Pac-12 Basketball

Five-star center Evan Mobley provided a big boost to the USC Trojans' 2020 recruiting class as he committed to play college basketball in Los Angeles.

Breaking: No. 1 2020 recruit @evan_mobley7 tells @PaulBiancardi that he will attend USC.

He will join his father Eric, an assistant coach, and his brother Isaiah, a freshman, with the Trojans. pic.twitter.com/OHd2yhfuBb

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 5, 2019

Breaking: No. 1 class of 2020 recruit Evan Mobley has committed to USC, per @PaulBiancardi https://t.co/Gqr4ivEjHk

— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) August 5, 2019

ESPN's Jeff Borzello and Paul Biancardi broke the news Monday, with Mobley telling them he had known for some time that USC was going to be the pick:

"I want to get it out of the way before I start my senior year. And I know where I want to go. As a freshman and sophomore, I wasn't sure exactly where I was going to go. I was looking for the best fit. But after my junior season, I know that being at USC is the right fit for me."

Prior to choosing USC, the Rancho Christian (Temecula, California) star had been recruited by the likes of Alabama, Miami, Stanford and UCLA.

With this latest commitment, the Trojans now have the 15th-ranked recruiting class for 2020, according to 247Sports.

Mobley is the top overall recruit in his class, according to 247Sports. Tim Emrich of ESPN noted Mobley is USC's first No. 1 overall prospect in the ESPN 100 era (since 2007) and just its third top-10 recruit during that span.

The 6'11", 200-pound big man was selected California's Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior in 2018-19 after averaging 19.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.7 blocks and 3.3 assists while leading his Eagles to a 26-6 record.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xus4j0CBO98

Mobley has also represented USA Basketball, helping Team USA win gold at the 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup. He averaged 9.3 points and 5.6 rebounds as Team USA went 7-0 en route to the title.

USC has long been viewed as the favorite for Mobley, given it hired his father, Eric Mobley, as an assistant coach in May 2018. The Trojans also previously landed Evan's brother, 5-star power forward Isaiah Mobley, in their 2019 recruiting class.

Evan revealed to ESPN's Adam Finkelstein in July 2018 that other programs had stopped recruiting him as USC gained momentum.

For USC fans, there's plenty to be excited about, considering the comparisons the younger Mobley is drawing. 

Evan Mobley oozes with natural ability & potential. He is a model for today’s NBA game. He impacts the game with his shot-blocking giftedness. Scoreing won’t be a problem as he owns a soft touch with graceful movements. An impact recruit for @USC_Hoops

— Paul Biancardi (@PaulBiancardi) August 5, 2019

"Honestly, I think he's like Kevin Durant, Greek Freakish," Isaiah said of Evan, per Finkelstein. "He's a freak athlete. We train athletically, but he kind of woke up one day and was a totally different cat. He was just growing and growing, and now here he is."

The Trojans have made the NCAA tournament just twice in Andy Enfield's six seasons as coach, never making it past the opening weekend. With Mobley's commitment, though, there is plenty of reason for optimism in Southern California.

If Marcus Bagley is ever going to join his brother Marvin in the NBA, it will be after a stop at Arizona State.

The younger Bagley is a member of the 2020 recruiting class and announced he picked the Sun Devils on Monday:

https://twitter.com/bagleymarcus23/status/1155910168338583552

Jeff Borzello of ESPN.com noted Bagley chose Arizona State as part of a final three that included Arizona and California. While the 6’7" and 220-pound forward is partially known for being the younger brother of a Sacramento Kings player, he has already turned heads as a college prospect in his own right.

According to 247Sports’ composite rankings, he is a 4-star prospect and the No. 50 overall player, No. 14 small forward and No. 8 player from the state of California in his class. 

Borzello pointed out there is an Arizona State connection beyond the fact Marvin played nearby at Corona del Sol high school in Tempe, Arizona. Bagley's grandfather, Joe Caldwell, played at Arizona State and had his number retired by the Pac-12 school before he laced it up for the Detroit Pistons and St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks in the NBA.

The ESPN report called Arizona State a "heavy favorite down the stretch" for Bagley and noted Arizona never officially extended a scholarship offer.

Bagley's length and versatility make him stand out as someone who can play multiple positions and handle the ball from a forward spot. He possesses the athleticism to attack the basket but is also capable of scoring with his jumper and can bother perimeter shooters with his length on the defensive end.

Josh Gershon of 247Sports called Bagley's "pure scoring ability" his best trait on the floor because he "can efficiently score from all three levels."

Arizona State hasn't made it past the second round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament since the 1994-95 campaign but is trending in the right direction under head coach Bobby Hurley. It made back-to-back Big Dances the last two years, marking the first time it accomplished such a feat since 1980 and 1981.

Landing playmakers like Bagley is a surefire way to ensure the program's improvement continues.

Shareef O'Neal is known as "Reef" to his close friends and family. But holler "Reef" on the street or at UCLA, where he is entering his second year, and he'll usually respond warmly with a gesture or smile.

As he arrives at the Drew League, the country's premier summer pro-am, George Preciado, the longtime in-game announcer, shows love. "Shoutout to Reef!" he says into the mic as Shareef walks toward the seating area at King Drew Magnet High School.

Shareef nods his head and grabs one of the available courtside seats. He is rocking black oval-framed glasses, a black fitted "LA" hat, an exclusive Campus Drip black hoodie and a pair of '90s retro pinstripe Orlando Magic shorts. A white-and-black banner hangs on the wall adjacent to the shot clock bearing the Drew's motto: "No Excuse, Just Produce."

He drove from Westwood, California, to watch his dear friend and top 2020 high school prospect, Josh "Gup" Christopher play. Shareef is friends with other basketball royalty: Bol Bol, Zaire Wade and Bronny James. Like LaMelo Ball, another close friend, Shareef has regularly appeared on reality shows—his mother, Shaunie, is the mastermind behind Basketball Wives and Shaunie's Home Court. Shareef also has his own personal photographer. TMZ trails him regularly around Los Angeles. He has a relationship with Quavo from Migos. 

The game quickly turns into a blowout. Shareef walks over by the rim to chat with friends, play one-on-one with kids. They can't get a bucket over his 7'0" wingspan. Nipsey Hussle's "Ocean Views" fills the gym. Shareef is in his element on this Saturday. He loves the Drew, loves Los Angeles deeply. "I got 'LA' tatted on me because it's such a big part of me," he says.

A month prior, he chose to make his public return to competitive basketball here, in front of the ones who have supported him and his family. It was a coronation and, considering what he had been through, a rebirth. In 2018, Shareef went from hoops royalty to 4-star recruit to not knowing if he would be able to continue playing basketball due to a rare heart condition.

Today, he wears a wide, boyish smile. Every few minutes he pauses to take a photo with a young fan then continues with his conversations. He doesn't take that kind of love for granted. "I know kids look up to me," he says. Looking at him now, it's hard to understand how much he has overcome. 

---

By the start of his senior season at Santa Monica's Crossroads School in fall 2017, Shareef had earned the title of No. 1 player in California, according to ESPN100. Nationally, he was only ranked 32nd overall and just ninth among his class at his position. He had played well the previous summer on the AAU circuit as a member of the Cal Supreme Elite. Scouts gravitated toward his length, skill and athleticism. His dunks were breathtaking, and he had a graceful shooting touch for his size that, with some work, had potential to make him a threat inside and out.

Shareef had been in the public eye and around high-profile names his entire life. He felt the weight of the expectations attached to him as the child of one of the greatest NBA players ever. "Negative energy been there since the day I was born," he says. "Right when people found out Shaq had a son they probably had all types of thoughts. Is he going to play basketball? Is he going to be as good as his dad?"

When the announcement came that he was not selected to the 2018 McDonald's All-American team, Shareef watched on TV, checking his Twitter feed, hoping to see his name pop up somewhere. When it didn't happen, it was as if a fire was lit in him. A day later, LeBron James dedicated a post to Shareef on Instagram:

"Nephew listen, Even though we all know you should have made that McDonalds game use it as motivation to prove not to those who didn't vote you in, not to those who is actually in the game but more importantly to yourself that u belong!"

At Crossroads' next game, Shareef dropped 30 points in a 76-64 win over Campbell Hall, Jrue Holiday's alma mater, much to the chagrin of a few trolling students who brought McDonald's Happy Meals as jokes. A few games later, he led a comeback versus rival Brentwood School by scoring 23. He kicked it up a notch in the playoffs, posting 25 in a road game.

As he displayed more and more promise on the court, Shareef was monitoring the developments of the FBI NCAA college bribery scandal that had made headlines the previous fall. The FBI report implicated University of Arizona assistant coach Emanuel "Book" Richardson and head coach Sean Miller. Shareef had committed to Arizona as a junior. "I was just hearing things. A lot of rumors were going on," he says. In February, he switched his commitment to UCLA, removing himself from a toxic situation that could impact his future. "I played it safe. I didn't know what was going to happen to the program. So I just came to my second choice, UCLA."

"Negative energy been there since the day I was born."
—Shareef O'Neal

Some Wildcat faithful took the news of the decommitment to heart. An online Wildcat fan group lashed out at Shareef online. "They were saying some wild stuff, like stuff you shouldn't say about your worst enemy," Shareef says. Shaunie recalls threats: "The things people were saying. Like, 'Next plane you get on, I hope it blows up,' and 'Don't come here. We'll tie you to the back of a truck.'"

Shareef tried to block it out as best he could. In March, he led Crossroads to its first state championship since 1997, when Baron Davis, another Bruin alum, delivered a D4 chip. Shareef earned an invitation to the Jordan Brand Classic shortly thereafter, a nice cap on his high school career.

All was well in his mind. Physically he was maturing—getting stronger, faster and more athletic. He felt primed to make a statement his freshman year. A few months later, after arriving on campus, Shareef was required to complete a routine, handwritten physical. As he worked his way through questions about his medical history, one in particular—a question about whether he had any heart issues—caught his attention.

Shareef called his mother, who then shared details of his heart history with the trainer. When Shaq played for the Miami Heat between 2004 and 2008, a doctor had detected a "little ablation" in Shareef's heart—supraventricular tachycardia, or SVT. Since then, he had been going to annual checkups with a cardiologist. But every year—from childhood through his teenage years—he was cleared. "I felt like I was taking all the steps to make sure that my kid was OK by getting him checked by a cardiologist," Shaunie says.

Several days later, the trainer decided to run some tests, including placing a heart monitor on his body for five days. Shareef, feeling that there was nothing wrong with him and that the heart monitor was unnecessary, wasn't happy.

---

On Sept. 24, 2018, a group of 15 UCLA doctors called Shareef and Shaunie into an office to deliver the results. Shaq joined via FaceTime. The doctors said Shareef had a heart abnormality called anomalous coronary artery, or ACA. The tests showed that whenever Shareef's heart had an abnormality, if it went over a certain number of beats per minute, it was being squeezed. As a result, the coronary arteries could not supply the necessary blood flow, oxygen and nutrients to the heart. At any moment, that could have led to a heart attack and possibly death. He would need open-heart surgery and a medical redshirt for his freshman year.

"You know, you could play ball a million times and be fine," Shareef recalls one doctor saying, "but that million-and-one could've been the time to take you out, or the million-and-seven could've been the time to take you out."

Shareef was consumed by his emotions. He broke down in tears.

"I kind of felt lied to a little bit. I was going all that time thinking I was fine," Shareef says, looking back on that moment. "I was living the rest of my life, 14 years, thinking I was fine playing every day, didn't know that I could possibly die that day."

Shaunie wonders why doctors didn't catch the ACA when Shareef was younger. "You know, when he would say his heart was beating really fast, we were told, 'Oh, it's just him growing too fast. His body's too big for his heart, and his heart's not keeping up with his growth,'" she says.

"Why didn't they do more testing to see that this was what this was? From what I was told, they went through the proper procedures. Like you don't just give people MRIs and CAT scans and all that kind of stuff based on your heartbeat [going] up sometimes when you're doing things."

According to Stanford, ACAs are present at birth but often go undetected until late adolescence or adulthood. Early diagnosis is difficult thanks to "the lack of symptoms or because symptoms may not be recognized as being caused by ACA."

Shaunie and the family were devastated by the news. She considered Shareef the "nucleus" of the family. "My mom calls him the dad," she says, referring to Shareef's grandmother, Dear, "'cause he is very in tune with where everybody is, what everybody's doing, making sure everybody's OK. And he's kind of always been that. He is kind of like a dad."

Shareef's cousin and close friend Greg Jordan noticed a dramatic shift in the mood inside the O'Neal house. He struggled to cope, as well. "My heart dropped," Jordan says. "I know how bad he wanted it and how hard he worked to get to where he is, and once he told me, I just lost it. I didn't know what to do. Because I knew he was down."

Jordan says Shareef was "always a happy person." But that changed somewhat after the diagnosis. "Every day I was talking to him," Jordan says. "I called him, checked [in] and made sure he was good. Once, I found he was really depressed, sad, not good energy. It was like everything just changed."

Shareef did research on the kind of heart surgery he would need—the complications and death possibilities sent him into a complete "panic mode." "The stuff I looked up is probably stuff I shouldn't have," he admits. His surgeon, Frank L. Hanley, MD, professor of cardiothoracic surgery and director of the Children's Heart Center at Stanford, offered his reassurances during one of his pre-surgery appointments.

"The surgeon told us, 'Some people decide to get the surgery, and some people are just like, I'm going to live with it and hope nothing ever happens.'" After hearing that, Shareef thought, I don't want to get this surgery. I might just stop. "I was so scared because I was reading all that stuff," he says. "But then I could see the face my mom and my dad made. I can't just live with this because I don't wanna go the next day, pick up a ball and be like, 'This could possibly be my last day playing.'"

Hanley then told a joke to lighten the mood: "LeBron James is the Frank Hanley of basketball." That helped soften Shareef's trepidations some—at least for the time being. "When he said that, I said, 'This guy is accomplished. I'm going to let him do it,'" Shareef says.

Surgery was set for Dec. 13, 2018 at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford.

---

The week of the surgery, family and friends threw a pre-surgery gathering. Shaunie cooked food. "We just had a good vibe," Shareef says. Nobody really spoke about the operation. The purpose was to shower Shareef with love. People gave him hugs, laughed and hung out. "It was like a regular day. Nobody was talking about it."

Shareef continued to go about his regular life. The day he was scheduled to leave for Stanford, he took a final. "I felt really good about the final," he says. "After I handed it to the teacher, he was like, 'What are you doing now that school is over?' And I was like, 'I got to catch a flight right now and go get heart surgery.'"

When he got to Stanford, Myles, Shaqir, Amirah, Me'arah and other family members were there. Shaqir helped keep Shareef's energy up. "Thank God I have a brother like Shaqir," he says. "Because he such a funny kid and he kept the energy. I can't really imagine being an only child."

On surgery day, Shareef awoke at 4 a.m. to prepare for going under the knife. He had to be at the hospital at 6 a.m. He had to wipe his body with sanitizing wipes. He got into his surgery gown and put a hoodie on to stay warm. The family crowded around the prep room while a crew readied him for anesthesia. They hadn't met the anesthesiologist at the pre-op meetings, Shaunie says. When it was time for him to go under, she watched as her son get wheeled away. "I just wanted to go with him," she says. "You know, I just didn't want him to feel by himself."

"You don't want to say goodbye," Shaunie adds.

Shareef hates needles. While the staff prepared him for sedation, they gave him a virtual reality game and let him listen to music. "They were being slick, and I could feel it," Shareef says. He became light-headed and felt his body "rolling." He blinked, then blinked once more and was out. The last song he remembers was "Say You Will" by Kanye West. Those few seconds, he says, were "the scariest moment in my life."

When he awoke hours later in the ICU, his mother and father were standing bedside. Shareef was laboring to breathe. "I had this big tube I was breathing through, and I had like a chest tube and something in my stomach," he says. "I was just trying to catch my breath. Then I started crying when I got up because I was just so confused. I seen my mom and them and they were like, 'Its all over. It's all over.'"

Before Shareef dozed off, a staffer told him to dream about happy things, but he also had thoughts that something bad might happen. "I was like, 'What will make me happy?' I never really told anybody this, but I was like—LeBron! While I was asleep during my surgery, I had been dreaming, and LeBron was in the dream," Shareef says. "Damn, that's crazy."

He was in a lot of pain. He pressed the nurse call button "like crazy." "I never been hurt like that in my life," Shareef says. "I've broken bones and all that, but there wasn't a pain like that."

The surgery had left him with no power in his body to stand up. And yet, he eagerly requested to walk the second day. Hour by hour, he was progressing—faster than what a number of doctors expected. "He was a real soldier through the whole thing," Shaunie says.

He found inspiration in unlikely places. One day, he met a fellow patient—a 16-year-old, by Shareef's estimate—wearing a red superhero cape. The boy had already undergone two transplants and was headed to his fifth surgery. Shareef was impressed by the boy's spirit. "He was the happiest kid I ever seen in my life," he says. "I thought it was cool that he had such a good mindset after all this."

It was then that Shareef's outlook on his recovery changed. He started thinking about how he might draw from his experience to create something new. He had a sizeable scar running down the middle of his chest with stitches sewn together like braids. (In most open-heart operations, surgeons must make a long incision through the sternum.) Like his father, Shareef liked to create nicknames for himself. One is SSJREEF, which serves as his Twitter handle. So after some thought, he came up with a new moniker: "Zipper Boy."

"I found out what a zipper scar was, and my dad was Superman," Shareef explains. "I wanted to make something good out of something bad. I wanted to make a superhero."

---

Five days later, he was released from the hospital. But his recovery was far from over. Sleeping was painful, breathing hurt, lifting bags seemed impossible. Shareef could barely pick up his cellphone. He describes himself as resembling "a walking mannequin." (Before surgery, he weighed 222 pounds; after he walked out, he had dropped to 197 pounds.) The recovery instructions from his doctors were simple: eat and rest.

He received a lot of positive words from some of the biggest stars in basketball. LeBron left a comment on Shareef's Instagram post with encouraging words following the news of his surgery release. Kobe called him weekly leading up to his surgery. Tracy McGrady, with whom Shareef has previously trained, stayed in touch.

Some hoopers knew Shareef's struggles personally. In 2007, Etan Thomas underwent open-heart surgery to repair a leak of the aortic valve. "I would tell him to take his time but to use any negative criticism or doubters as motivation," says Thomas. "Let it fuel his fire and remember that what God has for you, nobody can take it away from you."

Current Utah Jazz forward Jeff Green missed the 2011-12 lockout-shortened season due to an aortic aneurysm that could've burst and bled inside his body at any moment. "He's just 19, so when you are younger you heal a lot faster, and I just told [Shareef] it's going to be a process," says Green. "My thing was always to keep your faith. Stay strong and just believe."

Shareef found hobbies to keep himself busy. He watched movies like Creed 2, Unbroken, The Revenant—one of his favorites—and Dragon Ball Z. He watched Fortnite clips on YouTube and played video games. He started getting into beat-making and film editing, crafting mixtapes and short movies. Southside of 808 Mafia, who follows Shareef on IG, invited him to the studio. "He was in there recording some songs, and I was listening to beats, and the day after I was like, 'I'm going to Guitar Center and get a beat machine right now,'" Shareef says. "Music probably helped me get through a lot."

He also started to reassess life and prioritize his well-being. "I made sure I was good before making sure everyone else was good. After that, I shut that all down and had to realize what was important: school, family and all that." Unsurprisingly, some of the people he knew pre-surgery didn't reach out during the most frightening time of his life.

"He was a real soldier through the whole thing."
—Shaunie O'Neal on Shareef

"My parents told me there would be some people hang around me just because my name or what I have," says Shareef. "I feel like people saw me go down for a second there, and they were like this might be the end of Shareef. We might just pass this off and go to the next hot name.

"I noticed it, and I don't have any beef with those people. No hard feelings. That's how they roll, so I'm just going to let them be."

He lost contact with a lot of folks, became less social. Meanwhile, he was working out, slowly gaining steam physically.

In March 2019, he took a stress test. The test required him to run for an extended period of time while doctors assessed the electrical signals that triggered his heartbeats. Shareef doubled the expected time and was cleared to resume activities.

He announced his clearance on social media in a video of him running in slow motion on a treadmill. "I always get back up," flashes across the screen.

https://twitter.com/SSJreef/status/1110584138069741569

Excitement poured into the comment section from fans, friends and members of the NBA family like Tyson Chandler, Trae Young and Stephen Jackson.

Shareef's next move was to work out in L.A. with Gup, Caleb Christopher and Billy Preston. His first shot was a mid-range swish. He then threw down a few dunks. It was a day he and his "brothers" would never forget.

On June 15, 2019, he made his Drew League debut. He wanted to stay low-key and chose not to alert the public. But it didn't matter. His team, Tuff Crowd, was scheduled to play at 1:00 p.m. that day. LaMelo Ball was expected to play in the 3:45 time slot. A line outside wrapped around the building. As Shareef put on his No. 7 jersey, he got anxious. He told himself he could either crumble under pressure or "turn up."

Just after tip-off, Shareef snagged the rebound off a miss, raced down the court toward the right side of the floor and missed a pull-up three-pointer. I missed my first shot, he thought to himself. Next time I get the ball, I'm going to do something.

A few possessions later, his teammate and NBA free agent Brandon Jennings grabbed a long rebound and passed the ball to Shareef in the right corner. He drove baseline and powered through his defender with his left shoulder, sending the defender into the floor. Shareef then rose over the next defender who came to contest and threw down a right-handed dunk that sent waves through the crowd. Some flinched in their seats, and some made a face like they tasted a lemon.

"Shareef O'Neal!" Preciado yelled over a raucous crowd.

It was a moment of redemption. The return of Shareef O'Neal.

---

Shareef thinks often about what got him through: his support system of family and friends. "I have 'Family first' tatted across my whole chest for a reason," he says. "My family is real strong. A lot of people say my family really sticks together. We never really go anywhere alone."

The ups and downs have been humbling. He tries to smile more. Be more gracious with fans. "I think people who don't really know think I live the smooth road," he says. "Nobody lives a perfect life. You can have everything you want in the world, but I don't think it will be perfect. People think I have never gone through struggle moments, and there has been plenty of times I've gone through struggle moments."

The ordeal has made him all the more grateful. "He's a different Reef for sure," Shaunie says. "He's definitely more focused, a lot more, you know, appreciative … He was always a good kid, but I think now it's just—he appreciates everything."

Shareef is preparing for his first season at UCLA. He's put on weight again, tried to improve each day. His bounce is as springy as ever. He is more aware of his body and flags things quickly. "He calls me more," Shaunie says. "He's just more open to talking." Shareef says this summer and the summer he declares for the draft will be big tests for him. "This will probably be bigger because I feel like I was forgotten in the basketball world a little bit," he says.

He thinks back to the decision to come to UCLA in the first place. "A lot of people say 'God's plan' because if I was still at Arizona, who knows what could have happened to me," says Shareef. "I don't know if they would have found the same problem. I'm glad I made that decision. That probably was the biggest decision of my life."

Now that Shareef has entered a new chapter in his life, he's been cooking up a new nickname—and he's had some help.

"My dad told me you might need to take that new Superman name," Shareef says. "I thought about it. I didn't want to take it. [But] he made it a big deal. I asked him why and he said, 'I didn't make it through a heart surgery. I didn't have to go through what you did at 19. I don't think I would have been able to make it. You're strong. You're on top of the world. Nobody can stop you. After your new heart, you will be the baddest man out. You take the Superman name.'"

After some hesitance, Shareef decided he would take the name, but with a slight twist. "I don't want to say I'm the new Superman, but I will say I'm Superman 2.0," he says. He got the shield tatted on his left arm. "That will be my new little nickname because he was the OG Superman."

Eric Yeboah is a producer at Bleacher Report.

Terry Armstrong, one of the top basketball prospects in the class of 2019, will play next season for the South East Melbourne Phoenix of the National Basketball League in Australia, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN and Olgun Uluc of Fox Sports.

Per Uluc, Phoenix general manager Tommy Greer expressed enthusiasm about the addition of Armstrong:

"We are very excited to have a player of Terry's quality join the Phoenix for our first year in the NBL. It was important for us to identify a Next Star who could come in and contribute straight away but would also fit our no-nonsense culture. Just as exciting he was in a position to choose where he wanted to play and he chose us, which is a big vote of confidence in the culture we are building within our organisation and team."

Armstrong will join fellow top prospects like RJ Hampton (the No. 5 prospect in the class of 2019, per 247Sports.com's composite rankings) and LaMelo Ball (No. 22) in the NBL next season.

"RJ and LaMelo are two of the most highly rated players in our class," Armstrong told Givony. "The NBL will give all of us the top exposure we seek to fulfill our ultimate dream, which is to play in the NBA."

Armstrong also noted the NBL and the Phoenix offered a developmental plan that appealed to him.

"Head coach Simon Mitchell and general manager Tommy Greer laid out a very detailed plan on how I will develop as a player and as a young man," he said. "There is a strong emphasis on strength and conditioning as is evident on the hiring of the strength and development coach from Melbourne United."

Armstrong, a 6'6" shooting guard from Scottsdale, Arizona, is a 4-star prospect and the No. 2 player from the state of Arizona, the No. 8 shooting guard nationally and the No. 61 player overall in 247Sports' composite rankings.

Jerry Meyer of 247Sports broke down his game: "Great size and strength for a shooting guard. Not a quick-twitch, explosive athlete but a powerful athlete. Handles ball well and can score in a variety of ways. Likes to shoot a fadeaway off one foot. Has size to guard up a position or two. Projects as a steady rebounder. Could develop into an NBA player."

Armstrong was previously committed to the Arizona Wildcats but reversed course in June, instead choosing to turn pro.

Players in the NBL's Next Stars program are developed for at least one year with the goal of getting drafted into the NBA. NBL owner and executive chairman Larry Kestelman explained the initiative:

"The NBL provides strong visibility back to the US. Our league is closest to the NBA in terms of style of play and game day presentation. We will work to build a program to provide the right access to NBA teams and scouts alike.

"While they are in the NBL we will work with the players to help them develop an acute understanding of the life of a professional basketballer on and off the court and ensure they are equipped to make the transition to their professional careers."

For Armstrong, the hope will be improving his draft stock and making some money in the process. As more players eschew college basketball for paid opportunities overseas, his decision to sign with the NBL doesn't come as a major surprise.

On Wednesday, Arizona commit Terry Armstrong became the latest prep star to turn down college, as he'll reportedly head overseas or play in the G League as a professional next season.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported the news, while Corey Evans of Rivals noted there may have been questions about his academic eligibility that led to this decision.

Armstrong joins R.J. Hampton, Kenyon Martin Jr. and LaMelo Ball as members of the 2019 class to choose pro basketball over playing in college. Ball, like Armstrong, had eligibility issues, while Hampton and Martin did not have questions about their standing with the NCAA.

The news runs contrary to Armstrong's previous comments. After speculation that he was decommitting from Arizona, Armstrong posted a tweet that said "I never left" to reaffirm his commitment to the Wildcats.

That tweet has since been deleted.

Armstrong is the nation's No. 60 overall recruit and the seventh-ranked shooting guard in the 2019 class, per 247Sports. Listed at 6'6" and 185 pounds, Armstrong went to Bella Vista Prep in Scottsdale, Arizona. 

Arizona coach Sean Miller praised Armstrong's toughness in November:

"Terry brings a kind of toughness to our program that all of us would love to have as coaches. He also has great size for a wing and guard. It's not that he has one thing that he does well, it's the versatility I think that jumps off the page when you watch him. He's in a program right now (Bella Vista Prep in Scottsdale) that's playing against the best competition in America at the high school level. I'm anxious for him to have a great senior year. I think he'll be able to come in and affect our program right away."

Armstrong's decommitment is the latest blow for an Arizona program that remains embroiled in controversy. Miller was named in the pay-for-play FBI investigation, which saw former Arizona assistant Book Richardson sentenced to three months in prison.

As for Armstrong, he was not considered a one-and-done prospect type, so he'll have to impress on the pro level to get the attention of NBA scouts. His best bet may be the G League, which will keep him stateside and allow him to be in front of NBA front offices. 

When he saw the 7-footer sink a turnaround three, Barret Peery had to pause the film. It was early November, and Peery and his Portland State staff were preparing for their season opener against Oregon. The Vikings had almost beaten the Ducks the prior year in Eugene, and the staff felt familiar with most of their opponent's best players.

But there was one big exception: 7'2" freshman center Bol Bol.

Peery watched the skinny big man bounce up and down the court, handling the ball like he was born to be a guard, shooting it like he grew up a Steph Curry fan and blocking shots like he was becoming his father's son. But the turnaround three off the baseline set play? That was too much for Peery. He stood up, looked at his staff and said, "We can try any defense we want, but there's nothing anyone can do to stop a guy his size fading away from three."

Bol would put up 12 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots against Portland State. Remarkably, that would be perhaps his worst performance of the season.

Through nine games in November and December, Bol looked even better than his billing as a top-10 recruit and his family tree would have suggested. He scored in double figures during every outing. He grabbed at least nine rebounds in seven games. He blocked at least three shots in six. He hit 57.0 percent of his field goals, 75.7 percent of his free throws and 52.0 percent of his threes. No opponent seemed capable of slowing a player with his size and his surprising range of skills.

Then, just days into January, Bol's brief college season came to a close. He was diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture of the navicular bone in his left foot. 

During Bol's first game at the end of the bench, an Oregon staffer caught him crying and had to console him. Soon after, he underwent surgery on the foot and began rehabbing in preparation for the NBA draft. Had he remained healthy and stretched those statistics into a full college season, Bol would almost certainly be a top-10 pick next week. But he only played nine games. And now, where he will be selected is one of the draft's biggest mysteries.

"Be careful. Everybody is lying about Bol Bol," one team executive says. "Every team thinks they have him figured out. The ones who like him a lot are spreading negative rumors about him, and the ones who don't want to draft him are propping him up."

Bol Bol, the son of the late and legendary 7'7" NBA center Manute Bol, was two years old when his family fled Sudan for the United States as political refugees. They settled in Connecticut, where Bol first began playing basketball at the age of four. Eventually, when Bol was seven, they relocated to a Sudanese community in Kansas. Throughout his early childhood, the younger Bol trained with his father until Manute died in 2010. After that, his mother, Ajok, became his primary mentor.

By the age of 14, Bol had sprouted to 6'10" and collected a handful of Division I scholarship offers. He started high school at Blue Valley Northwest in Overland Park, Kansas, but he didn't live in the district, so he had to transfer to Bishop Miege in neighboring Roeland Park. As a sophomore, he helped Bishop Miege win the Kansas Class 4A Division I state title. For his junior year, he transferred to Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California. And for his senior year, he switched schools again, landing at Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nevada.

Anytime a highly touted high school prospect switches schools—especially multiple times—coaches and scouts start speculating about the player's character. Part of it is practical: College coaches don't want to spend time recruiting a player with commitment issues. And part of it is punitive: Spurned coaches love to spread rumors.

By the end of his high school career, Bol's reputation among NBA observers was that of a uniquely talented prospect who too often seemed to coast on his superior size and skills. More than anything, scouts worried about whether Bol was fully committed to the game—and if his slight frame could withstand the rigors of it.

"His resting demeanor makes him look aloof, like he might rather be sitting on the couch," says one NBA scout. "I don't really think that's his fault. He's not that different from most guys his age. He's not a vocal leader, but he's also not a bad egg. More than most, it'll depend on what kind of team drafts him. If they have a great culture, I think he'll really excel."

At Oregon, Bol did excel on the court, and opposing coaches consistently came away with the impression that they'd just faced a future top-five pick.

"We thought we could get physical with him. We thought we could body him," Eastern Washington coach Shantay Legans says. "We thought he'd be low energy, but he played with fire. We thought he'd be soft because he was a freshman. He was tough. If you try to stop him with someone smaller, he'll go right over top of them. If you try to stop him with someone his size—assuming you even have someone like that—he'll easily go around."

Bol finished that game against Eastern Washington with 23 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots.

He seems ideally suited for the next level as a floor-stretching force on offense and a rim-protecting titan on defense. Combine his three-point percentage on the EYBL circuit and his nine games at Oregon, and you have a 7'2" center who shoots better than 46 percent from three (albeit in a limited sample size). Mix that with the 3.9 blocked shots he averaged in the EYBL and the 2.7 swats per game he notched in college, and you have the makings of a modern NBA center.

On the court, his most glaring weakness is a lack of lateral mobility.

"I don't think he's a lost cause guarding in space," the scout says. "He'll be fine in a pinch, but he's not going to be able to switch a ton of positions. He's light on his feet and nimble on offense, but he's not as agile as you need him to be on defense."

For many teams, Bol's basketball weaknesses and potential character concerns are quite easy to overlook—or dismiss entirely. Instead, they weigh the potential risks and rewards of drafting a guy who has a 7'7" wingspan and a 9'7½" standing reach, but who also weighs just 208 pounds and is coming off a complicated injury. Also, there's the fact Bol was only fully cleared to play on the last day of May, and his June 12 Pro Day will be the only opportunity for most teams to watch him play in live action in 2019.

"He has top-five talent, no question," one league source says. "But when you throw the injury in the mix, where he goes is anyone's guess. I wouldn't be surprised if he went in the top seven, and I wouldn't be surprised if he went 19th."

Based on discussions with a handful of league sources, no one is lukewarm in their evaluation; he is either a potential top-five talent who can be stolen in the back half of the first round or a risky prospect destined to disappoint even in an underwhelming draft.

In the end, perhaps the only greater mystery than where Bol will be drafted is the man himself. He declined to speak with B/R for this story and has given remarkably few interviews for a player of his caliber. For now, he appears content to let his play alone determine his draft status.

"Beneath all the other bulls--t," says a source familiar with Bol, "there is a boy who I believe wants to honor his father. Manute wasn't an All-Star, but he was in the league for a decade. I think, in the right situation, Bol could be better."

Eugene Omoruyi is heading to Eugene, Oregon.

The former Rutgers forward announced his decision to transfer to Oregon by posting a photo wearing a No. 1 Ducks uniform to his Instagram Monday night. 

Omoruyi also took to Instagram to announce his intention to transfer from Rutgers on May 28 and entered the transfer portal. He then reportedly visited Oregon on Saturday, according to CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein. 

The Ontario, Canada native played three seasons at Rutgers and led the team last season in points per game (13.8) and rebounds (7.2). 

Omoruyi is expected to sit out next season, per Stadium's Jeff Goodman:

Oregon has added UNM grad transfer Anthony Mathis and Rutgers transfer Eugene Omoruyi — who will likely sit. If Dana Altman can get UNLV grad transfer Shakur Juiston, should be NCAA tourney team despite getting crushed by NBA early entries.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) June 11, 2019

Last week, NJ.com's James Kratch spoke with Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell about Omoruyi. 

"Gene was here three years and was great," Pikiell said. "But Gene wants to go to another school. You don't always have to agree, 18-to-22-year-olds have to make decisions. ... I think he thinks another place is better for him and that's his right." 

Once Omoruyi is eligible to take the floor, the appeal of finishing his collegiate career at Oregon instead of Rutgers is clear. 

Rutgers has not finished above .500 since the 2005-06 campaign, while the Ducks are coming off of a Sweet Sixteen run. Oregon head coach Dana Altman has led the program to nine consecutive winning seasons with NCAA tournament appearances, including the 2017 Final Four. 

The 6'7", 240-pound forward played in 93 games in three years for the Scarlet Knights, averaging 7.7 points and 4.7 rebounds. While the 2018-19 season saw Omoruyi post career-bests in points, rebounds and assists per game, he had consistently built a reputation as a stout defender throughout his Rutgers tenure.

That characteristic makes for a good fit in Altman's system, as the Ducks' defense propelled them deep into the NCAA tournament last season. 

Former 5-star recruit Jordan Brown is leaving Nevada and will continue his college basketball career at Arizona.

Brown announced his decision via Twitter on Friday:

pic.twitter.com/kH7paRf46F

— Jordan Brown (@JIBrown21) June 7, 2019

Brown was one of the top recruits in the class of 2018. According to 247Sports, he was the top-ranked prospect in the state of California and the 19th-ranked overall recruit in his class.

The 6'11", 210-pound forward averaged 3.0 points and 2.1 rebounds in 10.1 minutes per game as a freshman for the Wolf Pack in 2018-19.

When former Nevada head coach Eric Musselman left for Arkansas in April, Brown opted to enter the transfer portal. His dad, Dion, told Nevada Sports Network that Jordan was looking for "trust" at his next school.

Arizona had been in the mix prior to Brown initially committing to Nevada coming out of high school. However, as he told 247Sports' Evan Daniels in May 2018, he felt "really comfortable" with the Wolf Pack. Ultimately, though, he has decided a change was in his best interest.

Former McDonalds All-American Jordan Brown commits to Arizona. Can say that as recently as last week the Nevada coaching staff thought they were in position to get him back. Now he's headed to Tucson. Btw, Arizona practice squad with Brown + Jemarl Baker will be STACKED next year https://t.co/lRSCAih9h7

— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) June 7, 2019

Brown told Daniels on Friday that Wildcats coach Sean Miller heavily influenced his decision to move on to Tucson:

"We really just talked about, we have both faced adversity and having expectations of things we should accomplish. Just knowing that we both have things that we want to accomplish I feel like really complements each other, having a player and a coach that have expectations they want to reach.

"The freedom that he gives the bigs, I feel like I can help that out, by being able to spread the floor more and handle it away from the post and also doing damage in the post and just be a big presence for them."

The Wildcats beat out a number of schools for Brown's services, per the New York Times' Adam Zagoria:

Nevada transfer and former @McDAAG Jordan Brown is considering Arizona, Kentucky, Miami, Wake, Arizona State, Louisiana Lafayette, St Mary’s, California, Oregon, Baylor, LSU, Pitt, Ohio State, his dad tells me.

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) April 26, 2019

While Brown will have to sit out the 2019-20 season, he will still have three years of eligibility remaining.

Former Arizona Wildcats assistant Book Richardson was sentenced to three months in prison and two years of probation after pleading guilty on a federal funds bribery charge, per Matt Norlander of CBS Sports and Adam Zagoria of the New York Times. 

"I do believe this is a serious crime," U.S. District Court judge Edgardo Ramos said during his ruling, per Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star. "It went beyond violating NCAA rules... It wasn't a one-off. It wasn't a one-and-only thing. It took place over several months. At one point it was Mr. Richardson who initiated (payment of) a bribe."

Judge Ramos also spoke about Arizona in his ruling.

"I do believe that the University of Arizona was victimized by the crime," Ramos said. "It caused several athletes to decommit from the University [leading to] an additional [NCAA] investigation that may have some implications for the University."

Richardson had four other charges dropped as a part of his plea agreement. According to Pascoe, "Prosecutors wrote that Richardson abused his role by taking $20,000 over two separate payments and appeared to be already acting to steer UA players toward a new agency run by [Christian] Dawkins and [Munish] Sood."

Dawkins, an aspiring agent, was already convicted on charges of bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery.

In a statement following his sentencing, Richardson apologized to the school and said he made a mistake and his conduct wasn't "natural and normal."

"And again any student-athlete that I hurt, any student-athlete I put in a bad way, I apologize sincerely," he added. "And I'm always going to be their coach, I'm always going to be their uncle and to some of them I'll be their dad. And unfortunately this happened and hopefully we can build something positive from it."

Richardson's ruling came a day after former USC assistant coach Tony Bland was sentenced to two years of probation on a bribery charge, avoiding prison time.

Former USC Trojans assistant basketball coach Tony Bland was sentenced to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service Wednesday as part of an FBI investigation into corruption in college athletics.

Matt Norlander of CBS Sports reported the update. Bland pleaded guilty in January to a felony count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

The Associated Press reported prosecutors in New York were seeking a prison sentence of up to a year for Bland, who admitted to accepting a $4,100 bribe to steer players to "an inexperienced and under-qualified athlete-adviser." Defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman had argued his client shouldn't receive any jail time as the "least culpable" of the four ex-coaches charged in the case.

On Monday, Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times obtained a victim impact statement sent to U.S. District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos in May from USC vice president for professionalism and ethics Michael Blanton.

"The actions of Mr. Bland and his co-conspirators have significantly damaged the reputation of USC as an institution, the USC athletic department and its men's basketball program," he wrote. "Further, their actions have prompted an NCAA investigation that may result in penalties. Lastly, USC was forced to expend significant amounts of money to investigate Mr. Bland's conduct and to cooperate with the government as it has prosecuted this case."

Bland was fired by the university in January 2018 after being one of 10 individuals arrested in September 2017 in connection with the FBI's investigation into the "dark underbelly of college basketball."

"All of those charged today contributed to a pay-to-play culture that has no business in college basketball," FBI New York division assistant director Bill Sweeney told reporters at the press conference announcing the arrests.

Book Richardson (Arizona Wildcats), Lamont Evans (Oklahoma State Cowboys) and Chuck Person (Auburn Tigers) were the other assistants arrested and charged. They will be sentenced at later dates.

"I respectfully ask that the Court simply recognize this is not a victimless crime," Blanton wrote in his letter to Ramos, per Fenno. "USC, its student-athletes, and college athletics as a whole have suffered greatly because of what Mr. Bland and his co-conspirators did."

Bland joined the USC coaching staff in 2014 after four seasons as an assistant for the San Diego State Aztecs.