This year’s local high school basketball recruiting class isn’t especially strong, but that’s not the case for 2024.

Whereas there are two Southern Nevada players designated as top recruits on ESPN’s 2023 list, seven are listed for the following year.

One is 6-foot-3-inch Durango shooting guard Taj DeGourville, a four-star prospect listed fourth in the state. He had a strong performance playing for Durango in the playoffs and for club team Vegas Elite in the Peach Jam.

UNR, San Diego State, Utah State, Colorado State, Harvard and Loyola Marymount are among the schools that have offered scholarships to DeGourville. Durango coach Chad Beeten said he expects even more offers to arrive.

“We don’t have a set timeline (for an announcement), but I think the plan would be sometime late spring or early summer of next year if all works out well,” Beeten said.

Another Durango player, 6-1 point guard Tylen Riley, is a 2023 recruit. Beeten said Riley will announce his decision Oct. 16 on ESPN2 at the Border League tournament in Las Vegas. He is considering San Diego, Long Beach State, UC Riverside and Cal Baptist.

Top prospect may go early

Liberty 6-1 point guard Dedan Thomas leads ESPN’s list of top 2024 Nevada recruits, but could reclassify and become a 2023 prospect, according to Stockrisers.com.

The website reported that Houston coach Kelvin Sampson visited Wednesday, and Gonzaga coach Mark Few and UCLA coach Mick Cronin were in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Thomas has unofficial visits planned to Arizona and Gonzaga.

Thomas told the website that those schools, as well as UNLV, Southern California, Louisiana State, Miami and Virginia, have recruited him the hardest.

Attempts to reach Thomas were unsuccessful.

Mack nearly stands alone

Coronado 6-4 shooting guard Sebastian Mack is the only active local player on ESPN’s list of top 2023 players.

He shined in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League this summer, averaging 16.5 points.

According to his Twitter feed, Mack has received offers from UNLV, Oklahoma, New Mexico, California, Nebraska and Florida State, among others. The Rebels were the first to offer him.

Attempts to reach Mack were unsuccessful.

Mack became the only active Nevada player on the 2023 list when 6-8 forward Osiris Grady left Coronado in July for Wasatch Academy south of Provo, Utah. However, Grady is a Las Vegas native and is still listed as a Nevada player by ESPN.

According to his Twitter feed, Grady has offers from UNLV, UNR, Texas Tech, Arkansas, West Virginia, Southern California and Cal, among others.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at [email protected]. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.