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Elevate Hoops Summer Icebreaker: July 6 Notebook

07/07/2016, 12:00am EDT
By CoBL Staff

Chris Stewart (@CStewTU),
Varun Kumar (@VRKumar8) &

Isaac Pitkow (@IsaacPitkow)
--

Here’s a notebook from the opening night of the Elevate Hoops Summer Icebreaker, from the action at Philly U on Wednesday night:


Matt Cerruti (above, in June) and Team Final Black won their showcase game by 50 points on Wednesday night. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Matt Cerruti (2017/Team Final Black)
July 6 marked the resurgence of the live period for college basketball coaches. With Division I college coaches lining the sidelines of his games for the first time in several months, Cerruti knew he had to focus on just playing his game.

“I was nervous to start with, but after a couple plays you kind of don’t see them and just play basketball,” he said after a win over Hoopdreamz Red. “If you try to focus on playing for the coaches, I noticed it throws me off. “

Cerruti is entering his senior season with Archbishop Wood, after completing his first season with the Vikings. Cerruti transferred over from Lower Moreland High School after his sophomore season.

The Vikings will look to make a trip to the Palestra next season, returning four starters.

“It was a great experience going from the BAL to the Catholic League, it’s a whole different world,” Cerruti said. “We’re just trying to build for next year, we have a lot of expectations but we think if we play as a team we can go far.”

With dreams of playing college basketball one day, Cerruti felt that the move to Archbishop Wood would give him more exposure due to the increase of competition he would be facing.

Despite not holding any offers at the moment, Cerruti does have interest from D-I schools such as Lafayette and Yale. Cerruti also has a lot of interest from D-II schools including Ursinus, Albright, Moravian, Scranton, York, and others.

Cerruti believes he knows what the coaches are looking for him to do in order for them to extend an offer to him.

“I think they want to see me handle the ball more because I have been playing off the ball a lot,” he said. “So just handling the ball, running the team, stuff like that.”

Cerruti acknowledged how important this July is to his future in order for him to one-day grasp an offer from a school. He also understands that his future school will be more than just a basketball decision.

“Best fit and great education are what I value the most because basketball comes to an end eventually,” Cerruti said. “Get a job after that, wherever the best fit is where I can help a team.”

Darryl Morsell (2017/Team Melo)

Darryl Morsell’s recruitment might be completely wide open at the moment, but one school in particular has made a big impression on him recently.

“Dayton has stood out the most so far. Everything about my visit there was nice,” the 6-3 guard said after helping Team Melo to a win over York Ballers. “I love that I have a chance of getting good minutes as a freshman if I go there, since they only have two guards on the roster after next year.”

He also has become close with Archie Miller’s coaching staff, particularly assistant Kevin Kuwik. Morsell noted that Kuwik as been recruiting him hard and that they talk frequently-- about four or five times a week.

Still, he is still hoping to pick up some more offers during the July Live Periods and will look to cut down his list in August.

He currently holds offers from 15 other schools, including locals Temple and La Salle, as well as USC, UCF, Davidson, George Mason and Towson, among others. He has also fielded interest from Power Five schools Maryland, Virginia Tech, Pitt, West Virginia and Notre Dame.

“I want to go to a school where I know I'm comfortable, regardless if it's close to my actual home or if it's far,” he said. “It just has to feel like home. I want to have a good relationship with the coaching staff and have a good chance of getting good minutes as a freshman.”

Morsell played well as the lead guard in Team Melo’s attack playing alongside DeVondre Perry and the highly-touted Andre Rafus, finishing with 15 points in a win over York Ballers on Wednesday night. He appeared highly comfortably running the offense and had several nice assists throughout, including a transition alley-oop to Rafus.

Morsell has seen his recruiting trend upwards since the high school season ended. Originally a forward, he transitioned out to the perimeter as the summer began. Though for most players moving out to guard is typically a bumpy one, it hasn't been so for Morsell.

He gave a lot of credit to his motor and overall unselfishness on the court as to why the change has been smooth. His combination of his mental traits, big build and athleticism is a unique one, and has allowed him to develop more of an all-around game for the guard position.

“I feel like I can do a lot of different things,” he said. “I’m a big guard that can [defend] multiple positions, I can take it to the cup, and get the ball to my teammates.

~~~


Jamil Riggins Jr. (above) has a rapidly-improving skill set to go with an already impressive body for a rising sophomore. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Quick Hits
-- Philly Pride 15U put on a dominant display while playing up an age group with a 74-50 win over Legit Basketball (Ind.) 16U. Strong performance from Jamil Riggins Jr. (2019/Imhotep) who had 16 points. He showcased his all around offensive game; running the floor, throwing down some monster jams while also pulling up and hitting a few deep jumpers. Riggins also showed off his tenacity on the boards. He was relentless going after rebounds on both ends of the floor and had a good amount of his points from putbacks off the offensive glass. Philly pride guard Hakim Hart (2019/Kingsway) also had an impressive shooting display, dropping 16 points of his own with 12 of them coming from beyond the arc.

-- Jersey Force 16U notched an impressive win over Team Final Blue 16U despite a late push from the nike sponsored AAU team. Caleb Fields (2018/Wildwood Catholic) led them in scoring with an impressive statline of 18 points while hitting four 3s. Fields and his teammates settled for a lot of outside shots down the stretch, as they weren’t having much success inside due to the shot blocking ability of Mikeal Jones (2020/Girard College). Jones really made his presence felt on the defensive end, blocking three shots in the second half alone. He also really pushed the pace for Team Final down the stretch by grabbing rebounds and initiating fast breaks on his own. However, despite their efforts, Jones and his teammates never found an answer for the sharp shooting Jersey Force squad.

-- Sean Good (2018/Team Final Blue) took advantage of his lanky frame in this ball game. Good did a good job at protecting the rim on defense and at boxing out his man on missed shot attempts. Good also set some solid screens to free up space for his teammates to create something off the dribble. Good holds an offer from Penn State and has interest from Notre Dame, East Carolina, and others. If Good continues to develop his offensive game and body, expect more offers to be thrown his way.

-- John Harrar (2017/Philly Pride) was a man amongst boys for Philly Pride. The 6-9 big man did an excellent job rolling off of his hard screens to the hoop. Harrar also was great on the boards, finishing on multiple second chance opportunities. Harrar’s long arms forced tough shots for the opposition all game. Harrar currently holds no offers, but went on an unofficial visit to Colgate. Loyola is another school showing interest and Harrar also attended Rider Team Camp.


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