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.'

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.