Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Ryan Coyle (@RyanCoyle35)
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CONSHOHOCKEN — The 2023 Donofrio Classic’s second round wrapped up on Tuesday night with the final two teams of the 26-team field getting to play their first games against two winners from the first-round. The victors moved on to Thursday night’s quarterfinals, with the semifinals and championship round quickly approaching
Here’s a roundup and notebook from Monday night’s competition; CLICK HERE for all of CoBL’s 2023 Donofrio Classic coverage:
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Game One: Love Basketball 113, WeR1 92
The penultimate second-round game was a slot, Love Basketball and WeR1 both pressing 94 and playing a physical style which had both teams in the bonus with more than half of the second half remaining; that resulted in a total of 56 foul shots taken. Love Basketball weathered the storm, however, its team length just too much for a guard-heavy WeR1 squad. Bahsil Laster (2024 | Academy New Church) led the way with 22 points, Nayeem Johnson (2024 | Math, Civics & Sciences) scored 21, and the interior presence of Division I commits Alassane Amadou (2023 | SCH Academy | Marquette) and Christian Kirkland (2023 | Friends’ Select | Youngstown State) was equally as important as their 20 and 14 points; on top of all of that, Deywilk Tavarez (2023 | ANC) added 14 and Rashan Locke-Hicks (2023 | MCS) 13 plus a number of impressive passes. WeR1 got 21 points, including five 3-pointers, from Isaiah Hynson (2024 | Salesianum, Del.), 18 from Marcus Edmond Jr. (2023 | Middletown), and 17 each from Kevin Rucker (2024 | Bonner-Prendergast) and Tommy Vaughn (2024 | Sanford School, Del.).
Game Two: Raw Sports 96, Hunting Park II 85
The defending Donofrio Classic champions only had a six-man roster available for their first game of the 2013 campaign, but that group was enough to get past a talented Hunting Park II squad and give the reinforcements a chance to arrive Thursday. Izaiah Pasha (2023 | Cardinal O’Hara) scored 27 points with five 3-pointers, followed by from Priest Ryan (2023 | Perkiomen School), 19 from Florida commit Thomas Haugh (2023 | Perkiomen School) and a critical 16 from Googie Seidman (2023 | Haverford High), the Catholic-bound sharpshooter hitting two clutch 3-pointers in the final two minutes after HP II pulled within a couple buckets late after trailing by double digits much of the way. Hunting Park got 20 points from Ma’Kye Taylor (2024 | Imhotep Charter), 14 from Rahmir Barno (2023 | Imhotep Charter) and 13 from Isaiah Griffin (2023 | MCS).
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Perk School’s Ryan weighing pair of D-I options
It wasn’t until after his final year of high school basketball was over that Preist Ryan finally got the opportunity to call himself a Division I recruit.
Preist Ryan (above) is weighing a pair of Division I offers. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
After helping Perkiomen School to the 2023 PAISAA championship, the Pittsburgh-area native had a few D-II scholarships in hand, but then received offers from St. Francis (Pa.) and Eastern Kentucky before the end of March, his first two at the D-I level.
“It feels good, because starting off, a lot of people didn’t think that was going to be anything that I had coming for me,” he said. “Everyone’s like ‘he’s too small at a forward position,’ and I just kept developing my game, and over the years, the last two years at Perk, it’s been really good for me and I fell in love with the process of getting better every day.”
A 6-foot-6, 200-pound wing forward, Ryan arrived at Perkiomen School last year after being at Richmond Heights (Ohio), his high school career starting at Vincentian (Pa.) before that school closed down in 2020.
He made his mark last year mostly due to his physicality in the frontcourt and his rebounding abilities, but slowly grew his offensive game to the point where he can now face up out to the 3-point arc, attack the rim and score in the mid-range, all things he did Tuesday night at Donofrio.
“Getting better at getting off the ground quicker, going to grab some rebounds, starting to knock down the 3-point shot a lot better so that helps, makes me more valuable, spacing out the floor,” he said. “I think I’m most valuable with my mismatches, I can play just about anywhere, ‘2’ through ‘5’ so it makes me tough to guard and valuable to guard other positions.”
Ryan isn’t playing grassroots ball during the April live periods, so he won’t have any more face time with Division I coaches before he makes his decision at some point this spring. It would seem likely that his decision will come between one of his two options, but he’s also open to other opportunities should something else come around.
He’s already visited St. Francis, and will be visiting Eastern Kentucky next weekend.
“I liked (St. Francis), it was a good school, the coaches were really nice, I loved the atmosphere of it,” he said. “I just want to keep my options open and keep looking until I find that exact perfect fit that I’m looking for.”
As for Eastern Kentucky, “from what the coaches have been telling me and what I’ve seen, they like to play fast-paced, get up and down, five-out (or) four-out one-in, I like the mismatches they get to and all the ‘1’ through ‘5’ shoot the ball.” — Josh Verlin
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Hynson focusing on point guard play heading into live periods
As Salesianaum rising senior Isaiah Hynson heads into the vital April live periods with his WeR1 squad, he is looking to prove to college coaches that he can be a pure point guard at the Division I level.
Isaiah Hynson (above) has been working on his point guard skills during his junior year. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
As a sophomore, Hynson shared the on-ball duties a lot with former teammate Justin Molen, but during the junior campaign he was given the keys to the car for his high school squad.
“Without Justin this year, I had a lot more responsibility both as a leader and running the offense,” the 6-3 Hynson said. “There was a bit of an adjustment needed for me because I was so used to running with Justin in the backcourt with me, but I had the ball in my hands a lot more this year and was counted on to attack the basket, make threes, and run the offense. But with it being my first year doing that, I think it was a success.”
Heading into the April live periods, Hynson currently holds one Division I offer, from Rider. He did mention he has heard from UMass, Pitt, Colorado, and Delaware, but is looking forward to having the opportunity to showcase his improved point guard play this summer.
“Being able to handle pressure and getting through presses is something I got a lot better at over the course of last season,” Hynson said. “I just want to continue to work on my handle and my ability to beat pressure because I know that is something college coaches are looking for out of guards.”
The left handed guard has a strong frame already and has shown the ability to score at all three-levels, using his strength to finish around the rim and shows consistent form and a nice arc on his jumpshot, but he noted his outside game is still a work in progress.
“I know with my size coaches are going to look at me to be a point guard at the next level, but I think with my improving point guard play and the ability I already have to score the ball I can help out a lot of teams,” he said.
The rising senior guard out of Delaware did note ideally he would like to wrap up his recruitment prior to his senior year so he can just “have fun and enjoy my last season with my guys,” but he did say he wouldn’t rush his commitment as it is all about finding the best fit that allows him to pursue his goals of playing in March Madness one day and hopefully reaching the professional ranks. — Ryan Coyle
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College right around the corner for Amadou
Alassane Amadou’s college career is coming sooner than most in his class.
Al Amadou (above) is heading off to Marquette next month. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
The Springside-Chestnut Hill senior and 6-foot-9 forward is planning on heading out to Marquette in less than six weeks, getting to Milwaukee, Wisc. in time for the school’s first summer session, which starts May 22. It’s only possible as he finishes classes later this month at SCH for his senior internship, which he’s going to try to cram in within the span of three weeks to finish up his high school classwork.
If he can, he’ll be working out with Shaka Smart and one of the nation’s best teams before the end of next month.
“It’s crazy, going into [the season] thinking they’re supposed to be Top 5 preseason, it’s ridiculously early and all that, but still that’s insane,” he said. “My dream’s coming true.
“It’s [the] Big East, it’s going to be hard, so I’ve already got my mindset ready, I already know the type of player I am, I can do anything,” he added. “Perseverance is my thing, I know I’m going to go through challenges, but I’m going to be ready.”
The Golden Eagles went 29-7 last year, winning the Big East Tournament championship before losing to Michigan State in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. They return just about every member of the rotation and all their major pieces, which includes one of the nation’s top point guards in Tyler Kolek and a Pennsylvania product in Stevie Mitchell (Wilson), who like Amadou played his grassroots ball with Philly Pride.
Amadou said he’s excited to play with Kolek, but it’s Mitchell who’s been his closest contact within the program.
“I always ask questions about different things like NIL, how that works, or just how the workouts are, when we get to go home and stuff like that,” he said. “He’ll answer those easy little questions for me. He’ll definitely be someone I look up to when I get up there.”
Knowing that the return of that rotation means that big minutes are likely going to be tough to come by, Amadou wants to just make an impact during his freshman year, finding some role to fill and seeing minutes in big games. To do so, he knows he’s got to add weight to his 198-pound frame, aiming to get to around 215 by the fall — not too bulky to affect the way he wants to play, but enough to handle the increased physicality of the next level.
Amadou showed why Smart and his staff recruited him with his 20-point outing in his first Donofrio game of the spring, coming up with block after block and a few jumpers, as well as (unsurprisingly) a few big dunks, including of the put-back kind. His best hoops days are likely still a few years away, but his development over the last couple seasons bodes well that he’ll find a way.
“Just getting in the game as a freshman, just playing decent minutes, versus good teams, that’s my goal, impact the game in any way,” he said. “I know I’m such a versatile player, they can ask me to do anything, I can do it. I’m going to be able to impact the game somehow, some way, is my goal freshman year.” — Josh Verlin
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Quick Hits
— After transferring to Bonner Prendergast prior to his junior year from Chester, Kevin Rucker is starting to see the benefits of playing in the PCL throughout the early part of the offseason.
Kevin Rucker (above) has offers from Drexel, Morgan State and Rider. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
“The adjustment period was certainly a challenge in the beginning just because of the physicality that everyone plays with in the PCL,” Rucker said. “But, once I got used to that, I feel like I showed the type of player I could be for my team and I am better for it now.”
During his first year with the Friars, Rucker averaged 14.5 ppg, which was a team high and 5.1 rpg to boot. The 6-4 Rucker only shot 28.7% from 3-point range and he says continuing to develop his jumpshot is a main focus for him this offseason.
As he heads into the April live periods playing for WeR1, Rucker says he currently holds offers from Drexel, Morgan State, and Rider. The athletic wing is looking forward to “turning up” on the Under Armour circuit and is aiming to catch the eyes of coaches from around the country over the next several months before he heads into his senior season.
— Math, Civics, & Sciences senior Isaiah Griffin plans on playing out the April live periods with SW Elite before deciding on what is next for him after graduation.
He did mention that a few local Division III programs like Del Val and Rosemont have been recruiting him, but is hoping to use the next few weeks to potentially play himself into a scholarship opportunity at the Division II level. Griffin also noted he wouldn’t rule out the prep school route either.
— Imhotep senior wing Baasil Saunders just wrapped up a historic season as he and his Panthers teammates won the Public League, District 12, and PIAA state championships.
“It was a lot of fun man,” Saunders said of this past season. “It was just a great time and a great thing to be a part of, being able to accomplish everything that we did.”
The long and athletic 6-5 wing served as a key rotational piece behind Justin Edwards, Ahmad Nowell, Rahmir Barno, and others and is looking for the next step in his basketball journey.He is looking into attending some JUCO or NAIA schools potentially, specifically noting Peru State at the NAIA level in Nebraska.
— Jarell Keel (2023 | Academy New Church) is closing in on his college choice, saying he wants to make his decision not long after the Donofrio Classic ends, waiting to see if any more options present themselves with coaches frequenting the gym at the Fellowship House. But it seems like it’s coming down to area D-IIIs Neumann, Bryn Athyn, Gwynedd Mercy and Delaware Valley; Keel, an athletic 6-2 wing guard, said he’s visited all but Del Val, which he’s visiting next week. While he hasn’t finalized his choice just yet, he did say that Neumann is currently the leader.
“The facilities are nice, they’ve got all new facilities for the basketball team,” he said. “I talk with [assistant] coach Phil [D’Ambrosio] a lot [...] [head] coach [Jim] Rullo, he’s a good coach, I’ve been there a few times, [it’s] really welcoming.”
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