Recruiting Roundup: Harry Giles Motivating Jayson Tatum to Reach New Heights

Jayson Tatum is considered a consensus top-three prospect in the Class of 2016, and his senior season is especially important to him. The Duke commit has never won a state title in Missouri and is a favorite to do so, as his Chaminade team from St. Louis returns Tatum, Iowa commit Tyler Cook and a lot of talented guards.

Senior year is also important for Tatum since he's a candidate to win coveted national player of the year awards. These awards have taken on new meaning for Tatum, in part, because he is playing for injured friend and future Duke teammate Harry Giles. The two close friends and USA Basketball teammates were going to be in heavy competition during the awards season this spring, that was until Giles tore his ACL and was ruled out for the season during Oak Hill Academy's opening half.

Keeping in touch nearly every day, Tatum said that he encourages Giles during his injury rehab while Giles offers words of wisdom on Tatum's senior season.

"He always encourages me to be the best player in the country," Tatum said of Giles to Bleacher Report. "Win every award, win every game, he tells me to go out there and don't take anything for granted because he can't play right now."

Chaminade is off to a 2-1 start on the season—ironically, they lost to Oak Hill without Giles last week—as Tatum scored 30 points in the season-opener, 27 in the loss to Oak Hill and 40 in an overtime win over Georgia powerhouse Miller Grove and UConn commit Alterique Gilbert.

Tatum also added double-digit rebounds in his last two games and has significantly improved the look and consistency of his three-pointer. In the season-opening blowout of McCluer North, Tatum drilled five three-pointers. While he only made one at the Chicago Elite Classic, his shot looked more consistent in warm-ups, and he was still dominant getting to the rim or scoring from the mid-range.

To improve his perimeter jumper, Tatum has been getting in the gym before school every morning to get up shots. Over the past few years, the 6'8" wing has worked on his scoring package from the inside moving out, rather than focusing on three-pointers and later developing his mid-range game. It's made the form on his jumper very smooth as he's starting to figure out how to up his three-point percentage.

With the motivation from Giles and a complete scoring arsenal, Tatum is going to be one of the favorites for national player of the year in 2015-16. He's already putting up big numbers in elite showcase games and he's surrounded by a talented team that will take pressure off of him for some of the time.

The duo of Tatum and Giles is part of a monster four-man recruiting class at Duke that includes 5-star point guard Frank Jackson and 4-star forward Javin DeLaurier. The quartet is attempting to lure 5-star big man Marques Bolden to play with them and give Duke another potential national title team next season.

Talk of national player of the year honors and playing at Duke in the future is fun for Tatum to think about, but he's more focused on closing out his senior season with a Chaminade state championship.

"We definitely want to win a state championship, we're 0-for-3 right now and this year I don't feel like we're coming up short," Tatum said. "If we keep playing the way we're capable of playing, I think we can come out on top."

Gregory Payan/Associated Press

Markelle Fultz transitions to point guard

Washington is getting a very good player in 5-star DeMatha guard Markelle Fultz, and he looked comfortable in his transition to point guard.

Handling the ball for much of the game in a win over St. Vincent-St. Mary's, the 6'5" Fultz got in the paint whenever he wanted and scored or made plays for others as he finished with 23 points, six assists and four rebounds. 

"It's been great, really," Fultz said of playing on the ball. "Trying to get ready for Washington next year. I'm a very versatile player one-through-three. But playing the point guard, I'm the most aggressive because I'm a taller guard and I can see the floor over the smaller guards."

Already the No. 9 overall player in the 247Sports composite, Fultz is trending in the right direction the last few months, as he continues to improve.

Top Chicago guards lead powerhouse programs to wins

Simeon and Morgan Park are the top-two teams in the Chicago Public League entering the season, and the state-title contenders earned wins behind two of the top seniors in the class. Zach Norvell, a Gonzaga commit and Simeon senior, had 18 points and eight rebounds in a win for the Wolverines over city rival Whitney Young. The 4-star guard is a major candidate for player of the year in Illinois.

Morgan Park had a good game from Memphis commit and senior point guard Charlie Moore, who had 12 points while battling foul trouble in a win over Evanston. The 4-star Moore started the season with 55 points and 13 assists in a win over Bowen last week and is also a potential player of the year favorite in Illinois.

Simeon and Morgan Park play each other this week, as the Public League Red-South conference rivals match up in a highly anticipated showdown at Simeon on Thursday. 

Recruiting ratings via 247Sports.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes and information were obtained firsthand.