• Here's a prospect I'd never seen before who caught my eye: Rodney Williams, a 6-5 wing from New Hope, Minn. Maybe it's because of his first name and the fact that he was wearing No. 10 on his jersey, but Williams reminded me a lot of former Memphis guard Rodney Carney. He's got that same slender build and bounciness. After Williams soared in for yet another slam, I looked over my shoulder and saw Saul Smith, whose father, Tubby, just hired him as an assistant at Minnesota. I'm guessing Saul was picturing Williams in a Gophers uniform the entire time.

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• Two guys I had seen before who made good impressions: Demarcus Cousins, a 6-9 forward from Birmingham, and Scotty Hopson, a 6-5 wing from Hopkinsville, Ky., who has committed to Mississippi State. Cousins is really big, but he looked in much better control of his body than when I saw him two weeks ago at USA Basketball's Youth Development Festival. Hopson was one of the best players at the festival, and he again looked terrific in Akron. Besides being a great leaper with a nice shooting touch, Hopson really appears to enjoy playing defense, and I swear I have never seen him play a bad game.

• A few minutes with ... John Thompson III. When I asked the Georgetown coach how he got Roy Hibbert to come back to school, he smiled and said, "Everybody's been asking me that. I promise you it wasn't because we had a three-hour pow wow. I told Roy he'd probably be picked around five through eight, but he likes school. That's really it." As for the rest of the Hoyas squad, Thompson will begin the season with considerably more confidence in his perimeter players than he did last year. Thompson praised the play of unsung guard Jonathan Wallace, but he also has a talented true point guard coming in freshman Chris Wright. "We can play them both together," JT3 told me. "I'm sure we can figure it out."

• One of the highlights of the summer circuit is the eureka moment when you first lay eyes on a player you had never heard of before and just know he's special. That happened for me on Monday when I first spotted John Riek, a native of Sudan. Riek is a rising junior at Our Savior New American School in Centereach, N.Y. He came to the U.S. in the middle of his sophomore year and apparently doesn't speak English. Also, nobody seems to know how old Riek really is. (I tried to speak with him after one of his games but I was told that he was the only player at the event who wasn't speaking to the media, presumably because of the language barrier.) Riek was measured at 6-11 without shoes, but he looked all of 7-feet-plus on the court. His skills are a little raw, as you might expect, but he has incredible footwork and scoring instincts, and he fights for rebounds like the proverbial bull in a china shop, literally throwing guys out of his way in an effort to get the ball. Riek is actually just the third-tallest player on his high school team, behind 7-5 Ring Ayeul and 7-2 Marial Dhal. How'd you like to draw up the scouting report against that front line?

• Other thoughts on the top players at the Nike event: Louisville-bound forward Samardo Samuels did a better job throwing his weight around than when I saw him at the NBA Players Association Camp in Charlottesville, Va., last month. Greg Monroe, the 6-10 forward from Gretna, La., looked a little lackluster, which is not uncommon for him. Monroe is still probably the best player in the senior class, but keep in mind this is a relatively weak class. Another senior, 6-6 wing Demar DeRozan from Compton, Calif., is a strong, quick and ultra-aggressive player who has committed to USC. If O.J. Mayo leaves after one year as expected, DeRozan will surely help fill the void. And keep an eye on rapidly-improving Ralph Sampson, a 6-11 center from Duluth, Ga. Yes, he's Ralph Sampson's son, and this kid is just starting to grow into his body. He might bloom a little late in college, but once he does, look out.

• Other tidbits heard in the bleachers: Coaches are not allowed to watch their own players work out during the summer (one of the stupidest rules on the books), but Memphis coach John Calipari told me that his players have been raving about Shawn Taggart, a 6-10 transfer from Iowa State who didn't play last year because of a knee injury. Just what Memphis needs, another good player ... St. John's coach Norm Roberts said he's excited about the seven new players he has coming in next year. The one with the best chance to have an immediate impact will be forward Justin Burrell, while 5-9 Malik Boothe will challenge Eugene Lawrence for time at the point ... Arizona assistant Miles Simon told me that Kobe Bryant was so taken with Chase Budinger at the skills academy that bears Bryant's name, he invited Budinger to join him in a private workout at 5:30 a.m. Simon also predicted sophomore forward Jordan Hill will have a breakout year for U of A. And as you know, what Simon says ... LSU assistant Butch Pierre took his eyes off of Greg Monroe just long enough to tell me the Tigers' incoming juco transfer Marcus Thornton, a 6-4 guard, is a scoring machine who will have an immediate impact. Pierre also predicted Mississippi State would be a dark horse in the SEC, a reflection of how highly he thinks of Jamont Gordon.