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Elevate Hoops Summer Final: Day 2 Notebook

07/27/2015, 10:15am EDT
By Josh Verlin & Ethan Miller

Austin Kennedy (above) had 10 points as the South Jersey Jazz won the 16U bracket. (Photo: Josh Verlin)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Ethan Miller (@ByEthanMiller)
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KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. -- After three grueling weeks spent hopping from event to event around the country, the nation’s various high school ballplayers, college coaches, scouts and families alike can finally get some rest.

The three five-day periods that make up the July live recruiting sessions are the best chance for thousands of hopeful high schoolers to get out in front of dozens if not hundreds of college coaches at once. And though legs were certainly worn out and bodies banged up by the time the final one ended at 5 PM on Sunday, there were  

Here’s a notebook from the final day of the 2015 summer recruiting periods:

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Chemistry carries South Jersey Jazz to championship
The biggest crowd all weekend was reserved for a matchup of Under Armour Association foes, when the South Jersey Jazz met up with WeR1 for the 16U championship.

And behind Myles Cale’s 17 points, it was the Jazz who emerged with a 47-44 victory, ending the game on a 9-0 run to end the summer season on a high note.

The Jazz certainly have a lot of team chemistry, and it’s not something that’s all built up in the course of one summer.

Walt Harvey was in fourth grade when he became AAU teammates with Ryan Legler on a team under the Hoops Factory banner. Two years later, they were joined by Austin Kennedy and Eric Dicrescenzo, and a year after that the team (coached by Legler’s father, former NBA pro and current ESPN analyst Tim Legler) moved over to the Jazz program.

They’ve added pieces in that time--most notably Cale, a 6-foot-3 guard from Appoquinimink (Del.) with numerous mid-to-high-major offers--but that chemistry carries over.

It doesn’t hurt that Kennedy and Harvey, plus another Jazz guard, Nick Amechi, play on one of the best high school teams in South Jersey.

“It’s really fun playing with Austin, we’ve been playing together for about five years now,” said Harvey, a 6-foot-1 combo guard who likes to attack the rim. “We play really well together.”

“We really built up our chemistry from AAU season,” said Kennedy, a 6-0 gunner who’s very dangerous from beyond the arc. “In high school we get to play with each other a lot, so it benefits us in every way.”

Coming off a 27-2 season that ended with a loss to Christian Brothers in the South Jersey Non-Public ‘A’ final, the 2015-16 season certainly looks bright for St. Augustine Prep. In addition to Kennedy, who’s had schools like Penn and Navy start to track him, and Harvey, the Hermits boast another pair of Division I recruits in senior point guard Sa’eed Nelson and junior forward Justyn Mutts.

With the newfound confidence of being Division I recruits and another year of playing together, the Hermits have high hopes for this year.

“We’re going to do some damage this year,” Harvey said.

“I think we can be as good as we put our minds to it, as good as we play together,” Kennedy said. “We’ve got the chemistry we have, because we all like each other on and off the court, it’s great. I think our chemistry can take us a long way.”

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Miller leads DC Blue Devils to 17U ‘ship
Though he wasn’t with the Blue Devils for too long, Randy Miller certainly can say that his experience with the program ended well.

This 6-3, 180-pound shooting guard found his groove yesterday afternoon, finishing with 15 points in the U17 championship over Team Final Black, 67-57.

Last year he played with Maryland 3D, and the years prior he played with Team Takeover. He joined the Blue Devils midway through this year after opening the summer with MD3D.

Even though Miller is new to the Blue Devils, it seems that he is extremely close with his teammates. While playing with top Division I prospects such as Markelle Fultz, Jeff Dowtin, Nate Darling and more, he believes he was getting better every day.

“It’s really fun playing with a bunch of Division I prospects.” Miller said. “At the end of the day they can really teach you great skills, but I can also teach them, it’s like family.”

A D-I prospect himself, Miller is heading into his senior year at Mount St. Joseph’s (Md.), where he’s played his entire high school career. Heading into his senior year, Miller believes he’s grown as a player.

“I think in the last three years I got a lot stronger and more confident with the ball.” He said. “Mount St. Joseph’s helped me develop as a player on and off the court. Overall I think I got a lot better.”

This AAU season has been a hectic one as he still trying to receive more offers from mid-major D-I schools. Miller has been in contact with Fairfield University’s coach Sydney Johnson, where he received his first and only offer from.

Although, Miller doesn’t have other offers, he claims that George Mason, Richmond and Towson all have interest in him. He has been briefly chatting with three-time Patriot League coach of the year, Dave Paulsen, who was hired by George Mason this spring after eight successful years at Bucknell.

“I like George Mason a lot, I’m going to their elite camp on August 8th,” Miller said. “Hopefully by the end of that camp I’ll talk to Coach Paulsen and get an offer.”

As of right now, Miller has no official visits set up, but he is planning to visit Fairfield before the end of the summer.

“I’ve been working really hard this offseason to make my game the best it can be so I can get these last offers.” He said. “I’ve been working on my mid-range jump shots off the dribble, my defense and basically just getting my teammates involved as much as I can.”

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Danish center Marinus Mouboe (above) drew plenty of attention for his size and basketball IQ. (Photo: Josh Verlin)

Great Danes draw coaches’ attention
One key to catching some under-the-radar talent during the July recruiting periods is to go where the coaches go.

And during one set at Competitive Edge Sports, the majority of the coaches were keeping an eye on a 17U semifinal between Team Final Black and Global Squad Denmark, with a specific focus on a few European prospects with potential Division I futures.

Global Squad Denmark was one of four teams (England, China and and Sweden) put together by John Alexander as part of his Global Basketball Academies, which have been bringing foreign players to the states for a one-month basketball immersion and tournament tour in hopes of attracting college and/or prep school attention for the past few seasons.

Players like Marinus Mouboe, a 6-foot-11, 245-pound center from a small town outside Oednse, the third-largest city in Denmark.

His combination of size, basketball IQ and ability to pass the ball out of the low and high post is certainly intriguing, and it’s the reason why Temple head coach Fran Dunphy called him up last week and extended a scholarship.

“I didn’t come over here with the expectations that a school like Temple would offer me,” he said. “So it’s very exciting.”

The Owls aren’t the only program to offer Mouboe; Towson and Canisius have also extended scholarships, according to Alexander, and other mid-to-high-major programs have shown some interest.

Now he has to decide, after a likely prep year at Spire Institute (Ohio), if he’ll go play Division I basketball or return him to play professional basketball.

Another Global Squad competitor with Division I offers doesn’t sound like he’s as uncertain about what he wants to be doing next fall.

“It’s always been a dream to play college basketball,” said Toby Christensen, a 6-4 shooting guard who’s spent the last three seasons at St. Maria Goretti (Md.).

So far, Christensen has been hearing from a few schools, including Holy Cross, Bucknell and High Point, plus D-II Southern Connecticut State, but first he has to pick a prep school for the fall.

After graduating from Goretti, Christensen was planning on attending South Kent (Conn.), but that fell through; Alexander said one likely landing spot is Marianapolis Prep (Conn.).

As the only returning player from last year’s Global Squad, Christensen has played a big role on the team this season both on the court and off it.

“They wanted me to lead the team and step up and take a leader role, definitely,” he said. “Just trying to bond with the team, I think it went better this year because I had more experience.”

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Norristown wing hoping for big things in '15-16
Norristown finished 11-11 last season, including 8-6 in the Suburban One American  Conference last season, just falling short of the District One playoffs. Darryl Carr, a veteran star for the Eagles, believes this upcoming year will be a whole lot different.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound small forward has high expectations for the 2015-16 season.

“Our goal for the season is to win every game obviously,” he said. “But I want us to make the playoffs and go as far as we can and try and win a championship for Norristown.”

Chemistry is obviously a huge part to a team’s success. It seems that the Eagles are extremely close to each other after learning from their struggles last year. Some key returners for them are Roy Green, Kether Massiaz, Khalif Sinclair, Amir Carter and Reggie Collins.

Although the offseason is one part of the equation, Carr wants to make sure his teammates are mentally prepared for the season.

“I think our team goal is to be at practice every day and be on time. Sometimes players come late and it turns into a habit, the way you practice is the way you play,” Carr said. “We need to go as hard as we can for our two-three hours that we’re there. I’m starting to hammer that in my teammates heads.”

At this point in Carr’s high school career he understands that he has to step up and be a leader for his team. Another quality he has is he cares a lot about his teammates. The athletic forward showed today that his drive and kick to a teammate is exceptionally good. The stats prove itself, he averaged 7.3 APG last year as a junior.

“I’d rather have many players in double figures, not just one or two,” he said. “That’s not how you win games. If everyone contributes it makes the game a lot easier.”

The leader has his own personal goals as well for this season coming up.

“My goal for the season is to be a leader, and make sure everyone’s at practice,” Carr said. “I need to push my teammates and have everyone contribute to the game. To me I think it’s all about teamwork.”

This offseason hasn’t given him any type of college offers but he believes with his hard work coaches will eventually recognize him before the school season begins.

“I’ve been working on ball handling, passing, shooting and pretty much just working at my guard game as a whole,” Carr said.“I think recruiters should see that I have good leadership and that I’m smart on the court and off. As long as they see me playing hard, and have a good attitude I think I’ll be fine.”

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Quick Hits
--One starter for a PIAA Class AAAA team with hopes of a deep tournament run looks ready to make his college decision--for football. Parkland (Pa.) rising senior Kenny Yeboah (2016/F/L&L Running Rebels) has gotten offers from Temple, Old Dominion, Lafayette, New Hampshire, Towson, Albany and more for his abilities as a TE/WR, and it looks like one in-state school will be getting some good news in the near future.

“I think I’m going to end up going to Temple,” he said, adding a decision would likely come “by next week.”

On the hardwood, the 6-foot-5, 220-pound forward helped the Trojans to the second round of the AAAA tournament this past year, before they ran into St. Bonaventure commit Derrick Woods and Pennsbury. Though his future lies on the gridiron, don’t count out a potential shot at walking on to a basketball team if all works out in college.

“I would try, I mean I love basketball just as much as I love football,” he said. “But I’m better at football.”

--Keep an eye out for Nate Roberts (2018/SF/Baltimore Supreme). A 6-foot-8 wing from Edgewood (Md.), Roberts has a chance to be a special player in the rising sophomore class. He’s got an excellent offensive game for a young wing of his size, and doesn’t mind battling down low to grab rebounds before leading the fast break and either attacking the rim or dishing off to a teammate. Already, Delaware and James Madison have offered, but if he continues to add strength and refine his game on both ends of the floor, he should be high-major by the time it’s all said and done.

--One South Jersey big man to watch is Jared Kimbrough (2018/SF/Jersey Force). The 6-foot-7, 200-pound forward from Neptune (N.J.) HS can get to rim but can also hit a mid-range jumper. He proved that today, after finishing with eight points in a loss in the 16U championship game to Team Final. He is not afraid to get in the mix down in the paint to grab big rebounds and run the floor. One element he needs to improve in are his post moves, but he has plenty of time to do that and get his strength up. As of right now, like most players in his class he has no offers, but don’t be surprised if you see him receive a few Division I offers by this time next year if he continues to work hard and adds an inch or two to his frame.


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