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Published Jul 6, 2017
Rival Views: Which players will be most closely watched in July?
Eric Bossi and Corey Evans
Rivals.com

July is arguably the most important month in high school basketball with three open evaluation periods. At this time next week, college coaches will be found in gyms all across the country watching the nation's best players.

Today's Rival Views debate: Which players will be most closely watched by the college coaches? As usual, national basketball analysts Eric Bossi and Corey Evans provide different opinions.

MORE: Which program is overachieving in recruiting?

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BOSSI'S VIEW: ROMEO LANGFORD AND DAVID McCORMACK

The natural temptation here is to answer with Marvin Bagley because he is the No. 1 prospect in the Rivals150 and is down to a heavy-hitting final six of Arizona, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA and USC. But, I don't think he's going to care all that much who spends the most time watching him and that his recruitment is going to unfold more over the phone and in person.

However, I do think that there is a chance for a coach to make an impact with the nation's best shooting guard, Romeo Langford. And he's always going to take the floor with several head coaches watching him. There will be pressure on Indiana's Archie Miller to make it happen with the state's best player, Louisville and Rick Pitino are right across the river from his New Albany home and Kentucky's John Calipari is currently coaching him for USA Basketball's U19 team in Egypt. Add in Duke, Kansas and North Carolina in heavy pursuit and there will always be lots of big names watching Langford.

One more to really consider as a player who may be most watched is four-star center David McCormack. A true big man with strength, size and touch, McCormack will soon be the recipient of a pretty sizable bump up from his current spot of No. 60 in the 2018 Rivals150. Given that he is yet to narrow his list and has been busy with unofficial visits (Duke, NC State and Oklahoma State being the most recent) it's reasonable to expect that he will draw a ridiculous group of coaches. Among the many other programs who can be expected to be watching closely are Kansas, Louisville, Virginia, Virginia Tech, LSU and Georgetown.

EVANS' VIEW: ZION WILLIAMSON

When speaking about the most watched prospect during the July evaluation periods, the discussion should begin and end with Zion Williamson.

The high school realm has not seen someone like Williamson transfix the sport since the days of LeBron James. No, I am not saying that Williamson is the next LBJ but when you boast close to 800,000 followers on Instagram before your 18th birthday and the rapper Drake is creating his own custom-made jersey of you, then you know you are the real deal.

What adds even more gasoline onto the fire is the fact that Williamson will tip things off this month in his hometown of Spartanburg, S.C. Suiting up for the SC Supreme team on the adidas circuit, the three stripes brand will host its Gauntlet Finale less than a 15-minute drive from his bedroom which should bring the entire town, and maybe the state, to see him finish his final month of travel ball.

The public and general media will be in a mad frenzy to get a good look at the freakish athlete throughout the month but so will the college coaches. Sure, the typical bluebloods Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas and Duke will be out in full force but so will the in-state schools.

South Carolina, beaming off its run to the Final Four, will pitch Williamson on staying at home and adding onto its recent string of success. On the other hand, Williamson’s father once suited up for Clemson and the Tigers will voice their own sentiments on becoming ‘the guy’ to take the basketball program to the same heights as the football program.

While the five-star forward will be heavily watched each time that he hits the hardwood, so will Nassir Little, one of the top breakouts this spring that has seen his stock explode into a national affair. In June, UCLA, Arizona and Kansas each offered Little, while North Carolina and Kentucky remain lurking. Add those bluebloods into a group including Florida, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Georgia, St. John’s and others, and this recruitment is going to be a no holds barred deal the rest of the way.

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