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HG Pitt Jam Fest Notebook (April 28-29 Pt. 2)

04/30/2017, 1:00pm EDT
By CoBL Staff

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- The April live recruiting periods hit the Steel City this weekend, as the Hoop Group’s Pitt Jam Fest took place at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center overlooking the magnificent Allegheny River.

Here’s part two of a notebook from Friday night and Saturday’s action:

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Caleb Matthews (above) led Smyrna to the Delaware state championship this past season. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

State champion Matthews focused on D-I scholarship

After winning a state title with Smyrna (Del.) last month, Caleb Matthews described this past season with some rather hyperbolic words.

“It’s probably been the best year of my life, honestly,” he said. “This high school season was so much fun. Right after, I was looking forward to AAU with (Team Final Black).”

He felt his game reached another level this year, after he was named a team captain by Smyrna coach Andrew Mears. The coach sat the player down, stressing the importance of good communication as a vital factor in good leadership, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

“It’s something I really worked on. I’ve been quiet for a really long time,” Matthews said. “My high school coach this year made me the captain and made me speak up more. I think it’s helped me a lot as a player.”

Matthews is the son of former Indiana State player and overseas pro Jason Matthews, who has been a guiding force throughout his career. The 6-foot-3 rising senior noted that his father has helped him through the good times as well as the rougher patches of his career.

“Just anything that [I] need, I just ask him for advice, because obviously he’s been through so many things, playing basketball for so long, playing at one of highest levels you can play. He knows what he’s talking about, you can always lean on him advice.

Caleb, like many legacy players, has a high hoops IQ to go along with a solid shooting stroke and size. He finished with 10 points for Team Final Black in their win over Early Risers on Saturday, occasionally handling the ball as the lead guard.

Though he has yet to pick up any offers, he has received interest from three Division I schools in Lafayette, Brown and NJIT. He is hoping at least a couple of them extend an offer at some point in the near future.

“I would like to have my choice of a couple of schools at the end of my senior year, and know where I want to go. and go up there and have a great four years of college.”

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Malvern Prep’s impressive youngster keeps it going

The first few games of the 2016-17 high school season, Kieves “Deuce” Turner admitted, were quite the learning experience. That’s to be expected with four freshmen playing big minutes for Malvern Prep, which only had two seniors in the rotation and relied heavily on a strong underclassman contingent.

But after starting off the season 2-6, losing to several powerful Catholic League programs, Turner and the Friars started to figure it out, finishing 10-13 overall, including a respectable 5-5 in league play.

Turner certainly shone the brightest of all the Malvern Prep youngsters, leading the Friars in scoring at 19.3 ppg, good enough for third in the Inter-Ac behind the GA pairing of Evan-Eric Longino and Kyle McCloskey. His high-water mark was a 38-point effort against St. Joe’s Prep in a non-league game; he also hit the 30-point mark in two league games, and 20-pus in two others.

“It was a big jump,” Turner said of the change from middle school to varsity. “Early in the season I got off to a rough start, but we figured out how to play with each other.”

To prepare for his sophomore season, Turner said he’s been working heavily on his outside shot, though his weakness is far from an Achillies’ heel; he’s got the ability to pop out and knock down a shot, though he’s undoubtedly at his best attacking the rim, especially in transition.

“Technique-wise, footwork, I need to get better,” he said. “There were some mess-ups during the season, and then my mentality is I want to get stronger.”

For the fourth summer in a row, Turner is playing with the Rip City AAU program, the Coatesville-based group of freshmen that’s been turning heads with their strong play coming up through middle school and now showing why on the 15U circuit.

Along with Turner and fellow Malvern Prep guard Rahdir Hicks, Coatesville’s Jhamir Brickus and DaPree Bryant plus Downingtown East big man Andrew King, Rip City made a run to the semifinals of the Pitt Jam Fest before finally bowing out to Team Takeover’s 15s.

It’s not a team that’s yet on the Division I radar, but as the group continues to progress, they’ll certainly get schools reaching out for the above five and more.

“It’s great, on and off the court,” Turner said. “We know each other, know each other’s games, know what each other like. It’s pretty easy, we play together all the time outside, too.”

Quick Hits

-- Already an April stock-riser, Andrew Funk (2018/Archbishop Wood, Pa.) has continued his recent stellar play so far this weekend. In recent weeks, the 6-foot-4 guard has added offers from Bucknell, Boston University, Delaware, and Drexel, and continues to trend towards firm mid-major territory. Right now he says he’s still more comfortable playing off the ball, but with continued development of his handle, there’s no reason he can’t play at least a chunk of his minutes at the next level as a lead guard.

Funk also spoke on two visits he took this past week, to Princeton and Drexel:

Drexel: “I was really impressed. They’ve got really nice facilities. [Head] coach [Zach] Spiker recruited my brother [former Wood guard Tom Funk] at Army so we know him real well, so I was really impressed there.”

Princeton: “Princeton is beautiful. They had an unreal season this year so I was really impressed with them too. I’ve talked to [assistant] coach [Brett] MacConnell and then I talked to [head] coach [Mitch] Henderson this week a little bit and they’re really nice guys, so I think it’s good that they’re interested in me and they’ve got a great program.

-- One of the highest-upside players in the entire event is 7-footer Naheem McLeod (2019/Plymouth-Whitemarsh, Pa.). Playing with PYO’s 17U group, McLeod is still very raw, but is continuing to show more sign of the player he could eventually become. Despite fighting through some growing pains that hindered his mobility -- believe it or not he might have another inch or two left in him -- the developing young post showed strong defensive instincts to deter shots at the rim and looks more comfortable with the ball in his hands down low in spite of his limited experience. No offers yet, but he mentioned Villanova, Virginia, Miami, and UMass as schools that have expressed interest; he attended multiple Villanova games as a guest of the program this past season.

-- Another highly touted player to play in Pittsburgh this weekend, Team Final point guard Lynn Greer III (2020/Roman Catholic) looked like he was fully recovered from the leg injury he sustained midway through the high school season. Greer made several nice moves in each of his teams, and had one sequence where he crossed his defender up and threw a perfect behind-the-back pass to Collier. He noted he has received interest from Louisville, UConn and Miami as schools that have shown interest recently; Penn State offered during the season.

-- Greer’s teammate, Team Final big man Noah Collier (2020/Westtown School) was also impressive, showcasing the athleticism that has catapulted him into one of the top bigs in the region. The 6-6 wing ran the floor in transition well, and in one instance blocked a shot, then dunked the ball on the other end. Collier already landed a St. Joe’s offer two weeks ago, and has been in contact with the staffs at Temple, Villanova and UConn.

-- Sherron Schifino (2018/Penn Hills) continued his strong play from the high school season into the live periods. The nephew of former West Virginia star Drew Schifino, Schifino led BSA Select in scoring on Saturday, notching 14 points in the victory over the NJ Roadrunners. Schifino has heard from PSAC schools Clarion and Mercyhurst in regards to continuing his basketball career.


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