City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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MANHEIM — The Select Events Prime East tournament’s high-level, two-day affair concluded on Sunday, with teams from Nike, Under Armour, Adidas, Select Events and the Hoop Group Summer League all battling for titles in action from 17U down on through middle schoolers

CoBL had staff around the facility at Spooky Nook throughout the weekend taking in the action. Here’s Part 2 of our recruiting notebook from the prospects we talked to over the course of the weekend:

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More coverage from Prime East: Day 1 Standouts | Day 2 Standouts / Notebook Pt. 1 | Notebook Pt. 2

Ryan Carter (2027 | Exodus NYC 16U)

One of the area’s brightest young stars, Carter’s got a pretty simple path ahead: just keep getting better.

The Penn Charter rising freshman already has a year of varsity experience under her belt, nearly double-digit scholarship offers, a starting role on an EYBL 16U squad loaded with future high-major talent, an athletic 5-11 frame and a game beyond her years. It’s easy to see why the likes of Penn State, Maryland, Ohio State, Florida and more have already extended offers, the way she can handle the ball, defend multiple positions and score from all three levels, against girls three and four years older than her, still four years away from college. 

But she knows those four years can’t be spent treading water; she needs to keep pushing against the tide. 

“It feels good, it also lets me know that I need to keep working and get better,” she said of the early collegiate attention. “I know I can’t play (at the college level) right now, they just see the potential in how I’ll be when I’m older.”

Even though college is still a ways away, Carter is already thinking beyond that: inspired by doctor’s visits with her mother as she eagerly awaited her younger sister’s arrival, she wants to be a doctor when her basketball career is over; for that reason, the “‘couple” schools she’s already visited have shown her their medical schools and labs. 

Carter started all season long for a Penn Charter squad that went 19-10 (12-0 Inter-Ac) and made it to the PAISAA state championship game before falling to Westtown. Carter benefitted from playing alongside two Division I signees in seniors Aleah Snead (Saint Joseph’s) and Bella Toomey (Fairleigh Dickinson), as well as talented sophomore Kaylinn Bethea, able to contribute in numerous ways without having to be the primary ball-handler or shot-creator.

“The biggest adjustment was probably doing things faster, since it was a faster pace, and being more confident and hurrying up what I was doing,” she said, “[but] I had a lot of people on my team supporting me and walking me through everything to help me feel more comfortable.”

For the second summer in a row, Carter’s playing with Exodus EYBL, a Nike-backed squad out of New York City, where she’s on a squad with some of the best talent from NYC and New Jersey. In a win over Mid-Atlantic Magic on Saturday afternoon, Carter starter and contributed eight points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals, gliding to the bucket with ease in transition and otherwise playing a steady floor game both on and off the ball.

“I’m trying to get better at being more confident in catch-and-shoot and making fast decisions on the court, instead of waiting until the last minute,” she said, “and letting the game come to me instead of forcing it.” — Josh Verlin

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Atlee Vanesko (2026 | Philly Rise EYBL 16U)

It’s been quite a good year for Vanesko.

The 5-foot-11 guard’s first season at Westtown couldn’t have gone much better, the Moose not only winning a state title but getting a chance to play at GEICO Nationals, meaning the Ocean City (N.J.) native and her teammates all got to play on ESPN. That was the cherry on top to a season where she established herself as a major piece for the deepest squad around, all of her teammates future mid-to-high-major Division I ballplayers.

“That was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had with basketball,” she said of playing against Montverde Academy (Fl.) on national television as one of just four girls teams invited to the event. “That was so fun, getting to travel, getting to watch high-level girls, high-level boys, it was crazy.”

On top of that, Monday marked one year since her first Division I offer, from Penn State; in the 365 days since, she’s added ones from Harvard, Delaware, Boston College and Providence, the last three all extending scholarships after the April live period. She’s already visited all but Providence in some capacity.

That’s only likely to be the first group of a long list of colleges; Vanesko brings terrific size and shooting ability to the perimeter, and with three years left of high school she’s got plenty of time to work on her weaknesses. 

Philly Rise 2026 guard Atlee Vanesko had quite a year with Westtown and now with the Rise. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Primary amongst those is playing on the ball this summer; with Westtown, the likes of point guards Joniyah Bland-Fitzpatrick (Seton Hall) and Jessie Moses plus ball-handling wings Zahra King and Grace Sundback (Delaware) meant Vanesko just needed to spot up and shoot, not needing to do much offensive creating, keeping her job simple and effective.

With Rise, she’s playing more point than she has in a while but showed her play-making chops with five assists in a big win Saturday evening over GTS Fusion GUAA’s 16s, dishing out five assists (and grabbing four rebounds with four steals) while not even attempting a 3-point shot, letting her teammates handle most of the bucket-getting.

“My whole life I’ve kind of been a ‘2,’” she said. “But here, playing point guard, I feel like I have more control of the game. I’m fine playing wherever but I like when I have the ball in my hands.”

A few of those dimes were right to Kaylinn Bethea, the Penn Charter sophomore, Vanesko’s teammate with the Rise the last few summers. The two were opponents in the state championship game just three months back, a game Westtown took handily; now the two are working together for a Nike Tournament of Champions crown next month in Chicago.

“Playing against her in the state championship in the high school season was definitely weird,” Vanesko said, “but being on the court with her this season is super-fun.” — Josh Verlin

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Zahra King (2024 | New Heights NYC 17U)

Just a few days after being ranked No. 80 in the 2024 class by ESPN, Zahra King showed once again why she is one of the top prospects in the country. The 5-10 guard can score at all three levels and is always under control. 

King’s electric game has been dominating the AAU courts in the past few months. Even if her talent was never in doubt, she took it to the next level lately and this captured the attention of many scouts as she earned a spot in the national rankings for the first time. 

“Feels good. I know there's still a lot of work to do, but it's just a blessing to be recognized as one of the top players in the country and I’mma still keep working and [..] being the best,” King said about finding that she was ranked a few days ago. “I knew that I was one of the best players in the country, but I didn't expect to be 80 or nothin’ like that.”

The guard said she believes she can make her way up to the rankings in the future, but in the meantime she wants to enjoy her last season with New Heights. Even if the program is relatively new, she has been playing for the same coach and a lot of her teammates for years. For her it’s like a family. 

While New York is her home, West Chester became her second home three years ago when she transferred to Westtown to play for Fran Burbidge. So far, her experience with the Moose has been phenomenal with three Friends Schools LeagueL, two PAISAA titles and a positive appearance at the GEICO nationals. This year she scored 13 points a game while shooting 52% and led Westtown to a 21-5 overall record. 

By playing for one of the best programs in the country, King has been able to demonstrate that she can play at the highest level in college. At the moment, she holds offers from Marquette, Arizona State, Penn State, Wisconsin, West Virginia, among others. She said this is coming to a close soon so she is just enjoying the process. 

“I am planning my officials soon, so those should be in [...] August-September [...] those should be exciting,” she added. “ [I wanna go to a place] where they are family, I wanna go to a place where I can really enjoy myself, play my game but I just wanna have a true family.”

King said that the biggest goal for next year is to run it back with Westtown and win another state championship. So far, King played with other players that ended up in D1 teams and definitely helped her to grow as a player and a leader. As team captain she will do the same for the youngest on the team, another promising group. 

“I’m mostly working on expanding my shot off the dribble behind the 3 ball, my step-back, my jab [...] and my range,” King said on her individual goals for the summer. — Antonello Baggi

Kaylinn Bethea (2025 | Philly Rise EYBL 16U)

Penn Charter 2025 guard Kaylinn Bethea decided to take on a new endeavor this spring — track. In her first season, competing for the Quakers, Bethea sprinted to second team All-Inter Ac honors while competing in the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay.

“I was just doing it for fun and also to stay in shape,” Bethea said. “Our track team, I really love that. I made new friendships off that. And track really helped me. I didn’t see it at first, but when I got on the court, I’m not as tired because I’m so focused on sprinting all the time.”

Even with her success on the track, Bethea won’t stray far from hoops too long. She and her Philly Rise 16U squad won their second tournament championship this weekend in Spooky Nook. The 5-XX guard was a big reason why suffocating Exodus NYC with her defense (six steals) in the semifinal before showing off her shooting with 14 points in the title game.

“Defense has always been a big part of my game,” Bethea said. “I always loved playing defense. I do love playing offense and scoring, but defense is just my game. I’m always going 110 percent on defense. My coach is like, ‘Yo you gotta dial it down,’ but my defense is just the start of my game. It’s the thing that gets me riled up.”

Bethea picked up offers from St. Joe’s, Rhode Island, Princeton, Harvard, Penn and Columbia before her sophomore season at Penn Charter, which concluded with another Inter-Ac title and PAISAA runner-up finish. She added Lafayette to the mix this past April.

On June 1, Bethea and the rest of the Class of 2025 were able to hear directly from college coaches. She heard from quite a few of those programs, noting Harvard, Columbia, Princeton and St. Joe’s in particular along with Tulane.

“It was a busy day that day, but I kind of enjoyed,” Bethea said, “talking to all the colleges and seeing what they see in me and knowing that I have to make sure my game is better and doesn’t stay the same, just keep growing so by the time I get to college I’m all ready.“

The Rise finished as the runner-up during EYBL Session 1 and won their tournament during EYBL Session 2 in Dallas. After another tournament victory in a field with many of the other top Nike teams, they certainly look like one of the favorites to bring home hardware from the July Nike Nationals in Chicago.

Bethea said she doesn’t have any visits scheduled yet this summer, but hopes to get on some college campuses in August. Then it will start to become time to get ready for her junior season with the Quakers when she and rising freshman Ryan Carter will suddenly become the veterans of the team after the departure of Aleah Snead (St. Joe’s), Bella Toomey (Fairleigh Dickinson) and Gracie Shoup (Ohio State lacrosse).

“We just know that me and Ryan have to focus on building together as a team, working together and also building in our other players to who haven’t played as much,” Bethea said. — Owen McCue

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Olivia Jones (2025 | Philly Rise EYBL 16U)

One of the first times Olivia Jones played in a real basketball game, she let a rebound get away.

It wouldn’t happen again. Dwyane Jones, Olivia’s dad, made his mark as a relentless rebounder and that one missed chance to go get a board was enough to make sure his daughter felt the same way about grabbing the ball off missed shots.

There weren’t any rebounds getting away from Olivia Jones in Sunday’s 16U Prime Events East championship game, the Cedar Cliff standout taking over in the second half as the Rise downed Empire State Blue Flame 63-55.

“I hate losing, I kept saying that to my teammates, I do not like to lose,” Jones, who scored all 16 of her title game points after halftime, said. “The mindset coming out was we’re going to do whatever it takes to win. Some of the calls weren’t going our way, some things weren’t going our way but we kept weathering the storm.”

Miami Heat executive Pat Riley once stated that “no rebounds, no rings,” meaning pretty much what it says. Dwyane Jones certainly shares that belief, so much so that his daughter gave one of those very knowing glances when his philosophy about boards was referenced.

When a player can rebound the way Olivia Jones can however, it’s easy to see why it was such an emphasis in her growth on the court.

“He’s always stressed it, I think since the first game I ever played in,” Jones said. “That game, I wasn’t chasing the ball and he basically taught me how to rebound. That’s been a huge part of why I think I’m getting recruited.

“A lot of coaches that recruit me say ‘we love how you rebound the ball’ and that’s just been a huge part of my game ever since I was little.”

It’s not even just the fact that Jones gets rebounds, it’s the way in which she does it that stands out. Jones has good size at 5-foot-10 but she’s just so strong that she often moves people out of the way under the basket to make sure she’s the only one able to get the ball.

One of her most impressive plays of Sunday’s second half saw Jones dislodge a defending player to grab an offensive board before she powered through a taller player for a difficult putback. It’s not by mistake, Jones said she loves to lift and she feels her strength is an asset to the way she plays.

“I do try to be very strong with the ball,” Jones said. “I think it helps not only with rebounding, but defensively as well.”

Jones has already accomplished plenty in just two years of high school hoops as well. She was the PA Sportswriters 6A Player of the Year this past season, where she helped lead Cedar Cliff to the District 3 6A title and the PIAA championship game after reaching the state semis as a freshman. It’s the way both those seasons ended, including a loss in Hershey this March, that still bothers Jones.

“I’ve always played two grades up, even in kindergarten, I was playing with second graders and the one thing my dad always told me was ‘no matter what anybody says about you, keep working,’” Jones said. “That’s been my motivation.”

Jones already has a strong list of college offers, she got her first from Monmouth going into her freshman year at Cedar Cliff, but doesn’t take it as a given. She knows a lot of other players would give up plenty to be in that same position and that there’s a lot more to it than just basketball.

“It was mind-blowing, because I didn’t expect anything,” Jones said. “Once I got it, it showed me I could actually play at the next level and get my school paid for, which is my biggest goal, to get my education paid for.”

Along with Monmouth, Jones also holds offers from St. Joe’s, Delaware, Towson, Lafayette, Harvard, Columbia and Penn. There’s a lot of high-academic programs on that list and for good reason.

“I’m third in my class,” Jones said, rightfully proud. “My mom is an educator so academics are a huge part of my life and always at the forefront.”

Winning the Prime Events East 16U bracket, which featured a very talented field, was a notable accomplishment, especially the Rise playing without 2026 center Olivia Vukosa, out with an injury. It’s a confident roster that’s not shying away from some lofty  goals either.

“It’s huge, it’s another step in our journey,” Jones said. “We want to win the big one, the Nike Tournament of Champions, so that’s what we’re getting set for in a few weeks.”

Dwyane Jones grew up in Memphis where he learned and developed the appreciation for rebounds he’s since passed on to his daughter. At the end of July, the Jones brand of rebounding is coming back home in a sense, as Olivia and her Rise team will be taking part in the USA Basketball U.S. Open Championships at the NCAA College Basketball Academy in Memphis.

“It’s super cool, my older brother and my older sister are both going to be there so having my whole family there is going to be special,” Olivia said. “He’s super-excited about it, the family is excited about it, I’m ready.” — Andrew Robinson

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Savannah Curry (2024 | Team Takeover 17U)

Savannah Curry isn’t afraid to do the little things on the basketball court. Both with her Westtown team during the high school season and Team Takeover during the spring and summer, the 5-10 guard/wing is surrounded by talent on the floor with her.

The ball might not be in her hands a lot, so she tries to find other ways to impact winning.

“A lot of the time I may not impact on the scorer’s sheet, but I make a lot of impact when you watch the game clip,” Curry said. “I’m always doing something.”

Takeover was down a few of its big pieces on Sunday, so Curry knew she needed to do a little bit more. She went off for 33 points in a semifinal win over Exodus NYC before putting together another solid performance in a title game win over Philly Rise.

Curry knocked down eight threes in the semifinal performance, which was one of the best individual outings of the weekend.

“It just kind of sparked up today,” Curry said. “I just got a rhythm. I missed a few in the beginning, but I just kept going and knocked them down.”

Curry called for the ball when she started to get hot, but nothing was forced as she slid to open spots beyond the arc before firing away. She rarely put the ball on the deck but got to the hoop in the times she decided to attack.

She was also a huge presence on the glass, earning a number of extra possessions with offensive rebounds. She’s been challenged to become a better rebounder this offseason and rose to the occasion on Sunday. College coaches have told Curry they like her two-way impact and ability to affect multiple parts of the game .

“My shooting, they like my defense, how i’m aggressive, how I’m always just all over the place getting after it and stuff,” Curry said.

Curry said she has a list of 10 scholarship offers that she’s trying to narrow down. There’s been two standouts thus far. She recently took an official visit to Elon and has a trip to Temple upcoming. Both schools have recruited her for more than a year now.

Takeover is certainly a squad in the mix for the EYBL championship and Curry and Westtown will try to make it three straight FSL and PAISAA titles during the high school season. Curry is happy to do whatever it takes to keep the wins piling it up.

“Winning is the top priority, no matter if I do good or do bad, it’s always top,” Curry said. — Owen McCue

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Quick Hits

— Angelina Hodgens (2025 | Exodus NYC EYBL 16U)  is one of the leaders of the young and talented Exodus team. She has been in the program since 7th grade, but this is her first time playing with the youngest players.The 5-9 guard thinks that they are getting better and they are playing more together every week, as everyone leads in their own way and each player can step up at the time because everyone can make shots. 

Hodgens, who averaged 22.8 points and had 10.3 rebounds per game this past season at St. Joseph by-the-Sea, was named CHSAA League MVP and won back-to-back state titles. She recently received offers from Sacred Heart, Monmouth and St.John's and she may go to visit these schools soon. While she said that these offers boost her confidence a little bit, she knows she has to stay on target and focus on getting better every day. The guard, who reached 1,000 points this season, believes her shot from outside improved a lot, but she wants to get quicker and bigger to be able to defend more positions and get past defenders easily.