City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Tajh Jenkins (@Tajh_Jenkins)
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VOORHEES, N.J. -- The third-annual CoBL/Nexxt Level Sports Shootout wrapped up on Sunday with 16 teams -- half from Pennsylvania, half from New Jersey -- taking to the courts at the Nexxt Level Coliseum.

Here are our picks for standouts from the eight sets of action on Sunday:

Jon Azoroh (2017/Ewing, N.J.)
On a team filled with lanky athletes, Azoroh is both the lankiest and the most athletic. A 6-foot-4, 170-pound wing guard, he’s an intriguing perimeter prospect who looks like he’s still just scratching the surface of his potential. He’s got terrific hangtime when slashing through the lane, which enables him to draw a lot of fouls and get to the line. Defensively, he’s a real problem in passing lanes, getting hands on a number of balls and turning possessions in the opposite direction, and he’s a decent weak-side shot-blocker as well. Azoroh has talent around him where he doesn’t need to dominate games, but his abilities on both ends of the court make him stick out.

Danny Browne (2017/Bishop Shanahan, Pa.)
Browne had perhaps the best shooting run of the weekend in a tight loss to Marlboro, when he opened the game with a 22-point half by going 8-of-9 from the floor, including 6-of-7 from 3-point range. That’s something the 6-3 guard has made a name for himself doing, first at Delco Christian for two seasons and now at Shanahan; Browne is at his best from beyond the arc, either off the catch or pulling up, and he’s good at shaking off defenders to find space to get his shot off. He also got into the lane on a pair of occasions off the bounce, which is a needed development as he gets to the college level.

Matt Faw (2017/Upper Merion, Pa.)
The day’s only committed Division I player lived up to his billing. Holy Cross looks like they’ve landed a potential Patriot League Rookie of the Year in Faw, a 6-foot-8 stretch-forward who’s getting better and better as he grows into his body. Now that he’s putting some muscle onto his frame, Faw is stronger with the ball and a better athlete all-around, and he is starting to create for himself off the bounce against better defenders -- a necessary component to compliment his sharpshooting 3-point abilities. He also showed off some nifty passing abilities, including a few nice bounce passes in the open court for easy layups. If that continues, he could be playing point forward by the time he leaves Worchester, Mass.

Collin Gillespie (2017/Archbishop Wood, Pa.)
It was yet another productive all-around day for Gillispie, who plays the game with such a fearless and competitive spirit. The senior guard displayed his good-looking stroke from the perimeter off the catch-and-shoot, but it seemed as if he wanted to place an emphasis on his ability to distribute and attack the rim. Gillispie showed off solid court vision, especially in the open floor. There were numerous occasions in which he hit his teammates in stride and passed them open. He attacked his defenders with aggression and was able to score inside amongst bigger players. Defensively, he was played physically on the perimeter and used his strength to keep opposing guards from driving. He was certainly one of Archbishop’s Wood’s impact players throughout the day, and that will last the entire season.

Hakim Hart (2019/Kingsway, N.J.)
The first 10 minutes of Kingsway’s game against Downingtown West saw the Dragons jump out to a 22-6 lead on the Whippets, but even more impressive than that was the fact that Hart had scored all 22 of those points. Hart is a big-time scoring guard, and his team’s offense is tailored to get him a lot of shots, especially from the 3-point arc. He’s not afraid to pull up in transition, but he’s a much more reliable shooter off the catch, when he can get his feet set; next up for him is a one-dribble pull-up, though he has the ability to score in the mid-range when he finds himself in offensive rebound situations. A lanky athlete at 6-1 and 160 pounds, Hart has the tools to be a plus defender, with long arms and legs and good bounce at the top of Kingsway’s zone.

Seth Pinkney (2018/Archbishop Wood, Pa.)
Pinkney is coming into his own as he prepares for his junior season, and his emergence as a high-level threat in the post is turning Wood into a serious contender for the Catholic League crown. At 6-10 -- and though still needing to add as much muscle as possible to his lanky frame -- Pinkney is an imposing defensive presence in the middle, erasing and changing anything that comes at the rim. He’s becoming a much more reliable offensive threat, too, running the floor with the Viking’s guards and catching/finishing well around the hoop; he’s also not afraid to square up and shoot when left open from 10-15 feet, and he knocked down several of those jumpers today.

Nasair Powell (2017/Boys’ Latin, Pa.)
Powell is impossible to miss on the court: the 6-foot-3 guard is always sporting flashy shorts, with stars and stripes of various colors, making him easy to pick out whenever he’s on the court. And the way he’s playing lately, it’ll be hard for head coach R.J. McDaniel to keep him on the bench for any stretch of time. Powell, a slashing lefty, always had displayed the ability to attack the rim off the bounce, especially in the open court, but what’s really helping open his game up now is his ability to knock down shots. Several games in a row now, he’s hit his open 13-17 foot shots, and often is doing so while attacking, which makes him even more dangerous. Long and athletic, he’s also a good defender with effort.

Sam Sessoms (2018/Shipley School, Pa.)
The do-it-all point guard did most of the heavy lifting for his team on offense in wins over Winslow Twp. and Williamstown; although he can play on or off the ball, he makes the greatest impact as his team's primary ball-handler. Defenders had a tough time of staying in front of him all day long. He was able to get to the basket at will and finished well with either hand. He also knocked down a few triples off the bounce. Sessoms doesn't consistently beat defenders off the dribble with quickness, but he uses his body extremely well to shield off defenders. He does a great job at changing pace mid-dribble and can shake off defenders with his shiftiness. He's a tough on-ball defender and showed that he can be disruptive on the perimeter. Sessoms also did a great job of getting inside, crashing the boards and pushing the ball up the court.

Ethan Tarte (2019/Camden, N.J.)
A physical scoring guard, Tarte has a muscular frame that belies his age, with a strong physique that allows him to get wherever he wants on the court. But more than just someone who bullies his way into the lane, Tarte has a developed offensive game, hitting knockdown jumpers off the bounce going left and right. But he also didn't mind scrapping around inside, grabbing several rebounds in both games. And he's a tough defender, making it difficult for all but the quickest of opposing guards to get past him. He won't be a secret for long if he continues to improve.

Daniel Weiss (2017/Marlboro, N.J.)
Weiss had his rhythm from the minute he stepped onto the courts at Nexxt Level. His first two shot attempts in a win over Marlboro were both 3-pointers from the left wing, and both found nothing but net. That was the beginning of a good day for the 6-6 wing forward, who hit shots from all over the court as Marlboro beat both Bishop Shanahan and Boys’ Latin to go 2-0 on the day. More than just a catch-and-shoot big man, Weiss can also put the ball on the floor and get to the line, and also showed he can pull up and drain a long ‘2’ with a defender on him. An even stronger student in the classroom than he is on the court, Weiss is currently considering high-academic D-III schools including Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins and Caltech, and he’s heard from MIT as well.

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Honorable Mention: David Angelo (2018/Bishop Shanahan, Pa.), Tyler Bell (2018/Ewing, N.J.), Matt Carson (2017/Downingtown West, Pa.), Matt Cerruti (2017/Archbishop Wood, Pa.), Karron Johnson (2017/Ewing, N.J.), Dylan Kaufman (2019/Marlboro, N.J.), Zach Gelman (Wissahickon, Pa.), George Gordon (2017/Downingtown West, Pa.), James Kosyla (2017/Council Rock North, Pa.), Matt McAlister (2018/Council Rock North), Chaz Owens (2018/Wissahickon, Pa.), Zach Reiner (2018/Wissahickon, Pa.), Shayne Rechner (2017/Kingsway, N.J.), Ray Somerville (2019/Shipley School, Pa.), Myles Thompson (2018/Camden, N.J.), Daequan Williams (2017/Camden, N.J.)

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Other Thoughts
--Shipley looked much-improved today from a year ago, and while the play of Sessoms (see above) and senior guard Kiyon Hardy certainly had something to do with that, the biggest difference comes in the way Ray Somerville is playing. The 6-9, 230-pound big man, who transferred from Penncrest in the offseason in order to repeat his sophomore year, looks like he’s starting to put it together, though he’s far from a finished product. For now, his ability to run the floor hard and fight for rebounds will already pay dividends for an otherwise-undersized Gators squad, but he’s also starting to show flashes of an offensive game; in a win over Winslow Twp., he had a nifty catch-and-shoot off a screen from 8-feet, and also had several instances where he ran the floor hard in transition and was rewarded with a feed and layup. As long as his motor keeps running higher and higher, Somerville will continue to expand his game and could be in for a big season.

--Downingtown West head coach Stuart Ross and the Whippets are going to have some adjusting to do, with senior and likely starting point guard Pat Kennedy ruled out for the season with a torn ACL. Senior guard Matt Carson has been looking more and more confident with the ball in his hands of late, which will help, but Ross will need to look to one of his other guards to step up and chip in to adjust for Kennedy’s absence; senior Matt White was doing a lot of the ball-handling duties on Sunday as well.