City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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ATLANTIC CITY — The 2023 grassroots season has come to an end, the girls’ edition of the Hoop Group Showcase League closing out its action with this weekend’s championships at the AC Convention Center. The four-day event went from Friday through Monday, starting with showcase games and pool play and then moving into bracket play as the tournament progressed.

Here’s the third part of our recruiting notebook from the four days of the event:

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More HGSL Championship Coverage: Day 1 Standouts | Day 2 + 3 Standouts, Pt. 1 | Day 2 + 3 Standouts, Pt. 2 | Day 4 Standouts | Championship Notebook | Recruiting Notebook Pt. 1 | Recruiting Notebook Pt. 2

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Precious Wheeler (2025 | NJ Demons HGSL 17U)

Wheeler’s basketball journey took a significant turn in middle school. That’s when she and her family moved from Plainfield (N.J.) to Franklin (N.J.), just about a half-hour south, where she was connected with middle school coach Darryl Robinson. It was Robinson who convinced the tall teenager to give hoops a shot, and it didn’t take her long to get into it. 

“What made me really love basketball was not only the teammates, because it felt like a sisterhood, but the oohs and the aahs from the crowd,” she said. “I love big crowds [...] I used to get a lot of blocks — I wasn’t good, but I got a lot of blocks because I was tall — and that really intrigued me. Then everybody put their little [bit of] motivation into me, they said I have a lot of potential, I was like, ‘great I’m going to definitely do that.’”

Wheeler’s worked hard at her game in the last few years, getting an eye-opening experience with the New Heights program last summer, and that’s all paying off now as the 6-foot-3 post is going through a breakout summer. Since receiving her first scholarship offer, from Seton Hall, earlier in the spring, she’s added 11 more to the list — Temple, Rutgers, Delaware, Fordham, Coppin State, Monmouth and more. 

“It’s been crazy, honestly,” she said. “I’ve been really grateful and blessed, because I’ve been putting in a lot of work behind the doors, and I was worried that it wasn’t going to show at some point, but it’s definitely showing, now more offers are starting to roll in.”

The Owls’ staff offered Wheeler — who plays five instruments and cites Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, among others, as musical influences — a couple weeks back, seeing in her what was clear in a viewing on Sunday afternoon in the 17U semifinals: the young forward has a strong frame, good hands and moves well, showing her footwork with a nice back-down and left-handed layup. 

“Temple’s saying they like my game, how they see my potential, that I’d be a good fit for their program, things of that nature,” she said. “I really like the coaching staff, I really do. I like the energy, first time was a FaceTime call, I like their energy, a lot of smiles.”

Though Wheeler isn’t planning on a commitment anytime soon, she said the factors most important to her are a family feel on the team (“I don’t want to go to a school where the players have to get told to hang out with each other, they just already do it on their own”) and the ability to develop as a player with her ultimate goal of playing in the WNBA in mind. 

She doesn’t want to be stuck as a back-to-the-basket post for the rest of her career, but instead wants to expand her game out to the perimeter and become a more versatile presence.

“I feel like around the rim, I’m already unstoppable,” she said. “but if I could get that dribbling under control, and my shooting way more fluid, then I think I’m going to be good, for sure.” — Josh Verlin

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Sam Wade (2024 | Jersey Gemz HGSL 17U)

Spending her last summer of travel basketball with a new team, Sam Wade was hoping it would finally be her time to be noticed.

Instead, a really serious ankle sprain playing with the Gemz in April limited Wade’s ability to show off her game. The Germantown Academy senior is still waiting to find her home at the next level, but even an injury setback hasn’t slowed down her pursuit of one.

“I’ve been training like crazy and getting shots up but the mental piece of the game is where I’ve really been trying to get back,” Wade said on Saturday. “This is my first tournament really fully back, but even when I’m done playing in a game, it will still hurt.

“Sprains, I think, can be worse than a break.”

In Saturday’s win over the SI Bulldogs, it was a vintage Sam Wade performance. A feisty defender, Wade had five steals, two deflections and forced three tie-ups in the Gemz’ win.

GA has used her as a point guard the last two years while also asking her to mark up on defense. She’s got a good outside shot too, but it’s always going to start on the other end of the court.

“I’m not worried about the uncontrollable,” Wade said. “I’m giving it my all on my defense and that will translate to offense.”

The guard has heard from a few Division II and Division I programs, with a few extending offers to attend their prospect camps in the coming months before the high school season begins. Any opportunity is one Wade is willing to take and her hope is to stay somewhat local.

“I feel like they just haven’t seen me,” Wade said. “When I hurt my ankle, I felt like it was the most in-shape and fastest I ever was.

“That was the peak of my career, I feel like, and I want to get back there.”

As if dealing with a bad ankle injury wasn’t enough, Wade and her teammates at Germantown Academy were also waiting to see who their next coach would be. When program legend Sherri Retif announced her retirement, it left the Patriots without a head coach and not a ton of team activity at the start of the summer.

Lauren Power came over from Notre Dame earlier this month and had quite a few of the Patriots in for a workout and get-to-know session earlier in the week. It didn’t take long for her new coach to leave a positive impression.

“Just the style of play and how tough she is, I really appreciate that,” Wade said.

Wade has come back from setbacks before, noting she had a pretty similar injury to her other ankle a few years back, and knows if she does what she does best, then the right team will find her.

“I just need to get myself out there,” Wade said. “Whatever I can control when I’m out there, that’s always what I’m going to do.” — Andrew Robinson

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Zania Socka-Nguemen (2024 | Team Durant EYBL 17U)

Socka-Nguemen thought she had her recruiting journey headed towards an end: the Sidwell Friends (Md.) forward had cut her list down to five schools, took a couple official visits. 

Then came the Nike Nationals event in Chicago, the EYBL championships, and Socka realized her recruiting journey wasn’t yet over: the 6-foot-4 rising senior, who’s playing her third consecutive summer with Durant’s 17U group, was offered by Georgia, Kentucky, Florida, Oregon, Mississippi, heavy hitters indeed. Suddenly, she’s had to reassess her situation, look into some new programs and develop some new relationships, all with an intended commitment coming sooner rather than later. 

“It’s great, but [...] it’s late also in the process,” she said. “So I guess right now I have to take my time, really do my homework [...] I don’t know what my top list is going to be, but we need to narrow it down and come out with a list not too far from now.”

She’s already taken official visits to Northwestern and Michigan, with one to Georgia Tech planned. Academics will factor heavily into her commitment, she said, along with comfort within the program, NIL opportunities, and of course playing time: “If they have space at my position [matters] — I know I’ll definitely have to fight for my position, but I want to make sure I have an opportunity to, [that] it’s going to be a fair shot.”

It’s no wonder that all of these high-level programs are calling after Socka-Nguemen, who thoroughly dominated with her post play in multiple viewings this weekend. A physical presence in the paint, she’s got great hands and footwork, soft touch on her hook shot, runs the floor and defends with confidence and assertiveness. Her athleticism comes from both of her parents; her dad played college hoops at Maryland-Eastern Shore; her mom played professional handball in France. 

Around the rim is Sock-Nguemen’s realm, and she knows it. Now the work is focused on building the next level.

“Really just [working on] expanding my game,” she said. “I’m so dominant on the inside — getting rebounds, finishing, second-chance points — so now I’m just trying to build around my ball-handling and a mid-range shot. Just to be more dominant.” — Josh Verlin

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Emily Olsen (2024 | Delco Goats HGSL 17U)

Emily Olsen missed her freshman season at Garnet Valley when she injured her knee while playing soccer for the Jags.

Olsen decided to pick one sport after that.

“I realized that I missed basketball more than soccer, so I quit soccer and stuck with basketball,” Olsen said on Saturday.

Olsen, a 5-foot-10 forward, was a starter for Garnet Valley’s Central League championship squad as a sophomore in 2021-22. She was poised to be a big piece in 2022-23 as the Jaguars made another run in 2022-23 and got off to a strong start.

Five games in she re-tore the same ligament she had surgery on two years ago and had almost her entire junior campaign wiped away.

“It was hard at first, but knowing how badly I wanted to play with my team again, it was just the motivation to keep me going,” Olsen said of the recovery process. “I did PT, did extra workouts, went back to the gym just working on strength to make sure it didn’t happen again during the season.”

Olsen missed Garnet Valley’s run back to the state playoffs, but she healed up in time to join the Delco Goats at the start of their AAU season. It’s a group she’s played with for the last six years.

The 5-10 forward has strong footwork inside and an improving jump shot that helps her stretch the floor and was a big part of the Goats’ success this summer, which concluded with a run to the HGSL quarterfinals.

“I was definitely a little rusty in the beginning, but my teammates definitely helped me a lot with keeping my confidence and helping me with extra practice so I could get back to how I am now,” Olsen said.

Olsen was excited to get back on the court this summer, especially because she hopes to play at the next level. She’s been in touch with college coaches throughout the grassroots season as they have been impressed by her game.

“They said I’m very versatile,” Olsen said. “They also say they like my hustle and how I never give up on either end of the floor.”

Her first priority in a school is making sure they have her major. She wants to study criminology and minor in sociology and go into the FBI.

“I just like looking into how people’s minds work and I thought that area would be cool,” Olsen said.

Any program that gets Olsen will get more than just a standout basketball player. Her two injuries and the process to get back have only enhanced her love for the game. They will certainly continue to have an impact as she goes through her basketball career.

“It’s definitely made me appreciate it more and learn the value of hard work because after an injury you could stay down right back like that or you can rise up and just get better than you were before and I think that’s something that I really try to focus on,” Olsen said. — Owen McCue

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Quick Hits

— Cyriah Griffin (2024 | Team Durant EYBL 17U) is down to her final four schools, with a planned commitment for just a couple weeks from now. The 5-7 point guard from Virginia is choosing between VCU, UNC-Wilmington, UMass and Charlotte, with one official visit (to VCU) under her belt and scheduled ones coming up at UMass and Wilmington.The plan at the moment is to commit on August 6th, though she admitted that date doesn’t have any other particular special significance. 

“[I’m looking for] a coach who believes in me, lets me show off my talents and will trust me to run their team, because I’m a point guard,” she said, adding that out of her visits, she wanted to gauge “how you can actually get an inside look and see how things really are, not just from the outside.”

Griffin showed a smooth outside shot in multiple viewings this weekend, the corner 3-pointer about as good as a layup for her, but she also was a high-efficiency player who had more assists (five) than shots taken (four) in a win over the Albany Capitals.

“I facilitate, I get everybody involved,” she said. “Drive and kick, get everybody shots going — when my shot isn’t going, getting everybody else’s shots going.”

— Just as one Big Thing leaves the Northeast corner of the state, another Small one emerges. Ciera Toomey has moved on from Dunmore High School, the five-star forward now at North Carolina, much to the relief of her opponents. Next up appears to be Zya Small (2027 | NEPA Elite 14U), a 6-foot-1 wing forward with a high ceiling and a bright future ahead of her assuming she continues to build on her foundation. 

Small has already picked up offers from Boston College, Arizona State and Penn State before she’s even begun high school, all of those programs intrigued by her combination of size and athleticism, easy to project her game out to the wing over the next four years, even as most of her current production comes around the rim.

“I think Zya’s probably the closest thing to Ciera we’ll see,” said Kevin Clark, NEPA’s program director, who also coaches the 14U squad. “Who knows after that, but it’s very fortunate for us that we’re able to get talent right out of her own community that close together. It’s been really good basketball for the area the past few years.”