City of Basketball Love

Sean McBryan (@SeanMcBryan)
—

MANHEIM — The courts at Spooky Nook were once again packed with talent as the Hoop Group finished out its Summer League championships on Saturday and Sunday. 

The CoBL staff was there to take in the action and talk to some of the prospects we watched. Here's the second part of our recruiting notebook:

~~~
More coverage from Spooky Nook: Summer Jam Fest Standouts | Summer Jam Fest Notebook Pt. 1
~~~

Mekhi Conner (2024 | Team New England HGSL 17U)

Mekhi Conner averaged 19.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 4.7 steals per game in his senior season at Notre Dame-West Haven and won back-to-back Southern Connecticut Conference championships.  

The 6-1 point guard had accumulated a handful of Division II offers at the time, but he felt he could play at the Division I level; the interest was there yet no offers came so he committed to doing a postgraduate year at Putnam Science Academy to achieve his goal.

Division I coaches have taken notice of his play before he’s even suited up for Putnam during the AAU circuit with Team New England, which won the 17U HGSL Championship title 56-51 over Crown Sunday at Spooky Nook.

He received his first Division I offer from Gardner-Webb last Friday with St. Bonaventure, Bryant, and FIU followingly shortly after.

“I’m still shocked I even have four offers right now,” Conner said Saturday at Spooky Nook. “I’m just going along with it and playing my game, enjoying time with my teammates. It was surprising. I was literally sitting in Atlantic City and they ended up calling me and telling me I had an offer. I wasn’t expecting them yet. I thought I was eventually going to get them but I just didn’t know when.”

The offers keep rolling in; Sacred Heart offered Sunday and Quinnipiac offered Tuesday.

“I wasn’t even sure if I was going to do a post-grad year or not,” Conner said. “Once I was sure of that, Team New England picked me up, took me under their wing, and it grew from there.”

Hoop Group’s AC and Summer Jam Fests were Conner’s first showcases playing with TNE and he’s certainly made the most of it.

“This is my first week really playing with TNE this summer and they brought me on and are really letting me play my game by facilitating and being a leader,” he said. “With the teammates I have, it’s kind of hard for me not to play well. They keep me up at all times.”

Conner has elite handle and passing ability, can get to the rim for his own points, and brings the intensity on defense. He’ll be sharpening those skills during his post-grad year and likely reaping the benefits of additional offers once more college coaches see him play.

“Next year I’m looking to just keep working on being a leader and positive at all times whether we’re up or down,” he said. “ I just want to keep winning games and playing while working hard.”

~~~

The BW Elite 16U team poses together at the Summer Jam Fest in Spooky Nook. (Photo: Sean McBryan/CoBL)

Abdurahman Coulibaly (2024 | BW Elite HGSL 16U)

Coulibaly, the 6-4 wing from West Philadelphia, and the Speedboys went all the way to the Philadelphia Public League title game last season — the program’s first appearance since 1988 — before falling 72-43 to powerhouse Imhotep and Kentucky commit Justin Edwards.

The rising senior and Brad Wanaker Elite 16Us made a similar spirited run at Hoop Group’s Summer Jam Fest as they went all the way to the HGSL Championship before falling 59-55 to Middlesex Magic. BW Elite trailed by double digits at multiple points in the game but rarely showed poor body language and kept fighting back.

“We proved something to people,” Coulibaly said. “We didn’t play as well as we wanted to in Atlantic City and after that we had the mindset of coming here and winning. Everybody was excited to play. We were unselfish and are growing chemistry.”

Coulibaly had 11 points, six rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal in the championship game, orchestrating in the high post against a zone defense and covering a 6-9 opponent at times on the defensive end.

“I have an all-around game,” Coulibaly said. “I do whatever the team needs. All I’m worried about is winning.”

Coulibaly’s 6-4 2025 West Philadelphia teammate Brandon Williams came off the bench and hit five 3’s, including a four-point play, to lead BW Elite with 16 points in the championship. 

“He’s very important,” Coulibaly said. “He’s a big-time scorer and that’s what he comes in and does.”

Coulibaly and Williams will be critical both in replacing five key seniors from last season’s Speedboys and guiding BW Elite to more impressive performances throughout the AAU season.

“We are coming back here next week and trying to win the whole thing,” Coulibaly said.

~~~

Thomas Ferdinando (2025 | Middlesex Magic HGSL 16U)

The 6-1 guard started making a name for himself as a flamethrower when he dropped 41 points in a game as a freshman at The Derryfield School (N.H.).

Ferdinando transferred to The Governor’s Academy (Mass.) — where Miami Heat shooting guard Duncan Robinson attended —  for his sophomore season to sharpen his skills in the competitive Independent School League.

“It went well,” he said. “I’m trying to get stronger and bigger, that’s my main focus.”

Ferdinando scored 26 points in an Elite Eight victory, 24 in a Final Four victory, and then a game-high 18 points in the HGSL Championship victory over BW Elite; needless to say he can heat up quickly.

His outside shot wasn’t falling in the first half of the championship game but he came alive in the second half with multiple 3’s and drives to the hoop to catapult Middlesex Magic to the title.

“We came in after going 3-1 at Atlantic City and thought the team we lost to we could’ve beat,” Ferdinando said. “We tried to play hard and play our game.”

The rising junior said he’s been in preliminary contact with college coaches, but didn’t want to name any further specifics just yet.

“I would like to play in the Ivy League,” he said. “We’ll see how it goes.”

~~~

Ryan Mulroy (2025 | Penn Warriors HGSL 16U)

Mulroy, a rising junior at Upper Dublin, and the Penn Warriors advanced all the way to the HGSL Championship 16U Final Four at Summer Jam Fest after going 3-1 at the AC Jam Fest during the week.

“All week we played in Atlantic City and we didn’t even know if we were going to get into the top tournament here,” Mulroy said. “We had a tough schedule [in AC] playing New Jersey Panthers [in our last game after going 2-1]. We had to win at least three games to get here and we did.”

Penn Warriors pulled out a gutsy win over Red Rush in the Sweet 16 after trailing by eight late in the game. Top scorer Mani Sajid was disqualified from the game by a referee after he didn’t tuck in his jersey and chances looked bleak for a win. Mulroy’s energetic defense and emotion on the court sparked the team, which ended up pulling out a 54-52 comeback victory.

“We wanted it badly,” Mulroy said. “We were motivated and knew that this game wasn’t over even when we were down by eight. We battled together and have been playing together for a while. We just kept playing hard and finished the game.”

Mulroy and Penn Warriors beat Ohio Buckets in the Elite Eight before falling to eventual champion Middlesex Magic in the Final Four, something to build on especially since outside shots were hard to come by with tired legs due to back-to-back showcases taking effect.

Mulroy was a Suburban One League Liberty Division first-team selection last season as a sophomore and wants to parlay that into more accolades and success as his high school career churns along.

“My strengths are getting to the rim and playing hard,” he said. “I think I’m alright on defense. I need to work on my change of pace, slowing down a bit, and consistency with my shot.”

Upper Dublin went to the SOL semifinals before falling 60-56 to Central Bucks East and a disappointing 58-51 upset loss to West Chester Rustin in the first round of the District 1 Class 5A tournament. The Cardinals are working to advance deeper next season.

“Right now we are 10-0 this offseason and beat some really good teams like Spring-Ford (which went to the Final Four in the PIAA Class 6A tournament) and Trinity (which went to the Final Four in the PIAA Class 3A tournament). We have some young guys this year so we just need to get used to playing all together.

“Last year I was one of the younger guys on the team and we are losing eight seniors. I definitely have to take a bigger leadership role making sure guys are showing up to offseason workouts and playing hard every game.”