City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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MANHEIM — The April live periods kept on trucking in Lancaster County, with a massive tournament taking place at Spooky Nook Sports — a combination of the first Girls’ Under Armour Association stop and the Select Events “Live at the Nook!” competition, with hundreds and hundreds of teams descending upon central Pennsylvania for three days of intense competition.

There were plenty of prospects to check in with. Here's the fourth part of our recruiting notebook, with interviews from Saturday and Sunday:

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More Coverage: Day 1 Standouts | Day 2 Standouts | Day 3 Standouts | Notebook (Pt. 1) | Notebook (Pt. 2) | Notebook (Pt. 3) | Notebook (Pt. 4) | Notebook (Pt. 5) | Notebook (Pt. 6)

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Ines Goryanova (2024 | Gauchos 3SSB 17U)

Goryanova’s come quite a ways to be at Spooky Nook this weekend.

Not so much the trip from Putnam Science Academy (Conn.) down to Lancaster, as plenty of players there this weekend came from across the country or even over the Canadian border. No, it’s from her birthplace in Bulgaria to her childhood spent in London, Goryanova not coming to the U.S. until a couple years ago, though it’s almost impossible to detect in her accent.

“When I first got here (my accent) was so strong, but slowly it’s just gone,” she laughed. She came to America after falling in love with watching the college game during her middle school years: “I started watching it and I wanted to go through the same things, experience the same things, and I made it my goal — and now I’m here.”

Goryanova, who said she’ll be playing her senior year at DME Academy (Fl.), is a sharpshooting combo guard, knocking down six 3-pointers with plenty of range in an 89-82 win over the Lady Runnin’ Rebels on Sunday morning, one of the best games all weekend. 

But she’s also got a smooth handle and great court vision, helping her rack up five dimes as she plays for a Gauchos group that kept the rock moving and bombed away from the arc all game long. 

“Most people call me a shooting guard but I don’t like that, because I’m not really a shooting guard,” she said. “I can shoot it but I’m not a shooting guard, I’m more of a combo guard, point guard who can shoot it.” 

There’s no doubt the 5-foot-8 guard will be playing D-I hoops: she’s already got 23 Division I offers under her belt, from a variety of areas. She said the schools hitting her up most often included “Texas A&M, South Florida, Villanova [and] Mississippi State,” and she’s been on a ton of visits — including Villanova, of which she said “It was so nice, the campus was beautiful.”

The list of schools she’s visited includes another Big 5 program who’s recruiting her: Temple, of which she said “I really like the Temple (visit),” including it amongst St. John’s, George Mason, Providence and UMass as more schools she’s seen.

“I want a big campus, with a lot of people, I’m a very social person,” she said. “Just meeting new people every day would be really nice [...] really good academics, that’s really important to me — basketball does stop, eventually. Obviously [I want] a really good basketball program, somewhere I can develop as a player.” — Josh Verlin

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Kelian Cedano (2024 | Gauchos 3SSB 17U)

Another big piece to the Gauchos’ impressive Sunday morning win was Cedano, an athletic 5-9 wing guard who found all sorts of ways to impact the game, from her passing to her defense and her scoring ability, which mostly came on interior buckets, though the lefty can also knock down the outside shot. 

Her nine points, six boards, two assists and two blocks were a testament to her versatility, as Cedano seemed to be involved in plays all over the court, even in a game where her 3s weren’t falling, her effort never failing.

“I’d say I’m pretty athletic, definitely an offensive player but I do know how to scrap on defense, get steals and blocks,” she said, “so I’d say I’m an all-around player.”

With 18 offers already under her belt, Cedano has a ton of college options, saying that Florida Atlantic, Temple, St. John’s, Elon and East Carolina were all recruiting her hard. And the Big 5 seems to be a real option, Diane Richardson and the Owls’ staff recruiting her since last year; two of Richardson’s assistants were courtside on Sunday watching the Gauchos.

“Love Temple so much,” Cedano said. “I went on a visit and I fell in love, it’s so nice.”

She said she’s also visited Seton Hall, St. John’s, Boston College and Elon: “I liked every school I went on a visit on, every school that I’ve been to is beautiful, (they’re) nice, all in different ways.”

Cedano is currently finishing up her senior year at Putnam Science, but she’ll be doing a post-graduate year and entering college in the summer of 2024; undetermined is if she’ll do that year at PSA or somewhere else. 

She said she doesn’t have any more visits currently scheduled and doesn’t have a timeline on her commitment, but she’s clear on what will factor into her decision when she’s ready to make it.

“Definitely a school with good team chemistry, coaches that know what they’re doing — they have experience, they have a history of winning,” she said. “A team where I know that I’ll be able to play and there’s not like five girls with the same position as me. 

“I care about diversity, the location, I just look into a lot of different things because I just want to be somewhere where I know I’m going to stay and not have to transfer after the first year.” — Josh Verlin

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Tessa Carman (2025 | NJ ShoreShots 16U)

Carman’s self-assessment of her game was spot on.

“I’m a very versatile player,” she said. “I’m a big, because I’m the tallest one on the team, so I can post up — but you can also take me out [to the perimeter] and I can go 1-on-1 with you. We’re all versatile, but for me personally I bring the size, the rebounding and everything else.”

Carman’s got the size to bang around in the post and isn’t afraid to do so, but she also is far from content to just be a ‘5.’ Her true position is probably best described as a small-ball ‘4’ in the modern game, with the size to play inside or out as most programs go with a four-out formation, but she’s agile and athletic enough to guard wings as well. 

In a big win over the LI Lightning on Saturday afternoon, the Red Bank Catholic (N.J.) product did a little bit of everything, from handle the ball to scoring in the post, hitting a couple jumpers, and most impressively passing the ball on-point and in all sorts of ways, whether she was on the move or just reversing the ball out of the post, which she did multiple times for open triples. 

Carman’s got seven offers including schools from the A-10, Patriot, MAAC, CAA and NEC, and she said she’s taken visits to most of the schools that have offered her. Others in the mid-to-high-major range have also reached out to her and her mother Candice, who played at Georgia Tech and coaches the ShoreShots’ 16s. 

Though some prospects commit before their junior season, Carman said she’s likely to play out the next year and then go from there, but she did say that the visits she’s taken so far have helped her figure out what she wants in a college.

“I want a great connection, relationship with coaches, I think that’s very important,” she said. “I like big campuses, not packed, but not so few people that there’s nobody there. Just in the middle, that’s what I prefer, but it’s really about the relationships for me.” — Josh Verlin

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Dani Ceseretti (2024 | Bay State Jaguars 17U) 

Villanova commit Dani Ceseretti was in action on Sunday morning, helping to lead her team to a tight 50-45 win over previously undefeated FGB. 

Ceseretti committed to play basketball for the Wildcats in January. She said she knew where she wanted to go to school the second she stepped foot onto campus. 

“The campus was beautiful,” Ceseretti said. “Meeting the girls was awesome. They’re all so friendly.” 

 Ceseretti also held offers from Harvard, Princeton, and Boston College (among others). Academics were a big part of her choice, along with the campus environment. 

 “It was just an environment that was welcoming and I wanted to be a part of it,” said the future Wildcat. 

Ceseretti,a 6-0 guard, creates an immediate matchup issue for her opponents. She prides herself on being able to get to the basket, which has been on full display all weekend. She identified her jump shot as an area she still needs to work on. 

Ceseretti is teammates with Northwestern commit Claire Keswick, as well as Ava Black, who holds 23 Division I offers. The Jaguars finished the weekend with a 3-2 record. 

 “We just make each other better,” Ceseretti said. “If I'm not playing well, I know I can rely on my team.” 

 We all play against each other in high school, it’s just awesome to finally get to play together.” 

 Ceseretti still has one more year at the prep level, but she is looking forward to joining a Wildcats squad that won NCAA tournament games in each of the last two seasons, including a Sweet 16 run earlier this year. 

 I’m excited to see how I fit in,” Ceseretti said. “I think I do well being off the ball and opening it up. I really like how fast they move and play with one another.” — Logan Moyer

Brynleigh Martin (2025 | WV Thunder GUAA 16U)

Watching Martin shoot the ball is a little like watching art in slow motion.

Each shot the 6-foot-tall Springboro (Ohio) wing releases follows the same high-arcing trajectory, hanging in the air for a few seconds, then splashing down through the net, her form the same every time, no shot rushed.

Martin knocked down three triples for the Thunder in a close loss to the Northwest Select’s 16s in a game Sunday afternoon, helping her to a 17-point outing. A lanky wing with a bunch of upside, she also showed she can attack the hoop and finish around the rim, as well as rebound and jump passing lanes, coming up with three steals.

“[I want to show coaches] new moves, that I can shoot, I can hustle,” she said. “Cheer on teammates, be a good team leader.”

Martin’s recruiting is heavily Big Ten biased at the moment, with offers from Penn State, Iowa Michigan State and others, though she added she’s also started to hear from Washington and more; she’s been to Pitt, PSU, OSU, MSU, Iowa and Xavier, traveling all over the Midwest to visit campuses and start to learn about life at the next level.

“I’m looking for somewhere I’m going to stay for four years and I’m going to really enjoy it, and will help me succeed later on in life,” she said, adding that there’s no timeline yet on when she would want to hone in on a decision.

This summer, Martin said she’s working on “conditioning, athleticism, how I can shoot, and being faster and [more] athletic.” — Josh Verlin

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Caitlin Frost (2024 | SLAM Elite 17U)

Along with the rest of her SLAM Elite teammates, Frost doesn’t have to worry about working on a different set of chemistry for the summer. The Canadian-based group all play for Champlain College Saint-Lambert, an English-language public school in Quebec province which has a two-year pre-collegiate program. 

“It’s really nice, we get to build our team chemistry,” Frost said. “It’s just really nice to be with the same group because we become family and we’re like friends, we’re like best friends all the time, so it’s really nice.”

A 6-1 wing, Frost has an interesting game; she calls herself a guard but has a post’s size and can set up on the low block, where the lefty is a skilled finisher with her dominant hand, knowing how to use the glass. But she does have a good handle for her size, showing off a smooth crossover, and she can stretch the floor to the 3-point arc.

When asked about her strengths, the first thing that came to mind was off the court.

“I feel like I have to play a good leadership role because I’m a senior, so I have to not only think about myself but bring the team together,” she said, “which is really important and builds us up and leads to success and hopefully wins most of the time.”

Frost said she doesn’t have any Division I offers but has been in contact with schools including Massachusetts and Columbia, and she had a solid group of D-Is watching her all weekend long, including in games Saturday against the Lady Runnin’ Rebels and Sunday against the NJ ShoreShots, where she wasn’t able to be quite as efficient against a tall ShoreShots group but still showed off her scoring and rebound abilities.

“I can play basically all the positions but I’m trying to develop as a guard, I think that would be good for me,” she said. “My handles, I need to [work on to] become a better guard, because I’m a big guard, so I need to develop that a little bit.” — Josh Verlin

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Ava Black (2025 | Bay State Jaguars 17U) 

Ava Black was another standout for the Bay State Jaguars on Sunday morning, scoring 10 points. Black holds 23 Division I offers, including Villanova and Penn State. 

 “I want a school that has a coaching staff that will play me and believe in me,” Black said. “I want to be allowed to be myself.” 

 Black, playing up a year, will wait until after the summer to start narrowing down her list of schools. 

 Black is a 5-11 guard from Auburn, N.H. who plays prep ball at the Tabor Academy in Marion, Mass. Bay State teammate Olivia Rodrigues also plays for the Seawolves. 

Black said the weekend was fun, but exhausting. 

 “Our bodies are beat up,” Black said. “But I think that’s a good way to end the weekend.” 

 In the Jaguars five games, Black averaged 14.5 points per game while also contributing 6.5 rebounds and 3 assists per game. The Jaguars finished the weekend with a record of 3-2. 

 “I think I did very good,” Black said. “I showed a lot of my versatility. I wish I made a few more shots.”  — Logan Moyer

Cearah Parchment (2025 | Become One 16U)

The 6-2 forward’s skills were on full display in Become One’s 63-37 win over BBA. 

 Parchment, who plays at Fort Erie International Academy in Ontario, has an incredible ability to free herself from her defender, leading her teammates to find her wide open under the basket. 

 “I’m an off-ball player,” said Parchment. “I like to get open.” 

 Most of her points on Sunday afternoon came from under the basket, but Parchment can score in a multitude of ways. In the fourth quarter, Parchment found herself open on the perimeter and knocked down a three-pointer. 

 Parchment scored 19 points in the win, which was complemented by Maya Foz, who scored 11 points. They are two of three Become One teammates who play prep ball at Fort Erie, which went undefeated in the regular season this year with a 14-0 record. 

Parchment attributed her success to her athleticism, as well as her defense. 

She didn’t name all of her Division I offers but did say she recently picked up offers from Harvard and Louisville. — Logan Moyer