In-Person Scouting Notes: Prospects from North Florida and Jacksonville University
Stephen Gillaspie shares some insights from a couple of recent UNF and Jacksonville University games.
Living in southeast Georgia, I find myself in a pretty nice area of the country to catch a variety of games at various levels of hoops. Within a daily commute’s drive, I can go down to Florida and step foot on some very nice campuses to watch some fun games.
The University of North Florida and Jacksonville University are both located in the city of Jacksonville, Florida. I’ve been lucky enough to scout a few games for both of these schools. Last season, North Florida had a player of the year candidate, Chaz Lanier, and they now have a nice group of players with some real game. Their head coach, Matthew Driscoll, is an infectious personality and an absolute blast to speak to. Jacksonville has one of the best players in the Atlantic Sun Conference in Robert McCray IV, but they too have some younger players with some real skill.
This article will somewhat follow the theme of other in-person scouting notes that have been posted from my illustrious colleagues, but I mainly want to speak to the skillsets of these players—as I know some of you like to know more about lesser-known prospects’ games. With that said, allow me to introduce…
North Florida
Josh Harris
Josh Harris is the most interesting player for the Ospreys this season, and it isn’t because he’s the “best” or most complete player. Listed at 6’8” and 210 pounds, Harris is a long and athletic freshman who started the season off strong for UNF and has been very efficient. Watching him in-person, Josh doesn’t seem rushed during the course of play. He is very reserved—rarely showing any emotional outbreaks or being demonstrative. You could take a picture of him and not know if he fouled out or threw down a dunk over someone’s head.
One of my favorite things to watch is how hard Harris gets coached, and how well he takes it. I won’t throw out any examples, but I know that there have been freshmen prospects I’ve seen over the years that would not be big fans of being coached hard. Josh responds well to the direction of Coach Driscoll.
Josh did start the year off on a scoring heater, but in the games I’ve seen—against Lipscomb and Central Arkansas—he didn’t put on much of a scoring clinic. One of the things I’ve had to remind myself of is that Harris is going to play out of his natural position. Josh plays a lot in the paint due to his size and strength. That isn’t likely going to be his long-term position as he grows as a player, as he’s naturally going to be a tweener forward due to his size, defense, and activity. That’s not what the Ospreys need from him, though.
Despite the positional dichotomy, Josh is very strong and crashes the glass with a ton of energy. He sets very sound screens and is often in a size mismatch defensively. While these may not be his long-term roles, they do help his overall development.
Against Lipscomb—a huge, talented team in the ASUN—Harris got most of his points from the free throw line. He did struggle defending some of the bigger players for Lipscomb, but he was able to play sound defense and grab his fair share of rebounds. He missed his lone three-point attempt, which was indicative of how the Ospreys shot as a team (7/31 from deep).
In their next home game, UNF played better but Harris had another tough game. He logged only five points in 19 minutes played. The first half was brutal for him, as he was uncharacteristically inactive on offense and was not fundamentally sound on defense. He did play harder in the second half, grabbing eight rebounds, pushing the ball, and getting into the scoring column. He finished with only five points, leaving three points at the free throw line.
Jasai Miles
Playing a bigger role for UNF this season, Jasai Miles is an intriguing wing player to keep an eye on. He’s listed at 6’6” and 205 pounds. He isn’t connecting from deep on a super efficient clip, but he is a capable shooter. Watching him in warmups, Jasai is one of the most consistent shooters prior to tipoff. He is a very long and athletic prospect, with his long term plan most likely resulting in a 3-and-D mold.
Miles has been made available for some post-game press conferences, where you really get to see his personality. He’s pretty honest about how he sees things from a player perspective. Coach Driscoll sometimes asks his players what they think about a question he’s asked as a coach, and Jasai shows great leadership qualities despite only being a sophomore. Following the tough loss against Lipscomb, I asked Coach Driscoll how hard it is to relay messages to his players in real time. Miles actually interjected himself into this question and spoke at great length on how he and his teammates were the ones accountable for the loss. He spoke to how his coach gave his team all of the “answers to the test” and that it was on them to execute. It’s hard not to grow fond of that type of a player.
Even though UNF lost the game against Lipscomb, Jasai was one of the lone bright spots for his team. He was second in scoring with 10 points. He did miss all three of his attempts from deep, but was very effective around the rim. Like Harris, Miles does compete on the glass and play defense a level up from what he likely will as he grows. He was physically overmatched at times, but Jasai plays hard consistently.
In the next game, against UCA, Miles had a very different day. He led the team in scoring with 22 points and went 5-of-10 from deep. Miles also had two blocks and was so close to recording a double-double, with nine rebounds. Jasai was all over the court defensively and was a large part as to why the Bears only shot 9-of-21 from deep. His well-roundedness made it easy for the highest projections of him to be incredibly favorable.
Jacksonville
Robert McCray IV
I was surprised to see McCray rocking the blacked-out Rip Hamilton mask, and was curious to see how it would impact his play. Robert McCray IV is one of the (if not the) best players in the ASUN conference and was the primary reason I went to the game. One of the biggest things that stood out while seeing him in-person was how bouncy he was. It just felt different from what I’ve noticed on film. He shot well during warmups, but did casually put up some mini-dunk contest dunks.
McCray competes so hard on both sides of the ball. It became very apparent as to why Wake Forest recruited him coming out of high school. Listed at 6’4” and 186 pounds, Robert played on and off of the ball. I was surprised as to how unselfish he was throughout the game, allowing the ball to go to the hot hand and the open man. Robert finished with five assists to only two turnovers, which was something I went into the game wanting to pay specific attention to. The ball rarely ever stuck to his hands. That sort of conduct from JU’s star player permeated up and down their lineup.
McCray was a hound on defense. He stayed in his assignment’s jersey throughout the night, contested shots, and looked to push the break in transition. McCray finished with two steals and a block, but only had one foul on the night.
Perhaps the biggest play of the night was the last one. As the game was coming to a close, the Dolphins grabbed a rebound and brought the ball up the court with purpose. The game was already over on the scoreboard, but the clock was still running. A lob was thrown to the rim, from which Robert converted the -oop as the buzzer sounded. It was an incredible way for the star guard to close out a strong performance.
I’m not certain as to how high McCray could go in this class should he declare, but he is clearly talented. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him turn up in some combine and tournament discussions come season’s end.
Chris Arias
I was actually asked what I thought about Chris Arias by another media member at the UNF vs. UCA game. I answered “I’m not sure; I haven’t heard of him”.
Yes, I know. There are some players that even draft sickos don’t know about.
I did appreciate the question, though, as I ended up coming into the next game with some expectations. Arias is a 6’6” freshman wing that came to the Dolphins from the city of Jacksonville. He’s shooting over 45% from deep on over 9 attempts per 100. That level of shooting had me excited to see him, and I was not disappointed.
Chris dropped nine points in 20 minutes of play. He points came via—you guessed it—the long ball. He shot 3-of-5 from the field, all of which were three-pointers. Aside from shooting, Chris showed a real knack for running himself open on offense. He didn’t log an assist, but he looked comfortable dribbling a bit and making passes within the flow of the offense. He only grabbed one rebound and didn’t have any defensive counting stats.
Chris isn’t someone I was expecting to walk out thinking of as a “one-and-done”, but he’s a very intriguing player to consider for the long term. His role is significant enough for Arias to maintain significant developmental minutes, and I will continue to monitor his growth.
Tito Deng
Alright, this is a very deep cut. But stay with me. Tito Deng played 14 minutes, in which he scored five points and grabbed three boards. It was a very modest game for him.
So why did I bother to share his name?
Deng is a sophomore big man listed at 6’11” and 207 pounds. Those measurements alone may not mean anything, but when I saw him during warmups, I was excited for his long-term development. He has a shot on him. Tito moved very well, which can often be a concern for big men that are a bit slim and posses a jumper.
During the game, Deng showed a high motor. I witnessed him jump to the ground for loose balls, jockey for contested rebounds, slide his feet on defense, and move around on offense. One of his rebounds was on the offensive end, which I loved. He also connected on his lone three-point attempt.
Tito is going to be a slow burn as a prospect, but I sure am filing his name away for future use.
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