After authoring a tremendous prep year for 40-4 Scotland Campus Sports, Class of 2020 guard Norrance Tres Berry has committed to Rhode Island.
A stout on-ball defensive pest with a 6-foot-10 wingspan and freakish above-rim athleticism, it was the 6-foot-3 Berry’s vastly improved 3-point shooting which sparked the Knights during the 2019-20 campaign.
URI coach David Cox, who had been recruiting Berry since December, capitalized on a hotly pursued recruit (Tulsa, WVU, Tennessee, Toledo, Vanderbilt, St. Bonaventure and others were all finalists) who brings the intangibles.
Intangibles such as toughness, mental stability, and will to win are just some of the immeasurables that should transfer immediately to the collegiate level.
Berry’s mental moxie and fiery in-game competitiveness should provide a spark for the Rams, which will feature eight fresh faces on this year’s roster.
Earlier in his high school career, including his time alongside Jalen Lecque (currently with the Phoenix Suns) at The Christ School (NC), Berry established himself as a hard-attacking, slash-first guard.
Last summer while playing for BMaze Elite AAU, Berry recalls locking himself in the gym and working tirelessly at developing a dependable outside shot. Propelling his evolution as a shooter was AAU coach (and former Tennessee star) Bobby Maze and Scotland Campus head coach Chris Chaney.
Refining this component of his game, Berry quickly evolved as a sharpshooting threat for the Knights in his prep year.
The sudden identity change was evident during Berry’s performance at the Mount Zion (Md) tournament, in which he shot a sizzling 8-for-11 from beyond the arc.
Berry scored 22 points and then 20 in both of Scotland’s games at the Prep National tournament in Connecticut, solidifying his prowess as a shot-maker who can ball hawk and convert turnovers into transition buckets with his high end athleticism.
His length on the defensive end allows him to guard multiple positions and rebound it consistently out of the backcourt.
North Texas solidified a recruiting coup with the commitment of 6-foot-9, 225-pound Class of 2020 big Abou Ousmane.
After decommitting from Rhode Island, Ousmane cited his trust of the coaching staff and opportunity to play a significant role immediately as major factors in his decision.
Ousmane was a constant double double threat at Scotland Campus during the 2019-20 campaign, averaging 15 points and 10 boards in leading the Knights to a GAC championship with a 101-69 victory over The Patrick School (NJ).
Ousmane authored monstrous performances with a 32-point, 22-rebound eruption during a win over TPS in January and a 27-point, 19-rebound showing during a throttling of Keba Prep of Ohio.
Given his arsenal of post moves and scoring aptitude around the rim, Ousmane has the look of a traditional Center. He’s able to get the ball in the low post and take over in the one on one, back to the rim style.
A key figure in landing Ousmane was Jareem Dowling, the North Texas assistant who coached at Scotland Campus back when it was Scotland Performance Institute.
Dowling recruited Ousmane thoroughly and kept everything authentic without embellishing the program’s vision for the Brooklyn native.
