Basketball

July is the preeminent recruiting month on the college hoops calendar, with coaches traveling around the country mostly looking at players from the rising senior, junior and sophomore classes. And the Nike Peach Jam is the preeminent event on the July calendar. The best grassroots event on the recruiting circuit, the Peach Jam took center stage this week as coaches descended on North Augusta, South Carolina.

It was a place for schools to take stock of their recruiting boards and begin to hone in on their pecking order for the 2020 cycle. Given the number of coaches in attendance, it’s also a high-intensity, competitive environment — culminating in Sunday’s championship game televised on ESPNU (2 p.m. ET).

This year’s July period is different from the past several years, as there are only two live periods instead of three. Peach Jam headlines the first period — but the late-July period is not filled with its usual assortment of events based in Las Vegas. The NCAA and USA Basketball have taken over the final July period, with four regional events held by the NCAA and an event held in Colorado Springs for the top 70-plus prospects in high school basketball.

With recruiting taking focus for the next few weeks, here’s a look at the biggest 2020 needs for each of the teams in our updated Way-Too-Early Preseason Top 25.

1. Michigan State Spartans
Needs: Wings/small forwards

Despite the departures of Cassius Winston, Josh Langford and Kyle Ahrens, Tom Izzo has positioned the Spartans well for 2020-21. Rocket Watts is a top-50 incoming freshman at the point guard spot, and ESPN 100 point guard Jalen Terry is already committed. Marquette transfer Joey Hauser will be eligible after next season, too. Another versatile forward — like five-star Isaiah Jackson — could be next up, along with some perimeter shooting and ballhandling.

Kyrie Irving broached the idea of relocating to Brooklyn last December, according to Nets teammate Spencer Dinwiddie.

Dinwiddie played a role in helping recruit Irving to BK as an unrestricted free agent this summer, and says Kyrie foreshadowed that “New York could be fun” this season.

The Nets plan to hand the keys of the offense their new All-Star point guard.

Per Nets Daily (via The Athletic):

“The first time he reached out was maybe like December in terms of just loosely talking about it,” [Dinwiddie] told [Shams] Charania. “He was obviously still super focused on his season and everything. But you could tell from his conversation that it was on his mind and obviously free agency was coming up and that’s kinda what it was. Just asking a friend about his current situation what he thought.”

Then, says Dinwiddie, Irving went deeper, telling him “New York might be fun next year,” repeating the line for emphasis, “New York might be fun next year.”

Asked when things changed from Knicks to Nets for the six-time All-Star, Dinwiddie seemed to say that the Nets, because of his childhood as a Jason Kidd fan, held much more sway than believed.

“Kyrie very much identifies as a New Jersey kid,” he told Charania. “This is not something fabricated for the purpose of the story. He was saying things like, ‘I’m really from New Jersey.’ With all these comments, [I thought] we got a shot. This isn’t like the Knicks or nothing.”

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