UCLA, Rutgers, and USC Scouting Notes

The Bruins, Scarlet Knights, and Trojans came to Lincoln, and I was able to get a look at some of the more excting and intriguing prospects in the entire country.

Sebastian Mack

Mack, a product of Las Vegas and a sophomore has been a tough evaluation for me over his first two years at UCLA. The 6’3” guard is built like a truck with a large frame he frequently uses to bully smaller players, and he knows he has the strength to get to the interior. Where Mack has struggled has been the handle and passing. He can separate from anyone, but I have found he lacks the skill level to take that extra dribble to get all the way to the rim and force up a bad push shot late in the shot clock. His passing has also left a lot to be desired, as he doesn’t have true point guard skills right now to help turn his downhill separation ability into opportunities to his teammates.

Mack’s game against Nebraska was more of the same, and during the first half of the game he was borderline unplayable. He didn’t make shots and turned the ball over a whole lot, but late in the 2nd half when Mick Cronin’s UCLA squad started to go on a run, Mack began to be relied on to create shots for Aday Mara, who had a quality 2nd half as well. The Bruins's late game possesions were nearly all Sebastian Mack isolation, and he scored on more of these than he didn’t including a tough and 1 finish that helped keep UCLA in the fight for longer than they probably should’ve.

While the tale of the game was the same, this was one of the most Sebastian Mack games that Sebastian Mack has ever played, and if he hopes to one day have a shot at making the NBA, the overall processing and three-point shooting will have to come around. I am still intrigued by the strength and size, but I think if Mack is an NBA product, it is likely in 2027, and potentially for a coach not named Mick Cronin.

Aday Mara

The Spanish big man Aday Mara has long been a player that has tantalized me. The idea of a rim-protecting 7+ footer akin to Luke Kornet with the ability to act as a playmaker has always been very fun. Mara was the top international recruit to come to college basketball in last year’s class. He struggled to earn minutes for Mick Cronin, with Cronin often being visibly frustrated with Mara’s lack of physicality.

This year Mara’s minutes have increased but early in the year it seemed to be a lot of the same issues. Mara’s season seemed to have come alive in the 2nd half of the Nebraska game. In the possession the Spaniard was on the floor he was incredibly disruptive to Nebraska’s offense, with 2 blocks in those 11 minutes. He consistently abused the Husker’s lack of a real big man and made a good read to a rolling cutter.

Since this game, Mara has become a lot more consistent and seems to finally be breaking out for this Bruin squad. He could be a real name to watch in 2026.

Dylan Harper

I was very excited about this one. I have had this game circled on the calendar for a couple of months, and I was blessed by the Nebraska ticket RNG odds with good seats for this one.

Harper has been the number 2 player on my board for a while now, and I don’t expect to see that change anytime soon. His first half was very pedestrian by his own standards, but he still showed a lot of competitive fire and almost got himself in trouble with the referees for throwing some words towards the Husker bench. When it was time for Harper to do his thing he did.

Late in what came down to a one-possession game, Harper scored in either isolation or ball screens 3 straight possessions, twice by spitting the defenders who put two on the ball and finishing through contact. It is these kinds of special plays that make me so excited about Harper and make me believe he could be a high-end scoring option for an NBA team.

On the defensive end, he competed well and showed off some high-level rotations. His frame can be tough for ball handlers to get around, and I believe he could become a plus defender at the NBA level.

Ace Bailey

All in all this Nebraska game was probably Ace’s best game from the entire season. While some people have waivered on Ace, he has always remained in my top 4 of this class and has since returned to his place in the top 3. Throughout the game Bailey was on a heater, showing off his off-the-ball scoring. He hit one ridiculous three to end the half off of movement (with an extra step or two from the officials) and then proceeded to spark some words with the Nebraska bench.

The set Rutgers runs to get Ace a movement three in the corner going to his right has become his iconic shot to me, and this game he knew the defenders were going to bite on the movement, so he stopped himself, let Brice Williams fly by, and hit the one dribble three in the corner. It felt like every time Nebraska would close Rutgers’ lead, Bailey had something to say about it.

He also made some of his best passes all season. While these are simple reads, he made some good swing passes and overall stopped the ball less this game, which led to his current (and probably end-of-season) highest total of 4 assists in a game. He was a maniac on the offensive glass and got 4 offensive rebounds which he always converted to easy points.

On the defensive end, his hand activity and size were tough for the Nebraska squad to deal with, and Bailey racked up 4 stocks. This defensive presence keeps me high on Bailey, as an outcome of Michael Porter Jr. with real defensive upside is incredibly tantalizing. As I said before I think this was Bailey’s best performance of the season in terms of process, and it is these kinds of games that keep me high on his stock.

Saint Thomas

Thomas, a native of Omaha, Nebraska made his way home for his first career game in Pinnacle Bank Arena since 6 high major players took the floor in the 2021 Class A championship game between Bellevue West and Millard North, which included 2024 ACC 1st-teamer and 5 Star recruit Hunter Sallis, along with other talents like Frankie Fiddler of Michigan State, Chucky Hepburn of Louisville, and Will Kyle of UCLA. 2021 Nebraska High School Hoops was one hell of a drug.

Saint Thomas initially was the 3rd ranked recruit of the group, still only ranked in the 200s in the class, and went to Loyola-Chicago after not receiving an offer from either Creighton or Nebraska. Saint floundered at Loyola, not receiving major minutes in either his freshman or sophomore season. He transferred to Northern Colorado, where he would immediately fill the shoes of one Dalton Knecht, scoring nearly 20 PPG on a solid Big Sky team. Thomas was one of the most interesting guys in the portal and ended up going to Sunny Southern California to play for Coach Eric Musselman.

Thomas came out with a lot of energy against Nebraska, clearly incited by the boos of the crowd (come on guys what are we doing), and scored a lot of buckets early. The Huskers routinely let Thomas float to the middle of the floor where he hit mid-range shots. Later in the game USC’s gameplay reverted to their normal style of Desmond Claude ball screens, but Thomas made good cuts into the lane and finished with two dunks.

His NBA-ready frame held up well on defense, where he got 2 steals and a block. He slides well with his man on that end of the floor and shows an overall awareness you would expect from someone successful in multiple places.

Thomas is an intriguing name for a two-way, as a wing with an interesting shot diet and frame, and I would love to see him get a shot in the league.