City of Basketball Love

By Ryan Coyle (@ryancoyle35) & Zak Wolf (@ZakWolf22)

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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The Hoop Group helped kick off the July live periods with the start of the AC Jam Fest on Wednesday. A couple hundred teams and a couple thousand players filled the 26 courts at the Atlantic City City Convention Center throughout the day in front of coaches from the Division I, II and III levels.

The CoBL staff was on hand throughout the day to take in some of the action. Here are some compelling storylines from Day 1 in AC:

(More coverage: Day One Standouts | Day One Notebook Pt. 2)

Robert Wright III (2024 | Team Final | Neumann Goretti)

After a conversation with Louisville assistants Nolan Smith and Danny Manning, Robert Wright proudly announced an offer from the Cardinals on his Twitter last week.

A few hours later, Wright checked his notifications and got a big surprise. Not only were the Louisville coaches recruiting his services, former Cardinal and current NBA All-Star Donovan Mitchell decided to give his pitch as well online, tweeting to Wright: “Might as well join us. Congrats young.”

“First I was looking at twitter and I saw the notification and I thought it was crazy,” Wright said. “I was just amazed.”

It should be no surprise even NBA all-stars are familiar with the Team Final/Neumann-Goretti guard at this point.

Wright’s recruitment continues to pick up steam as he is starting to get more recognition on the national stage. Wright was recently ranked as the No. 25 player in the country by Rivals.com, behind only three other point guards, all of whom have 5-star rankings. 

Along with Louisville, Wright picked up offers from Kansas State, Georgetown and Seton Hall in recent weeks. Those schools join an already impressive list of high-major schools like Maryland, Wake Forest, Miami and Syracuse. Kentucky and Pittsburgh have also reached out to Wright. 

Stepping into the national spotlight has been fun for Wright, but he also knows not to get ahead of himself and to stay as humble as possible. 

“It’s been a pretty good feeling, since I’m finally getting looked at on a bigger stage, but it’s not bothering me too much since I’m still going out there and playing hard,” Wright said. “It’s great to know that I have the offers and stuff, but I’m just trying to get better.”

Other than Wake Forest, which he plans to visit sometime in August, Wright doesn’t have any other visits planned yet. Louisville is one of the campuses he’s most anxious to get onto along with Kansas State, Syracuse, Miami and Maryland. 

Standing at 6-feet tall, some might say Wright is undersized, but the point guard makes up for his lack of size with his basketball IQ. 

Wright is always making the right decision and playing at his own pace, which was on full display in Team Final’s 70-36 blowout of SHA Elite. Wright only scored four points, but he knew he didn’t have to score for his team to win and dished out eight assists. 

Wright was always challenged to play against tough competition when he was younger and it’s paying its dividends.

“Just playing with older guys has helped me,” Wright said. “When I was younger, I always played up, so I’m able to see the game faster than other people and that allowed my IQ to be high.”

Even though Wright is already a good shooter from the outside, he wants to expand his range even deeper. He also wants to work on his athleticism throughout the summer as he gets ready for Peach Jam. 

Team Final’s 2024 team made it to the quarterfinals last yea, but Wright couldn’t play due to COVID. This time he wants to be there for his team when they need him most on the big stage. 

Saleem Payne (2023 | Gibbs Elite | Phelps School, Pa.)

After a standout junior season in 2020-21 for Cheltenham High School that saw Saleem Payne earn first team all-league honors for the SOL Freedom Division, Payne decided to transfer to the Phelps School and reclassify to the Class of 2023 to improve his basketball development. 

Fast forward to a year later and Payne feels like while his time at Cheltenham was key to his development, the Phelps School has allowed him to take his game to the next level.

“I think the thing I learned most from my time last year at Phelps was learning how to play the game better,” Payne said. “At Cheltenham I just played like a pure scorer. I didn’t know the game as well as I do now. I didn’t know how to cut properly, didn’t really understand spacing, I was constantly bumping into guys before.”

The reclassification has also aided Payne’s recruitment as he recently picked up his first offer from Division II Chestnut Hill. Payne also noted that he has heard from Division II East Stroudsburg and said his coaches have talked to Army, FDU, and Robert Morris on his behalf.

The 5-foot-10 guard is one of the fastest players in the Philadelphia area with the ability to get from A to B in the blink of an eye. Payne had 13 points and a handful of assists in Gibbs Elites’ 64-55 victory over SHA Elite Black on Wednesday afternoon. Payne was able to demonstrate his newfound basketball IQ and his maturation process from over the past year. Going forward, he wants to continue to increase his play as a pure point guard.

“I am trying to work on getting my teammates in the right spot so I can make more plays as a point guard,” Payne said. “I want to give them the opportunity to finish plays. I feel like my speed is able to get guys open because when I get by my defender it draws the defense. So if I can work on passing off of that to guys in the corner and underneath and on other spots of the floor to help them become better players that is a goal of mine.”

While 5-10 might be undersized for a Division I point guard, Payne wants coaching staffs to know that he doesn’t let his size limit him. His production is certainly an indication of that. He has high-level athleticism that makes up for his lack of height and possesses a unique trait of being able to hang in the air for an extended period of time to hit reverse layups and finish in traffic. With continued performances like his one today, expect some more offers to be coming in by the end of July.

“Even though I am small, I can impact the game in a lot of ways,” Payne noted. “I can guard the ball really well, I can find people for assists, I can shoot it from outside, I can score, I feel like I can do a lot for a team. I’m a dog out there and I am not going to back down from anybody.” — Ryan Coyle

Chike Ndefo (2023 | Crown Basketball I Vermont Academy, Vt.) 

Following in his brother KC’s footsteps, Chike Ndefo is ready to become a Division 1 basketball player. After an impressive showing at two of the NEPSAC showcase events in June, interest in Ndefo has started to heat up from schools.

He currently holds an offer from UMBC, recently taking an unofficial visit to the Patriot League school. He also has interest from other schools including Dartmouth, Colorado, Kent State, and Fairfield

Chike’s brother was a part of the Cinderella run from St. Peters who made it all the way to the Elite 8 this past year in the NCAA tournament. Watching his brother in the tournament made him think back to all the hard work they put in over the years and the classic 1-on-1 matches they had.

“All the time we would be outside in the backyard, and he never took it easy on me.” Chike said.

KC is now at Seton Hall, following his head coach Shaheen Holloway to the Big East. Like KC, Chike is a hard-nosed defender who doesn’t give up on any play. Chike showed off his athleticism, catching a couple of lobs thrown to him, but he really shined on the defensive end. What looked like a routine layup for his opponent turned into a highlight for Chike when he came out of nowhere to chase down the player and pin their layup to the backboard. 

Blocking shots is one of the biggest areas where Chike learned from KC.

“He taught me timing when blocking shots, and not to commit silly fouls. Blocking shots is a specialty of ours so we have to know when to jump.” 

Ndefo is trying to play more on the perimeter. He is working on creating for himself more and getting to the basket as well as becoming more comfortable with the ball in his hands. He has confidence in his shooting ability off the catch as well, which is something he feels he does better than his older brother, as well as his ability to grab rebounds on both ends. 

At the next level Ndefo sees himself as someone who can be versatile and play each of the forward positions and even the ‘5’ if need be, but with him staying at 6-7 it’s unlikely. 

Ndefo knows his brother will be with him every step of the way on his journey, but he also wants to forge his own path

“I’m confident because of him, but I also have to be confident in my own abilities and I can’t take credit for something that someone else did.” — Zak Wolf

Quick Hits

— William “Deuce” Mutts (2023 | Penn Warriors | Salesianum, Del.) has been having a strong summer with his AAU and high school teams. The 6-4 bouncy wing plays with a nonstop motor and contributes a little bit of everything for his teams. Mutts’ energy allows him to play strong on-ball defense, block shots in transition, take charges, rebound on both ends, and finish around the rim.

The rising Salesianum senior is the younger brother of Virginia Tech forward Justyn Mutts and is going to be a college player come 2023-24 in his own right. The only question is, at what level? Mutts told COBL on Wednesday afternoon he has been in contact with a lot of Division III programs recently, naming Dickinson as a school he has been in contact with, but also mentioned a few weeks ago that a few Division II and Division I programs have expressed interest. Mutts noted that he doesn’t have any visits planned, but is excited to see what happens throughout the rest of July. He is ready to bring his energy and passion to any program that he gets the opportunity to compete for.

“I think I can bring a lot of hustle to any college program,” Mutts said. “I am a big hustle guy. I feel like I am a great team player and I bring that heart and hustle to a team.”

Mutts’ energy, athleticism, and effort alone should land him into scholarship territory if he continues his strong summer and carries it into high school play.

— Coming off an impressive showing at DMV Live at Dematha High School last month, Tyler Perkins (Team Takeover I 2023 I Landon High School) accumulated 10 offers from mid-major schools. Many of the offers came from schools in the Ivy and Patriot League along with CAA schools like Brown, Cornell, Navy, Albany, UMass Lowell, Loyola Maryland, Towson, William & Mary, James Madison and American. 

“It made me play freer because you work and you try and get your first offer from anywhere,” Perkins said. “A lot of kids have goals to play at the next level and now I’m able to have options to play at the next level, so it’s definitely a relief.” 

 Perkins wants to let the rest of the live period play out before he takes any official visits, but he has taken unofficial visits to Cornell, Brown, Yale, Richmond, Loyola and Towson. He liked most of the campuses, with Cornell, Navy, Towson and Yale sticking out the most. 

It took him a while, but this summer is when he finally realized he could be a Division 1 basketball player, competing in workouts against some of the best talent in the DMV area. He often plays against players from Paul VI, as well as some college players and people who play overseas. 

“I feel like it’s one of the best atmospheres in the nation. Anywhere you go you can find someone that can get a bucket, someone who’s not scared of anyone,” Perkins said. “If you want to play in that area, you better be ready every day because if you’re not it’s going to show.”

—  Will Groot (2023 | NY Rens I Hotchkiss High School) has been focusing on extending his game to the 3-point line as he prepares to take his game to the next level. The lefty already has a solid mid-range game for a big man, using his jab step to freeze defenders before knocking down one dribble pull-ups. Groot wants to shoot the ball from beyond the arc better and become more comfortable on the perimeter after being stuck under the basket for most of his career because of his height. Groot is yet to pick up an offer, but is hearing from high-academic schools like Princeton, Emory, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, University of Chicago, Washington U among others. 

Groot’s younger sister is a high-major recruit, so they’ve been going through the process together creating a unique situation. 

“It’s awesome,” Groot said. “Usually she’s the one learning from me, but since the girl’s recruitment starts so much earlier, I’ve actually learned a ton from her.”

— Noah Pit (Jersey Force | 2023 | St. Thomas More, Conn.) is hearing from a lot of high academic schools like Columbia, MIT, and NYU, all of which he’s taken unofficial visits to. Although no offers have come yet, Pit is confident that one will eventually be on the table if he keeps working hard. The 6-7 forward showed off his ability to stretch the floor, knocking down 3 threes in Jersey Force’s 58-41 win over TNBA. Pit’s mom played basketball D1 basketball at South Carolina and attributes his touch from the outside to her.

“That’s where I got my jump shot from. It’s all from her,” Pit said