Round-up: Alkins, Yurtseven, Simmons, Hart all in this week

Local boy makes good?

Rawle Alkins, a 6’4” shooting guard from Brooklyn, is reportedly among at least eight college players —two international and six US-born prospects— invited to HSS Training Center this week to work out in front of Sean Marks et al.

Adam Zagoria, the well-connected New York hoops writer, tweeted out word of Tuesday’s workout on Sunday afternoon.

On Monday, Zagoria added new information about Brooklyn’s workout plans, saying Josh Hart, the 6’6” shooting guard out of Villanova, and Tyler Dorsey, a 6’4” shooting guard out of Oregon, will be in Thursday.

All eight are ranked on Draft Express latest mock as either second round material or undrafted.

The workouts would appear to among the first of this off-season. Previously, only one other workout candidates surfaced, Rashawn Thomas, a 6’7” wing from Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

Of those named by Zagoria —remember he noted “and more” were invited— Alkins and Hart are the most intriguing. Alkins played at Christ the King High School in the borough and just finished his freshman year at Arizona. Hart was a member of Villanova’s national champions in 2016.

Alkins hasn’t hired an agent yet and before this week’s Pre-Draft Combine, he said it was “50-50” that he would return to Tuscon. In fact, DX placed him on their 2018 mock. But Alkins played well in the Combine’s 5-on-5 games. Here’s what Jonathan Givony wrote after his first game in Chicago.

The 19-year-old Arizona wing, who is still testing the waters', helped himself on day one by getting to the rim at will thanks to his 223-pound frame and showing a level of assertiveness that most players here lacked. Alkins, who shot 37% from three as a freshmen, also knocked down two spot threes and showed he's a capable pick and roll ball handler given his solid vision. The Brooklyn native also competed defensively, an area where he greatly improved during his time under Sean Miller at Arizona.

In fact, Zagoria tweeted that the Nets didn’t intend to work him out until he showed what he could do in the 5-on-5’s. Nets assistant coach Bret Brelmaier coached him in Combine play.

Alkins will be joined by another Wildcat freshman, Kobi Simmons, a 6’5” freshman who played well this week. Very heavily recruited last season, he started off well at Arizona but dropped out of the rotation later in the season. He is slated for the second round in the latest DX mock, at No. 58, one below where the Nets pick.

Villanova’s Hart is seen as a mid-second round pick, a player who many see as a sleeper. As Givony wrote in April...

An average athlete by NBA standards who is perhaps a bit more explosive when he can gather a head of steam than one might expect, the Sidwell Friends School product makes the most of his physical tools by playing with tremendous intensity and smarts on both ends. His competitiveness made him one of the most valuable players in the country this season.

Omer Yurtseven is another intriguing prospect and similar to Simmons, Yurtseven was highly regarded after being recruited last summer, then disappointed at North Carolina. A Turkish citizen, he was born in Uzbekistan. He is this week’s NetsDaily Draft Sleeper of the Week.

Maryland’s 6’4” junior shooting guard, Melo Trimble, also played on Brelmaier’s team and did well. Trimble finished with 12 points (4-of-8 shooting), six assists, two rebounds, and a steal for his team. Still, it seems unlikely he’ll be drafted.

Amida Brimah, a Ghanian 7-footer, played at UConn for four years, and is another lobs-and-blocks candidate. He averaged 2.7 blocks in 25 minutes a game while averaging a rather pedestrian 7.6 points per game in what most saw as a disappointing final season at Storrs. Still, he has a 7’6” wingspan, some nice leaping ability and surprised at the Portsmouth Invitational for seniors. At 23, he’s one of the oldest players in the draft.

Davon Reed, Miami’s 6’6” swingman, also played well in Portsmouth and like Brimah is seen as a good defender, in his case a possible 3-and-D prospect. He has a 7-foot wingspan and shot 40 percent from the arc. He, too, is among the more mature prospects, at nearly 22 years old.

Also, Sunday night, the agent for Antonius Cleveland, a 6’6” shooting guard from Southeast Missouri State, disclosed his client will be in Brooklyn on June 6.

• Rawle Alkins to Work Out for Nets - Adam Zagoria - Zags Blog
• Arizona basketball: Rawle Alkins to work out with Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday - Jason Bartel - Arizona Desert Swarm