City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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GALLOWAY, N.J. -- The last week of the 2016 AAU season tipped off on Wednesday night, with the final five-day live recruiting period of the summer getting underway at 5 PM.

CoBL was at Stockton University for the opening night of the Live in A.C. tournament, checking out the 17U showcase games. Here’s a notebook from the evening’s action:

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Anthony Mack (2017/South Jersey Jazz)
Mack has been appearing on D-I radars from all over the country this month.

After hearing mainly from mid-major programs like Yale and Robert Morris heading into the month, Mack has been receiving phone calls and offers from schools including Memphis, St. Louis, Duchesne, Wyoming, St. John’s, Indiana, Northwestern, Northeastern, Gonzaga, USC and UCLA.

Mack, a 6-5 wing guard, flashed many of the skills that have been attracting these teams Wednesday night, scoring 13 points for the Jazz -- including three 3-pointers -- in a loss to the NY Ionians.

He also made several sharp full court passes resulting in layups at the other end for his teammates, and pulled down a few rebounds thanks to his jump and wingspan. Mack is listed as a shooting guard, but he guarded every position on the floor at one point from defensive switches and playing in transition.

Mack switched to the Jazz to play under head coach Tim Legler, the former La Salle sharpshooter who went on to a lengthy NBA career, in June after previously playing with the New Jersey Playaz.

“Coach Legler played my position, so I knew that I could learn a lot from him,” Mack said. “We all share the ball and it’s a great program. I’m happy that I found them.”

Mack played his first three years at Catholic Central High School in Troy, N.Y. under head coach and his father, Chuck Mack. Blair head coach Joe Mantegna met Mack when he was working out with former Blair standout and incoming Notre Dame forward Elijah Burns.

Mantegna and Mack hit it off, and Mack transferred after his junior year as a reclassified junior for the 2015-16 season.

Mack says he is looking for three specific things before making his decision.

“I want to play for a coach and staff that I’ll have a good relationship with; player development, so that they’ll help me be able to play at the next level; and winning, because I want to play for a team that will go to the NCAA tournament,” he said.

Workouts begin for Mack and the rest of his Blair teammates begin in the final week of August. Mack intends to visit with Memphis, Wyoming, and potentially Yale at the end of August and early September, but he has no visits scheduled. He plans to commit to a school before his senior season begins in October.

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Conner Delaney (2017/Jersey Shore Warriors)
A rising senior at Episcopal Academy, Delaney had already figured out what college he wanted to attend, and it wasn’t for basketball.

Villanova, where Delaney’s parents graduated from in 1991, offered him a scholarship to play lacrosse, and he accepted in September -- but de-committed last week.

“Honestly, I just couldn’t see myself not playing another basketball game once high school basketball season ends,” Delaney said. “It was my first passion when I was a young kid. I realized that [basketball] is what I want to do in college.”

It was a difficult decision for the point guard to make, as he talked about it for “long months” with his parents preceding his announcement. But he ultimately made it on his own.

“Villanova is a great school...it’s a great lacrosse program,” Delaney said. “I have so much respect for those coaches. I just like playing basketball more. After such a successful junior season, I figured I could do something with basketball.”

He hopes to use the sport to get himself into a good school where he can study either business or engineering.

“I don’t want to hold myself back by just playing basketball at some school and not get an academic fit with it, too. I’m not going to play basketball my whole life. I have to find a school that will set myself up for a good job and life,” Delaney said.

Schools that have contacted him about playing for their basketball programs include Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins, Amherst, and Swarthmore College.

As the summer season winds down, Delaney is nearly done with his AAU career with the Jersey Shore Warriors.

He still has one more high school season left with Episcopal Academy.

The Churchmen, coming off an 8-2 record in Inter-Academic play last year, will be returning five seniors this upcoming season, including three time all-Inter Ac selection Nick Alikakos, who averaged 22.7 ppg last season.

They have come in second place in the Inter-Academic League each of the last two years with Germantown Academy winning the last four league championships.

“I think we’re going to have a very good season,” Delaney said. “This is our year to do something, finally get over the hump, and over [Germantown Academy].”.

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Markquis Nowell (2018/N.J. Playaz)
A Harlem native, Nowell is just the latest in a line of guards out to prove one thing: size doesn’t matter.

At just 5-7 and 145 pounds, Nowell is often the smallest player on the court, whether he’s playing with Bishop Loughlin (N.Y.) or with the Playaz on Nike’s EYBL circuit. But he doesn’t let that bother him in the slightest.

“I’ve got to be the best guard out there because of my height,” he said. “So that’s what I’m trying to prove.”

In helping the Playaz 17s to a win over the Jersey Shore Warriors, Nowell had a game-high 22-points, knocking down four 3-pointers to show off his shooting range.

That follows up on an impressive Peach Jam, where he averaged 26.7 ppg in pool play for the Playaz 16s, including a 34-point outing against Each 1 Teach 1 (Fl.); he still managed to average 5.3 apg during that span.

So far, he has offers from George Washington, VCU, Seton Hall, Georgetown, Rutgers and Minnesota, with schools like Michigan and Villanova starting to call around.

“It’s a blessing, some of my dream schools are calling for me,” he said. “Just have to keep working.”

A muscular lead guard, he’s got a great drive-and-kick ability that squares well with the rest of the Playaz’ uptempo backcourt, and is a top-end finisher as well.

As would be expected for a player with a well-rounded skill set, he’s not focused on one specific area to get ready for his junior season.

“Just basically everything, I have to put something into everything,” he said. “I always get better when I go into the gym, there’s one thing I always have to get better at when I get in the gym.”

Nowell admitted he’s not taking his recruitment super-seriously until next summer, when like most rising seniors he’ll be playing out his final year of AAU basketball. His more-than-solid play with the 17U squad proves he’ll be ready for the main circuit of the EYBL in the spring.

“I’ve been playing up mostly my whole life so it feels the same,” he said. “You definitely have to stand out when you’re playing up, so you can get more looks. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

Nowell said he hasn’t taken any college visits yet, but wants to see Seton Hall and George Washington soon to “get the college feel.”

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Quick Hits
-- Jordan Gaitley (2017/Jersey Force) is a member of a very basketball-oriented family. His mother is the head coach at Fordham University, his father was a coach at Saint Joseph’s, and his two brothers played at Fordham and Temple University; most of his family was in attendance to see him put in a solid performance in Jersey Force’s close win against Basketball Stars of America. Gaitley likes attacking the basket, but can also be too unselfish for his coach’s liking. The guard/forward has garnered interest from New York University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Amherst, Williams, Gettysburg, and Muhlenberg.

-- Sherron Schifino (2017/BSA) showed off his shooting abilities with four first-half 3-pointers en route to a 20-point game in a loss to Jersey Force. The Penn Hills (Pa.) rising senior, a 6-3 guard, is hoping to secure his first scholarship at either a D-I or D-II school; so far, he’s been hearing from several PSAC programs, including Clarion and Shippensburg.

-- Great game from Kahssian Kay (2017/Positive Direction) in an overtime win over JB Hoops. The Martin Luther King rising senior went off for 18 points and had his hand in a number of steals and quite a few assists to boot, making his presence felt on both ends of the court.