City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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The first session of Philly Live 2024 brought nearly 200 boys teams to the City of Brotherly Love from all over the region — Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware were well-represented, but teams from as far away as Florida came up for three days of competition in front of college coaches of all levels.

CoBL’s writers spent the weekend at both Jefferson University and the Philadelphia Youth Basketball ‘6th Man’ Center catching up with local teams and prospects of note. Here’s a notebook featuring updates on several District 1 programs:

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(Ed. Note: Links to all of our 2024 Philly Live I content can be found at the bottom of this article)

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Spring-Ford seniors excited about young backcourt

Spring-Ford senior Jacob Nguyen was in the Rams starting lineup as a freshman. Classmate Tommy Kelly joined him a year later. 

The two former AAU teammates have helped Spring-Ford go 54-12 over the past two seasons, go to two Pioneer Athletic Championship games, win one PAC title and make a name for themselves on the state and district stage.

Two of the best players in the PAC will return together for one final season ready to lead a group with a few new sidekicks looking poised to make their own names for themselves.

“100 percent,” Kelly said about enjoying the mentorship role. “I love this team, and I love watching everybody play.”

Nguyen was one half of a dynamic backcourt the last three seasons alongside E.J. Campbell. The first team All-PAC guard was the team’s leading scorer last season and leaves a big hole at the point guard spot.

In steps one of the of the eyecatchers of the first live period, junior 5-11 guard Syaire Barnes. A JV player as a sophomore, he’s yet to prove himself at the varsity level but showed some signs as a difference-making scorer and distributor in multiple games over the weekend.

“You gotta watch out for him,” Kelly said.

He said junior Blake Turner, who saw some time last season, is another important part for the Rams for the backcourt. Nguyen concurred.

“Those two are key pieces to our team, both our point guards,” Nguyen said.

Jake Dellangelo is the other key piece gone from last year’s team along with Campbell. Missouri football commit Matt Zollers, a Top 5 QB recruit in the country, didn’t suit up for the Rams this weekend after making a major impact last season. Oben Mokonchu, a 6-foot-7 junior forward, was out with an injury. Seniors Jordan Marsilio and Luke Pufko are two older role players returning who can contribute in a number of ways. 

Kelly and Nguyen are both prospects for the next level. Kelly is hearing from D-IIIs Wilkes, Catholic (D.C.), Scranton and York. 

Nguyen picked up offers from D-Is Bryant, Albany, Drexel and Bucknell last summer before adding William & Mary and Lafayette to the mix last fall and UPenn in February. He said that group is pretty much the list that’s talking to him right now, adding that he’s been hearing from the Ivys, including Yale and Columbia, and Air Force recently reached out. He’s hoping to take a trip "soon" to William & Mary, who has been recruiting him for about a year.

The Rams won the PAC title, went to the District 1-6A championship and went to the PIAA semifinals in 2022-23. They couldn’t quite replicate those results in 2023-24 with a PAC title game loss to Phoenixville and district opening loss to Garnet Valley. However, they were a few possessions away from another state semifinal trip, coming up just short against Archbishop Wood in the quarterfinal round.

“20 wins, go to states, go to the PAC Finals,” Kelly said. “It’s the same three goals every year.”

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La Salle College HS looks to take next step

While the results didn’t look too different in the standings, Hayes Altomare could feel a difference at La Salle College HS last season. The Explorers went 9-13 (2-11 PCL) in Altomare’s sophomore campaign and followed with an 8-14 (3-10 PCL) mark in 2023-24.

But there were quite a few tight losses in the Catholic League against St. Joe’s Prep (78-75), Devon Prep (74-70), Archbishop Carroll (49-48), Archbishop Wood (68-64) and even Cardinal O’Hara (65-57) and Father Judge (89-80) that suggested La Salle wasn’t far from climbing up a rung or two in the league.

“Last year we were in a lot of really tough games and couldn’t finish them,” Altomare said. “But I feel like through that we’ll work with that this offseason, learn with each individual and come out next year and figure out how we can actually win those games instead of coming up short and make a run in the PCL playoffs this year.”

Second-year coach Ryan Ansel will have a whole offseason to work with his squad as they prepare to try and make that ascent. He’ll have senior Nick Parisi — one of the PCL”s breakout stars of 2023-24 — back to lead the way alongside returning starters Altomare, a 6-2 guard, and junior 6-8 forward Grayson McKeogh.

On Saturday, the Explorers were without  Ansel (in Sweden for an old teammate’s wedding), Parisi (on a school service trip) and stud football player Joey O’Brien, who should be a key rotation piece, but still managed to hang with a talented Akron Buchtel (Ohio) squad.

“I feel like we definitely know what our competition is,” McKeogh said. For a lot of us last year, we were a younger team. We are again this year. We know what to face, we know what we’re about to face and we just need to understand that there are a lot of good teams but we are one of them.”

Junior 6-3 wing Franklin Gilbert had a strong game shooting the basketball Saturday and has been someone Altomare and McKeogh have noticed taking strides this offseason. Junior 6-1 guard Prestin Washington is likely to slide into the starting spot at point.

Senior 6-1 guard Cole Santiago is one of three seniors with Parisi and Altomare. There’s a few other juniors and a large group of sophomores, including 6-6 forward Mack O’Neill, 6-3 wing/guard Brayden Erfle and 5-9 guard Rex Helstrom pushing the upperclassmen as they look to take the next step.

“Our whole bench and depth is full of a bunch of young guys who have something to prove and have a chip on their shoulder,” Altomare said. “They want to come out and maybe they’re looking for theirs but at the end of the day they want to win just as bad as everyone else on the floor. If we can teach the young guys our system and get them to trust what we do, I think we’ll be very successful this year.” 

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Constitution with plenty to replace after deep runs

Constitution made its way to the Philadelphia Public League and state semifinals last season — a semi-regular occurrence for the Generals. 

Expectations won’t change heading into this season despite 86 percent of last year’s scoring gone.

"I want to win a state and a Pub chip,” said senior Khair White-Blaylock, who has been with the Generals all four years. “This is my last year, I gotta get it all.”

Constitution will rely on a lot of new faces as they once again chase their lofty goals. The team’s top four scorers, including All-Public League players Kyree Latimer, Perry Fields and Amir Speights, are gone. Seniors Khaleek Johnson (4.2 ppg) and White-Blaylock (2.8 ppg) are top scorers returning.

Johnson has some length and finish ability to step into a larger scoring role this season. He has a skillset that could help him become the go-to guy for the Generals. White-Blaylock was one of the table setters for the Generals last season and will look to add some scoring to his plate on a team with unestablished stars.

“Set up the offense, get everyone involved, I was one of them type of guys,” White-Blaylock said. “I’mma have to be a leader, score, I’m gonna have to defend. I’m gonna have to do it all, and I’m ready to take that big role on.”

“(Coach Rob Moore) told us he’s expecting a lot from us, and we can’t shy away from it.”

Alantay Dawson looks like a nice addition that should help. Dawson, a 6-3 wing, averaged 5.2 ppg for MCS during runs to the PPL title game and state semifinals. White-Blaylock said to keep an eye out for defensive stalwart Isaiah Cooke, a 6-4 wing who played in 15 games last season, junior Chaz Hannah, a 6-5 shotmaker, and junior Ibrahim Mahmoud, a 5-10 creator.

Per usual, the Generals don’t have the biggest group, but White-Blaylock anticipates they’re going to be aggressive and continue to gel as the offseason progresses.

“I think the only thing we gotta improve on is gang rebounding because we’re gonna be undersized," he said. "I feel like we all gotta collectively rebound. Every minute of every game.”

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Lincoln’s Russell looks like breakout candidate

Another Public League semifinalist with a lot to replace is Lincoln.

The Rail Splitters lost their top four players from last season with Aldonis Martin (Manor College), Malachi Montgomery (CCP) and Samair Peterson (Cheyney) all playing college basketball  and their fourth double-figure scorer Mason Smith, a potential Division I football recruit, playing elsewhere.

The scoring gap has left plenty of room for the growth of 6-6 senior forward Javere Russell so far this offseason.

“He’s been making strides,” coach Brandon Moultrie said. “He’s my rising senior and he hasn’t always done it verbally, but his game is starting to elevate and take itself to the next level.”

Russell averaged just 1.2 ppg last season. A 28-point, 13-rebound outing against Cedar Creek (N.J.) on Sunday suggested he might be one of the PPL players to keep an eye on for a breakout campaign.

“I think Russell made the biggest jump because he was defensive minded and now he’s offensive minded," Moultrie said.

Junior guard Dajon Smith is a 6-foot-2 guard who averaged 4.3 ppg as a sophomore. He’s the team’s top returning scorer and will slide into the point guard role this season. Senior guards Chamar Logan-Tull and Sabree Rafi are two of the rotation players from a season ago Moultrie has seen take strides.

“Last year they had the luxury of playing with people who took the load off of them, so they could play more defensively,” Moultrie said. “… Now, they have become better two-way players.”

He has some high hopes for several others in the rotation, particularly with the way they can shoot the basketball. But they’re still an inexperienced group that just started playing together about a month ago in a spring league in preparation for Philly Live. 

“Believe it or not from Day 1 until this day, I’ve started to see them improve, a lot of teaching,” Moultrie said. 

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Souderton poised to make noise

Souderton hasn’t reached the District 1 tournament since 2020. The program hasn’t won a district game since 2014.

Entering his fourth year with the program, coach Okoteh Sackitey has his eyes on changing that this season — and maybe competing for the program’s first Suburban One League division championship since 2015 while they’re at it.

“We think we can play with anybody in the district,” Sackitey said. “We’re not a team that backs down.”

His team certainly looked like it Sunday with a win over Smyrna (Del.). They built some momentum earlier this spring against some good programs in the West Chester Spring League.

Sackitey’s team went 12-10 (9-7 Colonial) last season, finishing fourth in the division and at No. 27 in the District 1-6A power rankings, which sat three spots out of the 24-team field. They lost four games by one possession, including two in the division to CB East and North Penn. The other two were crossover matchups with Bensalem and Council Rock South.

They’ll miss all-league guard Bill Sackor, but junior 5-10 guard Chanse Salone will be a third-year varsity player next season and 5-10 sharpshooter Nolan Watkins will be back alongside him in the starting lineup. The team’s sixth man Trey Bui, a 6-0 guard, will likely join them in the starting five. 

Salone could be one of the top players back in the SOL this season, definitely in the Colonial Division where he was a second-team all-league selection a season ago.

“Chanse is maturing really nicely,” Sackitey said. “Nolan started every game last year as a junior. … So we have some experience with the guards.”

What could elevate Souderton this season is the team’s frontcourt — or its backline on defense.

Senior 6-6 forward Thaddues Harter was a swingman last season and senior 6-7 forward Grady Kovach was on the JV team in his first season of organized basketball.

They won’t be the team’s primary offensive options, but they can help out on the glass and they’re both deterrents on defense. Harter swatted five shots in the win over Smyrna. They're also willing screeners, happy to free up the team's sharpshooters for open looks.

“We’ve got the length in the backline,” Sackitey said. “We’ve got experience and quickness in the front and everyone is just committed to winning games and figuring out how to get it done, so I’m excited for the season. … They’re just locked in.”

They appear primed to put together back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2013-14 and 2014-15 and certainly have the potential to make some noise if things continue to come together.

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2024 Philly Live Session I Standouts
Jefferson Day 1 | PYB Day 1 | Jefferson Day 2 | PYB Day 2 | Jefferson Day 3 | PBY Day 3 |

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2024 Philly Live Session I Coverage
Team Notebook Pt. 1: St. Joe’s Prep, Archbishop Ryan, West Catholic
Team Notebook Pt. 2: Upper Dublin, Bishop Shanahan, William Tennent
Team Notebook Pt. 3: Conestoga, Downingtown West, Abington
Team Notebook Pt. 4: Spring-Ford, La Salle, Constitution, Lincoln, Souderton

Recruiting Notebook Pt. 1: Matt Gardler, Jayden Taylor, Isaac Cole

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