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Philly Live I: Day Three Recruiting Notebook (June 20)

06/20/2021, 11:00pm EDT
By Josh Verlin & Kayla Yoegel

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Kayla Yoegel (@kyoegel)

The first weekend of the 2021 June high school live periods wrapped up on Sunday, with the local event — Philly Live — concluding in a flurry of seven sets of basketball at St. Joe’s Prep. 

Here are some recruiting news and notes about several visiting Division I prospects we hadn’t yet caught up with this weekend: 


Jadin Collins (above) picked up his first few offers in the last week after shining in his new role with Rutgers Prep. (Photo: Mark JordanCoBL)

Jadin Collins (2023 | Rutgers Prep, N.J.) 

Collins, a 6-0 junior guard who joined the Rutgers Prep program after transferring from Roselle Catholic last season, showcased his quickness and athleticism in a tough loss to Neumann-Goretti at Philly Prep Live on Sunday. While Collins is a newcomer to the Argonauts and the group fell in the matchup, Collins said how much he enjoys his new coaching staff and playing with his new teammates. 

“Been working with my team and the chemistry was there from the gate, so it’s been great actually,” Collins said. “(The connection) was instant. My teammates Jordan Atkins, Ryan Pettit, Cam Piggeé, and the coaches and everyone else, they all just welcomed me with open arms, so it’s been great.”

Collins currently has offers from Rider, Radford, and most recently, La Salle. Among the recent offers he has, Collins said that he also has interest from a couple of other schools, including Temple and NJIT, along with a few others.

Although only a junior, Collins is looking forward to taking some unofficial visits this summer and when asked about significant factors he will consider when making his decision, he mentioned a great balance between academics and basketball that reminds him of his time at Rutgers Prep.

“Obviously I want a good education, I want to go to a school that gives me a good education,” Collins said. “But basketball-wise, I want to be able to be with a team that is kinda like Rutgers Prep, they gave me a chance and they allowed me to play freely, but also I’m still getting taught by the coach at the same time.”

Collins is excited about the recent offers and attention that he has received and attributes his switch to Rutgers Prep for allowing him to play his style of basketball. He was previously at Roselle Catholic (N.J.), stuck behind the high-level backcourt of UConn commit Corey Floyd and high-level 2023 guard Simeon Wilcher, but no longer has to worry about when it’ll be his turn to shine.

Since Collins is able to better showcase his skillset, he said that he thinks that is what helped result in his first few scholarship offers.

“It feels good because I feel like I got a chance with this team and I’m able to play fluidly, freely, and it’s been great,” he said. “All the work I’ve put in has been showing.”

In the meantime, Collins is excited about the coming offseason with his Rutger Prep teammates as they continue to build that strong connection he mentioned earlier. As an individual, Collins is focusing on increasing his range to help him shoot the ball from distance better as well as his ball handling. 

While the new offers for Collins are intriguing, he knows that since the offers are now coming, he sees that his hard work and dedication are paying off. As for his goals for the rest of the summer, Collins said he’ll “keep working hard and keep getting offers, because if I’m getting offers, that means I’m doing something right.”

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(More Coverage: Day 2 Notebook | Day 2 Standouts | Day 1 Notebook | Day 1 Standouts)

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Fray Nguimbi (above) has a long list of high-major programs on his trail. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Fray Nguimbi (2022 | First Love Christian Academy, Pa.)

Nguimbi is one of the most intriguing prospects in the class of 2022. Combine his 6-foot-8, 195-pound frame with his 7-2 wingspan, add in a good dose of talent, and there is a player who is sure to make an impact on a high-level Division I program. 

In a back-and-forth loss to Camden on Sunday, Nguimbi’s unique skill set was on full display. He showcased his ability to score multiple ways, handle the ball, rebound, and defend at any position. Nguimbi is the kind of prospect that is hard to come by, and that’s a reason why he has so many college coaches knocking on his door.

Nguimbi, who hails from Brazzaville, Congo, currently has offers from a variety of programs across the country. A few included in that list are Dayton, Alabama, Rutgers, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Iowa State, Pittsburgh, and South Florida. Yet, he also mentioned a few schools that have remained in close contact with him throughout the process, such as Missouri, Memphis, and Clemson, who just reached out to him this weekend.

In regards to visits, Nguimbi is unsure of any plans yet but did mention a few schools in which he is excited to get out and see. 

“I wanna go visit Pittsburgh, but I don’t know yet,” he said. “Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Clemson, they just reached out to me.”

Out of the numerous schools that Nguimbi has offers from and remains in contact with, he did not mention anything too specific when considering factors to help make his decision. However, a strong selling point for him will be the connection with the coaching staff.

During the offseason and live period, Nguimbi will be playing AAU ball with the NJ Scholars Elite program on the Nike EYBL circuit. Although he has a variety of offers, playing on the highly-regarded EYBL can also be beneficial for Nguimbi and provide him with even more exposure to coaches across the country. Then, in terms of specific parts of his game that Nguimbi will also be working on improving his answer was straightforward as he said “my shot and my handle.” — Kayla Yoegel 

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Centerville (Ohio)'s Tom House (above) and the Elk had a strong weekend in Philadelphia. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Tom House (2022 | Centerville, Ohio)

It was an impressive weekend for one of the top teams in the Buckeye State, as the defending Ohio Division I (big school) state champions came out and did more than hold their own against some of the best around. The Elks closed out their weekend in strong fashion, taking down perennial Philly powerhouse Imhotep Charter 56-43, getting strong performances from up and down the roster. 

One of the main contributors to Centerville’s success is House, whose effort and energy on both ends helped the Elks hang with N.J. powerhouse Camden on Saturday night before the win over the Panthers on Sunday.

“That was what our coach wanted us to do, coming all the way out here — it’s an eight-hour drive, so we could play some good teams,” he said. “There’s a few teams in Ohio, probably two or three other than us, that are that level, but other than that it’s not as consistent.”

A 6-6, 190-pound wing guard, House is — like the rest of the Centerville roster — a smooth, confident 3-point shooter, with great understanding and feel for when to pull the trigger, when to shot-fake and attack and when to keep passing and moving within the flow of his team’s constantly-moving attack. But he also flashed the ability to finish through traffic even with looming shot-blockers, and he really used his energy and length to his advantage on the defensive end, getting low in his stance and making it tough for opposing guards and wings. 

It’s no surprise that, with few exceptions, it’s a group that’s been together since they were in grade school, brought up under head coach Brook Cupps’ developmental program.

“I got here in middle school, we’ve all come up through Coach Cupps’ program before high school, so we’ve been together for a while,” House said. “We won a state championship last year so we’re just trying to get better every day and get back to that point.”

House averaged more than 17 ppg for Centerville during his junior season, when the program captured its first-ever state title. Since then he’s been reeling in Division I offers: Fordham, Wright State, Robert Morris, Mercer, Oral Roberts, Miami (Ohio) and Ohio have all come on board in the last three months.

Bigger schools are sniffing around as well: House mentioned Georgia, Georgetown, Davidson, Dayton and others as having reached out in the recent past. 

“They want to watch me throughout the live period, see me in person, since they haven’t been able to see me in person for a while,” he said. “I’ve taken some visits this month and I’m taking one to Georgia at the end of the month. I went to Ohio, Oral Roberts and Wright State.”

House said he would be taking officials after the July live period but didn’t have any specific visits yet set or any schools he was guaranteed to visit. He’s looking for a program that can help him get to fulfilling his dream of playing professional basketball, so when it comes to making a final decision, he said he’s focused on “mostly just the coaches; I do have to feel comfortable on the campus, but I do just want to have a good connection with the coaches.”

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Mike Sharavmjants (2022 | Centerville, Ohio)

One more key piece of the Elks’ success this weekend came a little further than just the eight-hour drive from the Dayton area. 

Enkhiin-Od Michael Sharavamjants hails from Mongolia, the most sparsely-populated sovereign nation in the world, most well-known as the home of Genghis Khan and the steppes that make up much of its terrain. But Sharavmjants said it’s a country that’s become enamored with basketball, especially the international variant that’s gaining popularity and is now an Olympic sport.

“It’s a big sport in Mongolia, yea, It’s a really big sport,” he said. “Actually, 3-on-3, that’s the big sport.”

A 6-8, 190-pound wing, Sharavmjants is a smooth, versatile athlete, owing to those days of playing 3-on-3 where players are forced to all know how to handle, rebound, pass, shoot and finish. He did all of those things well over the course of the weekend, an intriguing mix of production and upside; there were off-balance finishes in the lane, 3-pointers, cross-court passes, and more. 

It wasn’t clear at all that he was a newcomer to the Elks, having moved from Prolific Prep (Cali.). Sharavmjants fit right in with the Centerville plan on both ends, giving them another long wing to go with house and 6-7 wing forward Rich Rolf, who combine to give opposing teams fits with the energy and size. 

“It’s (easier) to play with these guys because these guys know how to play basketball, and coach Brook helps with a lot of stuff for this team,” he said. “It’s great to play with these guys.”

Due to his time out West, Sharavmjants has a D-I scholarship offer from Eastern Washington under his belt, with Hawai’i talking to him as well, but he’s also started to hear from some Ohio schools since his arrival outside Dayton.

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More Coverage: Day 2 Notebook | Day 2 Standouts | Day 1 Notebook | Day 1 Standouts)


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