is projected to be one of the top freshmen in the nation this season. And UConn has inquired, according to South Kent coach Kelvin Jefferson.

“He does a lot of things well,” said the coach. “He’s got a really high IQ, he understands the game. He’s one of those guys that makes it look easy. Not too many guys who can do that, but he can make shots, really pass ball, sees a couple plays ahead, and he really, really handles ball. He’s a talented kid.”

More on him this weekend, as well.

On Nov. 22, while UConn is playing either Indiana or Washington in the 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden, some of the program's most sought-after recruits will be playing at the prep basketball season's unofficial kickoff in New Haven.

The National Prep Showcase at Albertus Magnus College runs Friday, Nov. 22 to Sunday, Nov. 24, and will feature some of the top prep players in the country, some of whom are prime targets for the Huskies.

Among the large amount of underclassmen talent in the tourney will be Cushing Academy's Jalen Adams, a Class of 2015 point guard who attended UConn's First Night festivities last month; Brewster Academy's Donovan Mitchell, another '15 point guard whom UConn is recruiting; and Terance Mann of Tilton School, a Class of 2015 small forward.

As for the Class of 2016, there will be Meriden's own Mustapha Heron, a 6-4 shooting guard who's now at Wilbraham & Monson Academy. And it's never too early to start thinking about Class of 2017 players: South Kent point guard Tremont Waters, a New Haven native, is truly one to watch.

Many of the top Class of 2014 players who have already committed will also be on-hand, including Ray Kasongo, who recently was down to UConn and Oregon before selecting the Ducks, then seemingly backing out, then selecting them again.

Among the other future college stars in action will be: Blair Academy’s Marial Shayok (Marquette); Brewster Academy’s Isaac Copeland (Georgetown) and Jared Terrell (Oklahoma State), Cushing Academy’s Kaleb Joseph (Syracuse); Fishburne Military Academy’s Jabari Craig (USC) and Robert Harris III (Kansas St); Hargrave Military Academy’s Donte Grantham (Clemson); Massanutten Academy’s Dwayne Foreman (Rutgers); New Hampton’s Tory Miller (Colorado) and Tyler Lydon (Syracuse); Notre Dame Prep’s Daxter Miles (West Virginia); Our Savior New America’s Damon Wilson (Pittsburgh); and Wilbraham and Monson Academy’s Goodluck Okonoboh (UNLV) and Max Hoeztel (Indiana), in addition to a host of other unsigned prospects.

Among the underclassmen that UConn doesn't appear seriously involved with are (from the Class of 2015) Our Savior New American big man Cheick Diallo is ranked among the top 10 juniors in the countrym New Hampton’s A.J. Turner and Jeremy Miller and Brewster's Jarred Reuter and Northfield Mount Hermon’s Aaron Falzon. And from 2016, Our Savior New American big man Kassoum Yakwe.

Here's the schedule:

Friday, Nov. 22

10:30a.m. Fork Union Military Academy vs. Notre Dame Prep (MA)
12:00p.m. Hargrave Military Academy (VA) vs. St. Thomas More (CT)
1:45p.m. ELEV-8 Prep (FL) vs. Brisbane Academy (SC)
3:30p.m. ELEV-8 HS (FL) vs. South Kent (CT)
5:15p.m. Fishburne Military Academy (VA) vs. Bridgton Academy (ME)
7:00p.m. Canarias Basketball Academy (ESP) vs. Massanutten Military Academy (VA)
8:30p.m. St. John’s NW Military Academy (WI) vs. Northfield Mount Hermon (MA)

Saturday, Nov. 23

9:30a.m. St. Thomas More (CT) vs. Fork Union Military Academy (VA)
11:15a.m. Notre Dame Prep (MA) vs. Hargrave Military Academy (VA)
1:00p.m. New Hampton School (NH) vs. Fishburne Military Academy (VA)
2:45p.m. Northfield Mount Hermon (MA) vs. ELEV-8 Prep (FL)
4:30p.m. Kiski School (PA) vs. Brewster Academy (NH)
6:15p.m. St. John’s NW Military Academy (WI) vs. Bridgton Academy (ME)
8:00p.m. Wilbraham & Monson Academy (MA) vs. ELEV-8 HS (FL)

Sunday, Nov. 24

10:00a.m. Brewster Academy (NH) vs. South Kent (CT)
11:45a.m. Massanutten Military Academy (VA) vs. New Hampton School (NH)
1:30p.m. Brisbane Academy (SC) vs. Kiski School (PA)
3:15p.m. Blair Academy (NJ) vs. Tilton School (NH)
5:00p.m. Vermont Academy (VT) vs. Our Savior New American (NY)
6:30p.m. Canarias Basketball Academy (ESP) vs. Cushing Academy (MA)