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Mid-Atlantic Indep. Shootout: Day One Recruiting Notebook (Pt. 1) (June 24, 2022)

06/25/2022, 1:30am EDT
By Josh Verlin

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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PRINCETON, N.J. — The Mid-Atlantic Independent School Shootout brought 28 teams to the Hun School this weekend for the second of two high school live periods, three days of hoops with Division I coaches able to join their small-college brethren to evaluate prospects for the second weekend in a row. Games began at 12 PM and ran until the evening, with some of the top teams and prospects in the Northeast taking part.

Here’s a recruiting notebook featuring some of Friday’s participants; click here for the other half of Friday's recruiting coverage:

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Thomas Haugh (2023 | Perkiomen School)

It’s been a good spring to be Tommy Haugh. 


Thomas Haugh (above) sounds like he's closing in on a college choice. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

The bouncy 6-foot-9 (and an extra half-inch) forward has been one of the hottest names on the recruiting landscape while playing with WeR1, with eight new offers since April, including some major names. Maryland, Seton Hall, Virginia Tech, Northwestern and Illinois are just some of the programs who have extended scholarships in the last couple months, a rush that’s stunned the central Pennsylvania native, who just finished up his second year at Perkiomen. 

“It’s been great, it’s been awesome so far,” he said of his offseason. “I’m just taking it all in, my family and I.”

When Haugh hasn’t been playing with WeR1 or Perkiomen, he’s been busy figuring out his college plans, including several visits. So far, he’s only taken one official visit, to Northwestern this week, getting back just in time for the weekend.

“I loved Northwestern,” he said. “It was right next to Lake Michigan, I think, and it was beautiful. It was a great campus.”

Previously, he visited Maryland unofficially, one of several schools in the DMV area he’s seen on a day trip, including Richmond and Towson. But the Terps, including new head coach Kevin Williard, seemed to make quite an impression.

“It was awesome, it was a great visit,” he said. “They showed me around and stuff, they’re kind of new too so they’re trying to get a feel for the campus, too; it was cool though. Great staff, great teammates there.”

Up next is a trip to Florida, which is one of several high-major programs that have been tracking Haugh but have yet to offer; Pittsburgh is another one on that list. 

Haugh showed plenty of why he’s been blowing up this spring with a 16-point, seven-rebound, three-assist effort against Germantown Friends on Friday, hitting one 3-pointer and a mid-range jumper while finishing with ease around the rim. The 3-point ability is something he’s been working on, as well as his handle as he turns himself into a true stretch-four. 

Picking the right program to help him complete that journey is a key step of the process.

“I’m just looking for a great coaching staff, a coaching staff that I know will support me and be there,” he said. “A school that will take me in and also give me opportunities to showcase my talents and try to go out there and play.”

Though there’s still the two five-day July live periods with WeR1 yet to play, it doesn’t sound like Haugh’s college decision is one he’ll be weighing much longer.

“I’m trying to hopefully be committed soon. Maybe a week, or next week,” he said. “I just feel like I’m ready, I feel like I’m ready to pick a school and just follow that, and just train (the rest of) the offseason.”

Haugh said that when it comes to his timetable of enrolling in college, the former member of the Class of 2022 isn’t ruling out an early enrollment, but said at the moment he’s still planning on playing out his full 2022-23 season with Perkiomen.

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Cameron Wallace (above) had 27 points on 10 shots on Friday night. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Cameron Wallace (2025 | Westtown School)

There might be a time in the future where Wallace can look back at what he did Friday as another significant step in his development, the time where he started making the transition from “promising young local player” to “known quantity amongst high-major Division I coaches.” 

Coming off a strong freshman year at Great Valley, he’s now with Westtown, where he’ll be a major building block for Seth Berger at a private school program that’s become one of the best in the country over Berger’s tenure. No longer the bright young freshman, he’s just another piece for the Moose, whose program has been described as ‘pro-like’ in its players’ approach and lifestyle. 

“It’s pretty good, it’s a lot [that’s] changing,” Wallace said. “A lot different playing style, different style of ball, faster pace and bigger guys. So I’m just trying to adapt to that, week in and week out.”

The 6-4 wing was named to the Ches-Mont all-league first team after his freshman year, where he became the most promising Patriots ballplayer since Mikal Bridges last played at GV. He was averaging 23 ppg when CoBL checked in on him early in the season, and his scoring didn’t change much from that point onwards, he and friend/K-Low teammate KJ Cochran two bright spots in the Ches-Mont.

“I had a lot of confidence in myself,” he said. “But I didn’t think I was going to be first team and stuff like that, so I was very happy, I was very proud of myself.”

At Westtown, he’s going to be pushed by Berger and staff to turn into a high-major shooting guard, with two full years to work on his skills until it’s his 17U summer and his true turn to shine. On a Westtown squad loaded with underclassmen, he already looks like one of their better players, but a baby face and lanky frame scream a ton of upside remaining. 

“I’ve just got to work on my shooting, be more confident in my mechanics, and more confidence, just shoot it, don’t worry about it,” he said. “And my endurance, I’ve got to work on my endurance a little bit, in the game I asked to sub out, I shouldn’t have asked, I should have kept going, help my teammates.”

He shot it terrifically on Friday, going 8-for-10 from the floor en route to a 27-point outing, certainly catching the eyes of the two dozen or so Division I college coaches watching that particular game. 

The attention from college coaches has already begun. Though as a rising sophomore in high school, Wallace isn’t allowed to hear directly from Division I coaches for another year, he said that his coaches have told him that Virginia, Villanova and Mississippi State’s staffs have already reached out about him, proof he’s on their radars. 

“That feels good,” he said. “I’m just waiting for the first offer, and I’ll be very proud of myself.”


Kai Shinholster (above) picked up his first two offers this spring. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

— Kai Shinholster (2025 | Penn Charter) got quite a surprise in May when he got a call from his K-Low Elite 15U coach, Chris Harris. Harris told the rising sophomore that he’d just gotten off the phone with Hofstra, who were extending him a scholarship. Two weeks later, Robert Morris followed.

“(Harris) gave me a few hints, maybe, that i might be getting one soon, but I had no clue when he called me,” Shinholster said. “I was really shocked when I first got that call [with the offer]. But it felt really good hearing it.”

Shinholster, the younger brother of Penn Charter rising senior Trey Shinholster, was in the middle of an AAU tournament in New Jersey at the time, and immediately felt a boost to his game. The 6-4 guard, who started all freshman year but often deferred to his older brother and a deep 2023 class, is starting to come into his own much more as the offseason continues. He caught the attention of even more coaches in hitting three 3-pointers during a solid all-around game against Lawrenceville Prep on Friday afternoon.

“(The offers) really made me more confident, a lot,” he said. “I became a lot more aggressive, even from the first two games of that tournament that I got my [first] offer, and the two last games, they were a lot different; I could tell I played with a lot more confidence and aggression.”

We’d seen Ian Imegwu (2023 | Blair Academy, N.J.) last year when he was playing with Team Final, but he was far from a featured piece on that squad, and often had to do typical ‘big man’ things like rebounding to stay on the floor. But the 6-9, 230-pound forward/center, who’s going into his third year at Blair, showed he’s got a lot more to his game on Friday, stepping out for a smooth pair of 3-pointers as part of a 13-point outing in a win over Penn Charter, and just generally looking much more active, involved and multi-dimensional than he had in previous viewings.

“I consider myself to be pretty versatile,” he said. “My shooting is something that I’ve considered pretty solid, so I want to be able to go inside and play outside more.”

Imegwu is clearly a college basketball player, and one with a strong academic profile that’ll factor into his decision, but at what level is still yet to be determined. He said he’s hearing regularly from Yale and Princeton, while also talking to several high-academic Division III programs.

“I’m open to really anything,” he said. “Definitely put my academics first, and then basketball second, but I definitely want to find a good balance between the two.”

Cyril Martynov (2023 | Lawrenceville Prep, N.J.) came down to the United States last year from Canada to see what it could do for his game, and now a year later he’s on the fringe of going high-major. The 6-11, 230-pound center has a strong body and well-rounded game, with the ability to face up out to the 3-point arc and defend multiple positions, and has a mature game that still leaves good room for upside. 

At the moment, Martynov claims offers from Fairfield and Florida Gulf Coast, but bigger schools are sniffing around. He said he’s been hearing from NC State, Arizona State, SMU, Richmond and UC-Santa Barbara after last weekend, and was hoping to draw the attention of even more this weekend. Though he played with Team Final in the spring, Martynov said he’s still considering several options for who he’ll be with in July. He’s also planning on taking visits, but wants to see who offers first. 

When it comes to his college pick, Martynov said it’ll be based on “mainly the coach; location’s kind of a secondary one, so players, atmosphere on campus, stuff like that, everything I look forward to.”

— Spoke to Bobby Rosenberger (2023 | Perkiomen School) after the first set of the day, where he named mostly high-academic Division III interest, including Ursinus, Franklin & Marshall and Springfield (Mass.), though he also said there was some Ivy interest as well as some from West Point. But by the end of the day he’d picked up something else entirely, a Division II offer from West Chester, his first scholarship. Makes sense after the 6-5 wing scored 16 points, including making a pair of 3-pointers, with six rebounds, four assists and three steals as Perkiomen downed GFS in the event opener. 

Hampton Sanders (2023 | Lawrenceville Prep, N.J.) showed he’s a strong floor general with a 15-point, eight-assist, three-steal, three-rebound outing in a win over Malvern Prep. The solid-bodied guard is hearing from schools at all three levels: Princeton, Penn and Cornell, plus D-II East Stroudsburg and D-IIIs like Bard, Amherst and Swarthmore.


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