City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Here’s a report from the Donofrio Classic action on Thursday, March 31:

Game One: Trailing by as many as 10 in the first half and two at the break, the Keystone Blazers Red came out firing in the second half to run away to a 91-75 victory over the Yellow Jackets’ massive frontcourt. Scranton commit Matt Mancuso (2016/Bridgewater) led the way with 18 points and Kris Johnson (2016/York) scored 14 of his 16 in the second half to lead the way for the Blazers, who also got 11 from Jalen Gabbidon (2017/Harrisburg Academy). Cornell commit Josh Warren (2016/Downingtown West) paced the Yellow Jackets with 25 points, while his high school teammate and West Chester commit Dom Guerrera (2016/Downingtown West) added 19.

Game Two: Raw Sports made it a clean sweep for Central PA, as another group of District 3 young athletes put on an impressive show to pull away from Del Val VC for a 113-86 win. Big man Anthony Johnson (2016/Harrisburg) bullied his way inside to a team-high 19 points for Raw Sports, which had seven players in double figures; top-20 junior Lonnie Walker (2017/Reading) had 14 despite a rare off night from the floor, Eli Brooks (2017/Spring Grove) had 13 while DeShawn Millington (2017/Carlisle) and Taylor Funk (2017/Manheim Central) had a dozen apiece. Impressive youngster Jamil Riggins (2019/Imhotep) had 21 points to lead Del-Val VC, which also got 14 from Chestnut Hill commit Nasir Bell (2016/Martin Luther King)

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Funk’s recruiting heating up as summer approaches

Taylor Funk began his junior season at Manheim Central with two offers, from Monmouth and Boston University.

Now, entering his final summer of AAU basketball, the sharpshooting forward has seen his recruitment take a sizeable jump.

Two local Atlantic 10 schools, La Salle and Saint Joseph’s, both extended offers over the last few months, as did Rider, giving Funk a quintet of scholarships to build on heading into the April live periods.

“It’s definitely exciting,” he said of the uptick in his recruitment. “It’s been a dream since a little kid, but I want to keep going and try to get higher and higher.”

It's obvious why Funk's recruitment is trending upwards, after a junior season that saw him average 21.7 ppg and 11 rpg. At 6-foot-8 and now 210 pounds, he's got the requisite size to play up front in a high-major system and really excels at stretching opposing defenses with his pick-and-pop ability.

So far, he has one high-major school that’s starting to get involved.

“Seton Hall has been talking to me a lot, they invited me down to a tour of the campus,” he said.

Funk will play yet again with the Jersey Shore Warriors on the AAU circuit this year, staying with the program he’s played with for each of the last few offseasons.

He got a taste of the 17U circuit last summer, playing up for several tournaments, but now he’ll be one of the featured players on the program’s oldest squad full-time.

“It’s a whole different game,” he said. “It’s like JV to varsity, stronger guys, taller guys, it’s only going to get me ready for college.”

At the Donofrio Classic, Funk is part of a Central Pennsylvania “dream team” that includes the top three juniors from District 3 along with Reading’s Lonnie Walker and Spring Grove’s Eli Brooks. Brooks--a 6-1 point guard with 10 Division I offers, including Drexel, Penn and George Mason--and Funk play together with the Warriors, but it was their first team teaming with Walker, a 6-5 wing with Villanova, Oregon, Indiana and Stanford (among others) on his trail.

The three collaborated on several plays in Raw Sports’ big win, as both Brooks and Walker found Funk for buckets while his rebounds led to some outlet layups for the pair of guards. If they play at a high level over the next two weeks, they could very well beat some talented Philadelphia squads for the Donofrio title.

“It’d be a dream to get us all on the same high school team, but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Funk laughed.

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Mancuso bulking up for Scranton

This time last year, Bridgewater-Raritan forward Matthew Mancuso was still deciding on whether or not he wanted to go to college in the fall of 2016 like the rest of his graduating class or take a prep year. After all, he’s young for his grade, not turning 17 until the start of his senior year, and at 6-foot-7 had an intriguing upside.

But after thinking it over, he decided that he wanted to go to college with the rest of his peers, in the Class of 2016. And before his senior season had even begun, he’d settled on a college, committing to D-III Scranton (Pa.) in November.

“The feel of the school and how the team acted when I came for the overnight, they really accepted me and I just loved the way they play,” Mancuso said.  

To get ready for the college game, he’s trying to pack on as much weight as he can over the summer. He’s already bulked up from 195 pounds to 210 just in the few weeks since the season has ended, and isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

“I just eat whenever I’m hungry,” he said. “I take pre-workout and have milkshakes with protein after I work out, and I work out everyday, I lift every day, no breaks.”

The hard work Mancuso has put in has paid off, and he led his team in scoring tonight against the Yellow Jackets. His 18 points come on a pair of 3-pointers but also a few nifty post moves, including a smooth left hook that he utilized on more than one occasion.

In addition to his expanded offensive repertoire, his changes in the weight room have helped him in other ways as well.

“I usually have to guard the bigger players, so when I’m guarding them I can handle it more often, and for rebounds,” he said. “And when I jump, I jump higher.”

Before he gets to Scranton to help a Royals program that went 19-8 and reached the NCAA Tournament for the third season in a row and fifth time since 2011, Mancuso wants to continue to make himself a mismatch problem to defend in the Landmark Conference and beyond.

“Just trying to expand my 3-point range so players will come out and I can blow by them, but also my lefty hook, as you saw,” he said.

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Quick Hits

-- Harrisburg senior Anthony Johnson made his college commitment back on March 11, going the junior college route to Central Florida. The 6-8, 235-pound forward, who had a list of Division I schools on him during his senior year--he named Penn State, Pittsburgh, Towson, Rider and Wagner among others--is hoping to transform his game over two years in the Sunshine State. “It’s the best spot for me, a second chance so I can get my body right mentally and physically,” he said. “(Work on) my handles, my jump shot, just trying to work myself to be a guard.”

-- Impressive second half from York senior Kris Johnson in Keystone Red’s win to open the night. The 6-5 wing, who usually was in the frontcourt for his high school squad, projects as a guard at the next level and showed why he could be a quite a steal for a college program. At the moment, Johnson said he’s likely to end up at a junior college; Harcum head coach Drew Kelly and an assistant were at the event for Johnson, and that was the only program that he mentioned by name. But don’t expect a decision soon, as Johnson said he plans on playing AAU ball this spring as he keeps his options open.