Tarkanian Classic: Jaden Hardy does it again; Marcus Bagley
Matt Moreno/GOAZCATS.com
LAS VEGAS -- On Wednesday at the Tarkanian Classic, five-star junior Jaden Hardy continued his dominant play. Arizona State will be very happy with Marcus Bagley and more takeaways from Eric Bossi.
HARDY PUSHING FOR TOP FIVE STATUS IN 2021
Already the highest ranked guard in the class of 2021, five-star Jaden Hardy is in the midst of an absolutely dominant junior season.
I remember speaking with Hardy back in early August while watching an event in Vegas and he said that he was going to come out showing new levels to his game during the winter. He wasn't lying and after watching him go bonkers at the Hoophall West a few weeks ago, I thought he was even better playing in his adopted (he's from Detroit originally) home town.
He's strong, he makes the right play, he scores with ease and he dictates the pace of the game. At this point, he has to be in the conversation for top five in the class of 2021 and if he doesn't crack it in the next rankings update, he won't be far off. I saw a lot of Brad Beal in high school, and what Hardy is doing reminds me of watching Beal flip the switch from pretty good to beast during his junior season.
On the recruiting front, nothing has changed since Hardy updated his recruitment 10 days ago. Arizona, Kentucky, UCLA, USC and many others are chasing hard.
ARIZONA STATE COULD USE MARCUS BAGLEY RIGHT NOW
It has been since last winter since I personally got a good in person look at Arizona State bound wing Marcus Bagley. Man, the Sun Devils got a good one here.
Bagley is 100% healthy after battling some nagging injuries and he's looking pretty impressive. At 6-foot-7 or so with a strong frame, he looks like most college seniors physically and he is also bouncy in the paint and is punishing rims. His shot looks good from deep, he's patient in creating his offense and based off of what I saw on Thursday, he looks like an instant impact guy. In fact, he would help ASU out right now.
I'll see him a few more times over the next couple of days and if the way he played on Wednesday continues, he is going to merit some pretty serious consideration for the major spring All-Star games.
