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Donofrio Classic Report: Weds., April 12

04/12/2017, 11:30pm EDT
By Josh Verlin & Tyler Sandora

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Tyler Sandora (@Tyler_Sandora)
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CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. -- Here’s a recap of Wednesday night’s Donofrio Classic action, the first night of the 57th annual event’s quarterfinal round:

Game One: A battle between two of the area’s premier AAU programs turned out to be the game of the tournament so far, as Team Philly and WeR1 traded shots and leads for 40 minutes in a game that ended with Team Philly on top, 102-97. Archbishop Ryan senior Izaiah Brockington led Team Philly with 23 points, including several big buckets down the stretch; Imhotep Charter senior Daron Russell (20), Doane Academy junior Damon Wall (10) and Archbishop Wood junior Seth Pinkney (10) also hit double figures for the victors. WeR1 was paced by standout sophomore guard Isaiah Wong (Notre Dame, N.J.) with 25, followed by Bonner-Prendergast junior big man Ajiri Johnson (15 points), Abington sophomore Eric Dixon (14) and St. John Neumann senior/Delaware commit Kevin Anderson (10).

Game Two: Another hard fought battle since the tip, Don-Len and Team Hardnett were tight throughout the entire matchup. Don-Len took advantage of the short-handed Hardnett rotation, pulling away 114-110. Neshaminy junior guard Chris Arcidiacono led the way with 31 points. Connor Delaney, a senior at the Episcopal Academy, poured in 30 points, and Archbishop Carroll senior Khari Williams had 17. For Hardnett, who only had five players, Chichester junior Daquan Grandberry poured in 38 points. Chester senior Jordan Camper added 26 in the loss.

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Izaiah Brockington (above) announced his decision to de-commit from NJIT earlier this week. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Ryan’s Brockington re-opens, planning on prep year
Izaiah Brockington wasn’t sure whether or not his Donofrio teammate Bernard Lightsey was going to throw him a lob or a bounce pass for a dunk as they got out onto the fast break.

He ended up receiving the latter, but it didn’t seem to matter as the 6-foot-4 southpaw rose up and posterized a defender.

“I thought either way I was dunking on this guy,” he said. “I didn’t even see the guy coming for the chase down, but I got up and dunked it and he fell then everybody went crazy.”

The Archbishop Ryan senior made local headlines on Monday, requesting a release from his letter of intent from NJIT. He also announced that we will be doing a prep year next season and reclassifying from 2017 to 2018. He will continue playing this summer with the K-Low Elite 17U squad, on the Adidas Gauntlet circuit with the program formerly known as Team Philly.

“I was pressured by my parents and other people [to commit initially],” he said. “I just wasn’t happy there. It wasn’t personal, I just had to make a business decision.”

Because he hasn’t been granted his release yet, college coaches are not able to contact Brockington just yet. Once NJIT releases him, expect numerous Division I schools to offer him an opportunity to play at their school.

While he is still undecided where he will attend prep school, he knows he still needs to improve on certain aspects of his game before he hits the college ranks.

“I want to develop my IQ by playing, work on my shot form and my jump shot,” he said. “I need to continue to play hard and play defense. I have some more maturing and developing to do.”

Brockington starred for Archbishop Ryan the past four seasons, scoring 1,292 points during his career, and leading the Raiders to back-to-back appearances in the Catholic League final four and their first ever PIAA state playoff appearance during his senior year.

In addition to playing in an event that caters to his playing style, Brockington, an athletic left-handed wing with a scorer’s touch and freakish athleticism, gets the unique opportunity of playing alongside some players he doesn’t get to see during the season, such as the Imhotep Charter trio of Lightsey plus Daron Russell and Koby Thomas.

“I really like this kind of atmosphere, it’s kind of free, you can play your game,” Brockington said. “It’s good playing with these Public League guys because the you look around Philly and there is just so much talent. It’s fun to play with athletes like that and high caliber guys.”

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Ajiri Johnson (above) picked up five D-I offers during his junior season at Bonner-Prendergast. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Bonner forward starting to pile up offers
It took the whole of Ajiri Johnson’s junior season at Bonner-Prendergast for the Division I coaches to start coming around -- but once they did, it’s been more than just one or two.

In the last few minutes, the 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward has picked up five scholarship offers; Rider, Drexel, NJIT, Coppin State and most recently Lafayette, which offered at the end of March.

“It feels good but I’ve got to keep working hard in order to get to the next level, I don’t think I’m ready for the next level yet,” he said. “Between now and the last year of high school, I need to get ready for college.”

Johnson certainly made a big impact in his first year at Bonner, where his presence in the post was a big reason the Friars increased their overall and league win totals by three apiece, going 16-9 (7-6) in the always-tough Philadelphia Catholic League.

It was an arrival a year delayed -- Johnson had intended on going to Bonner in 2014-15 after spending his freshman year in Florida, but some issues with his visa led to his sophomore year playing out at Putnam Science Academy (Conn.).

He got things straightened out last year and blossomed in his first year at Bonner, leading the team with a 13.4 ppg average, earning First Team All-PCL honors. It certainly benefitted him to go up against several high-level Division I prospects, including Neumann-Goretti’s Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, Archbishop Wood’s Seth Pinkney and St. Joseph’s Prep’s Ed Croswell, among others.

“Coming into the Catholic League I already knew what I was facing, but I didn’t really know the whole detail about it until I went head-to-head with all of them,” he said. “It was a great experience and I feel like I learned a lot from them, but I’ve got to keep working hard and getting better.”

This summer, Johnson will be trying to add a bit of a face-up element to his game, which is currently most centered around his ability to run the floor, block shots and grab anything that comes off the rim -- traits he all showed in scoring 16 points and grabbing a likely double-double’s worth of rebounds in addition to three blocks.

“Post moves, I’ve got that down to a science,” he said, “but my 15-foot jumper, that’ll open a lot of opportunities for me down low.”

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Isaiah Wong (above) is hearing from several high-major programs as he prepares to hit the 17U circuit. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Quick Hits
-- It was at the Fellowship House a year ago that the Philadelphia area got its introduction to Isaiah Wong (2019/Notre Dame, N.J.), as the talented youngster lit up his Donofrio opponents on several occasions as WeR1 made a semifinal run. “I got smarter from last year to this year,” he said. “Making smarter plays, not making any turnovers, trying to score for the team and make the team win but today I didn’t make that happen.” While last year he still was very much in the beginning stages of college recruitment, he’s now collected offers from Monmouth, Temple, St. Joe’s and Rutgers but is hearing from a list of high-majors, including Syracuse, Villanova, Arizona, Oregon, Ohio State, Seton Hall and more. When he gets out on the 17U circuit with WeR1 in a week, expect many more to jump on board.

-- A hard season of development has Andrew Sims (2018/Lenape) feeling ready for the AAU season, as he’s excited to show D-I coaches the progress he’s made over the winter. And it’s quite a bit: formerly more of a stretch-4, he’s gotten his handle up to the point where he’s a true ‘3’ at 6-6 and 200 pounds. “It feels a lot better from last year, it’s something I can do now,” he said of his ability to put the ball on the floor. “I’m used to it and I just try to do whatever I can on the court.” So far, he doesn’t have any offers, but claims interest from Colgate, Penn, Columbia, Princeton, Rider, “other Ivy/Patriot schools” and La Salle: “I want to go somewhere where I’ll play, if it has somewhere with good academics, that’s a plus,” he said. “Just want to get where I can and get a good job if basketball doesn’t work out.”

-- Jesse Saul (2017/Bishop Eustace) is down to a pair of Division III schools; either Cabrini or Catholic University will get the services of the hard-working 6-3 wing, down from a group that also included fellow D-IIIs York, William Paterson and Widener. He said a decision is likely coming within a week, and mentioned that he’s leaning towards Catholic. During his senior year, Saul helped Eustace into the Non-Public ‘A’ semifinals, where they lost to St. Augustine Prep.

-- D-Is North Carolina A&T and Delaware State and D-II Lincoln (Pa.) are the schools Jordan Camper (2017/Chester) will be choosing between when he makes his college decision. A main priority for the 6-foot-8 athletic big man is a good education; he’s looking for a school that can provide him with a degree in health science. In addition to academics, Camper said he hopes he can build on to his skillset which already includes explosiveness around the rim, both on offense and defense.


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