City of Basketball Love

Ethan Miller (@ByEthanMiller) &
Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. -- The last local event of this year’s July live recruiting period is Elevate Hoops’ appropriately-named Summer Final, which this year takes place entirely on the five courts at Competitive Edge Sports.

With two 17U brackets, two 16U brackets and one 15U bracket, each team is guaranteed to play exactly three games: two on Saturday and one on Sunday.

Here’s a notebook from the first day of the weekend-long tournament:

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Jaquan Arrington (2017/SF/Philly Pride)
While Daron Russell spent his sophomore year starting at point guard and leading Imhotep in scoring, another talented 2017 Division I prospect spent most of the season as a reserve for the Panthers, receiving limited minutes in the early going.

As the season went on, though, Arrington started to see more and more of the court, as the 6-foot-5 small forward grew both in stature and confidence--he added his name to the scoring column in each of the team’s four state playoff games, playing an increasingly significant role as the Panthers advanced to the PIAA Class AAA semifinals.

The confidence Arrington gained during the school year has carried over into the summer, earning a starting role on Philly Pride’s 16U squad. Last week, his good fortune continued, as he was rewarded with his first D-I offer, from Binghamton head coach Tommy Dempsey.

“I was sort of shocked by receiving the offer, because it was late in the season,” he said. “I didn’t really think that could happen. I’m just extremely happy about it.”

Confidence will continue to play a huge role for Arrington moving forward in his high school career. With Devin Liggeons, Cananchet Jordan, Khalief Tinley and DeAnte Robinson graduated from Imhotep this spring, it’s going to be pivotal for Arrington to step up in big moments as a junior. Liggeons, who played ahead of Arrington at the ‘3’ last season, put up six double-digit games in the city and state playoffs.

An athletic wing forward, Arrington is starting to really develop his perimeter game, and if he continues to improve his shot and handle, could certainly build on that offer list over the next 12 months.

Imhotep head coach Andre Noble believes in Arrington’s game, and will call upon him to play a much bigger role in 2015-16.

“He needs to keep staying in the gym,” Noble said. “He’s matured a lot through last season, and he’s done some great things this summer. We need him to just keep working hard, he has a lot of ability.

“Going into this season, I just think he needs to be more comfortable. He has to have a big year, and I believe he will.” --Ethan Miller

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Peyton Wejnert (2016/SF/Jersey Force)
The advantage of being a younger sibling is getting to learn from those who came before you, as Wejnert is finding out.

Both of his older siblings played college basketball: his sister, Tayler, played at George Mason and Colgate between 2007-11, while his brother, Jordan, played two years at UMBC before finishing up his college career at D-II Georgian Court (N.J.), where he graduated from this spring.

Having seen both of them succeed at various spots, he knows to keep his mind open to various options as he wraps up his final AAU season.

“I’m just trying to find the best fit for me, whether it’s Division I, Division II,” the 6-foot-6 rising senior at Southern (N.J.) High School said.

Though he doesn’t have any scholarship offers yet at either level, Wejnert--who averaged nearly 25 ppg and 10 rpg as a junior, surpassing the 1,000-point mark in January--is hearing from plenty of schools both D-I and D-II.

Patriot League schools like Bucknell, Holy Cross, Colgate and Lafayette have been in touch, as have Ivies like Brown and Princeton; in the D-II landscape, Wejnert said “most of the NE-10” has reached out, specifically mentioning Bentley, Adelphi and St. Anselm’s from the high-level league.

“I really pride myself on being a student-athlete, I have a 4.0 and I want to go to a school that holds their athletes to an academic standard, as I hold myself to,” he said. “I also want to go to a school where I like the coaches and I feel that they’re not only improving my game as a basketball player, but my life.”

A 6-foot-6 wing, Wejnert certainly is good enough to earn himself some D-II offers in the near future, and it’s certainly plausible that a D-I school reaches out thanks to his combination of grades, toughness and intangibles.

He’s got great size out on the perimeter and can knock down open jumpers, but has a solid handle and will attack the rim in transition. At 185 pounds, he plans to bulk up to over 200 by the time he gets to college, which he hopes will enable him to be physically prepared.

And in addition to being flexible about his school location, he’s not slotted in on one place on the court, either.

“A lot of (coaches) have questions about whether I’m a ‘2’, ‘3’ or ‘4’ because I can play all three positions. I tell coaches I’m whatever you need me to be,” he said. “I’m just trying to find a college and find what position they want me to be, and then I’ll be that position.” --Josh Verlin

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Daniel Mading (2017/F/Team Belief)
Mading will make a big move this year, from the Rock School (Fl.) to St Benedict’s (N.J.), coming up the coast for his junior year of high school.

That’s nothing, however, compared to the move he made the year prior.

A native of Sudan who moved to Perth, Australia over a decade ago, Mading made the trip across the Pacific Ocean and the North American continent to further his basketball career, following in the footsteps of top 2016 prospect Thon Maker.

With Maker, a 7-foot-1 forward with the skills of a high-major wing, projected to be one of the top NBA draft selections in two years, Mading has a great role model to look up to.

“I have a good relationship with Thon Maker and his brother (Matur),” Mading said. “I just look up to all of them, we’re from the same place, so at the end of the day I want to see all of them do good.”

While Mading might not be quite the prospect that his fellow countryman is, he certainly has high-major in his future. At 6-foot-10, he’s a face-up forward with a sweet stroke, which he showcased by knocking down three 3-pointers for Team Belief (Md.) in a 16U quarterfinal loss to Philly Pride.

He’s already piled on high-major offers, with schools like Georgia, Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Southern Cal, Seton Hall, Texas Tech, Arizona State offering; while he said “basically every school” is staying in contact, he specifically mentioned Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley, plus “coaches from LSU, Arizona, Ohio State, Marquette.”

“I’m getting used to it now,” he said of all the attention, “but at first it was difficult because I wasn’t used to it. It just shows that my hard work is paying off.”

Though he’s still got two years to continue to refine his game before he gets to college, Mading does have a lot of work to do. Though he can knock down shots over most opponents, he’s got to get much stronger with the ball if he’s going to be able to create his shots against high-level Division I forwards, who can step out on the perimeter much easier than most high school bigs.

Of transferring up to the St. Benedict’s, he said “I just feel like it’s a better fit for me, to get ready for the next. Just the good competition that we’ll face and the coach as well.” --Josh Verlin

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Ryan Daly (2016/SG/Team Final Black)
It was strange to see Daly in a Team Final Black uniform, after he’d spent the last three summers with the Jersey Shore Warriors.

But after suffering an ankle injury that kept him out for a good portion of July, the Archbishop Carroll (Pa.) rising senior is trying to get as much face time as he can in front of coaches before the end of the July live recruiting periods

In his first appearance with his new team, he dropped 16 points as Team Final Black got the victory, 78-71 over South Central Select.

For now, the 6-foot-4, 195-pound shooting guard has offers from Penn, Brown, Hartford, and St. Francis, but one of those options looks like it might not be much in play anymore.

With another 6-4 shooting guard, Downingtown West’s Ryan Betley, recently committing to Penn--plus Fairleigh Dickinson transfer Matt MacDonald becoming eligible as a junior in 2016-17--it looks more and more likely that Daly will be headed elsewhere.

“Penn is probably more towards the bottom now because of a new guard committing and a transfer,” he said. “I’m not going to say I’m not going to go there, because that’s not the case, but right now it’s a funky situation.”

As of right now Daly has no official visits but he is hoping to visit St. Francis (Pa.), the school he knows the least about, and Hartford before the season starts.

Brown, which has never been traditionally one of the stronger programs in the in the Ivy League, went 13-18 last year, including a 4-10 record in league play, but Daly has a lot of respect for head coach Mike Martin.

“Brown has been recruiting me the longest out of the four,” he said. “Coach Martin is a great dude, I love the guy.”

St. Francis (Pa.) finished 16-16 (9-9 Northeast) last season, which is an 11-win increase over the last two years under head coach Rob Krimmel, who took over before the 2012-13 season. They’re graduating three senior guards this season, so adding Daly to this Red Flash roster would be extremely beneficial for them.

Hartford didn’t have the most successful season last year, finishing 14-15, including 7-9 in American East conference play. Coach John Gallagher has three senior guards graduating  also next year. He is in need of a new shooter such as Daly.  

“I’m really close with the coach, I’ve been close with him my whole life,” he said.

While Daly wants to make his decision before the season begins, he’s not in any rush to get things over with in the immediate days after the live periods, with hopes of getting a few more looks during fall workouts.

“I would like to receive more offers, but If I don’t it’s not the biggest deal. We will see how open gyms go and whatnot,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’m not favoring any school over another, they’re all great options.” --Ethan Miller

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Quick Hits
--Though he’s still open to receiving new offers, Bruce Moore (2016/PF/MD3D) has a current final four of the schools that had been recruiting him up to this point: Navy, Bucknell, Colgate and American. All four compete in the Patriot League, so it’s fairly safe to say at this point there’s one conference that looks like the favorite for the 6-foot-7, 215-pound forward to take his talents to next fall. And he feels good about that.

“To be honest, I think I should dominate that league, be freshman of the year, that’s what I think,” he said, though he then admitted: “I really haven’t watched a lot of it, but I’ll get a feel for it when I get to the campuses.”

A bouncy combo forward, Moore showed some athleticism with a few big-time slams in the course of two games, a loss to Team Final’s 16s and a win over Jersey Force in what was ultimately a showcase game. He also could face up and knock down jumpers, and fought for every rebound and loose ball. Look for him to commit November, when McDonough High School (Md.) has a ceremony for some athletic seniors to announce their college decisions.

--The New Heights’ 15s were playing up in the 16U bracket, but the one rising junior on the roster was Baldwin HS (N.Y.)’s Jared Rhoden, and he certainly looked the part. The 6-foot-4, 180-pound wing guard dropped 28 points in a 20-point loss to the South Jersey Jazz, and he was getting his points every which way--attacking the rim, dropping 3-pointers, getting to the foul line. Rhoden is considering a reclassification to 2018, either by transferring schools this year or maybe doing a prep year; if he does, he could become a high-major target with continued work on his handle and ability to create his own shot in a half-court offense.

--First time getting to watch Team Final Black’s 15s this summer, and was hard not to be impressed with Atlantic City (N.J.) 2018 SG Raymond Bethea. The 6-foot-3 wing dropped 19 points in a losing effort to Sweat Mob (D.C.), with a smooth scoring stroke, and had a few impressive takes and finishes through contact as well. He certainly has work to do in the weight room, with a scrawny frame that can’t be more than 160 pounds soaking wet, but if he continues to refine his game, his ceiling is very high.

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