City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
—

The 2025 edition of the Donofrio Classic saw its second round continue on Tuesday night, April 8, with a pair of high-intensity games as some of the area’s top talent fought for a spot in next week’s quarterfinal round. 

Here’s a report from the evening; CLICK HERE to access our 2025 Donofrio Classic coverage hub:

~~~

Game One: Marathon Sport 112, PA Hoops 111 (2OT)

It took 13 games of the 2025 Donofrio Classic, but we finally had an overtime game at the Fellowship House. And just one extra period wasn’t enough to settle things, as M-Sport and PA Hoops went right down to the wire. Archbishop Wood senior Mike Green played hero, his long two-pointer from the corner delivering a win and capping off a 19-point outing that saw him knock down five triples. Northwestern signee Jake West (2025 | Penn Charter) had a monster game with 39 points for M-Sport, including a game-tying 3-pointer with 30 seconds left in overtime, while recent Lock Haven commit Devon Nelson (2025 | Bonner-Prendergast) added 25, including a big 3-pointer early in double overtime, while fellow Bonner senior Tysicere Jackson added 11 points and Archbishop Carroll junior Christian Matos scored 10. 

PA Hoops got its own standout effort from Temple commit Cam Wallace (2025 | Westtown School), who hit five 3-pointers as part of a 30-point game, while his classmate Jahmare Memphis (2025 | Westtown) scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half and overtime, including the go-ahead free-throws with 28 seconds left in double overtime before Green’s game-winner. Swarthmore commit Reece Craft (2025 | Devon Prep) scored 24 of his own and had a double-double’s worth of rebounds as well, and Adam Walker (2025 | Westtown School) added 17 points and a strong handful of blocks.

Game Two: Danny Rumph 93, Philly Hoop Group 87

Things got close at the end, but a talented group from Danny Rumph led for most of the way against Philly Hoop Group in a game absolutely loaded with talent. R.J. Smith (2026 | Imhotep Charter) led a balanced offense for Rumph with 21 points, going 8-of-8 from the foul line in the second half, but five of his teammates joined him in double figures: Jarrell Little (2025 | Dobbins Tech) scored 18, Idris Rines (2025 | Upper Dublin) scored 17, Sammy Jackson (2026 | Roman Catholic) hit three 3-pointers as part of 15 points, South Florida commit Onyx Nnani (2025 | Phelps School) scored 11, and C.J. Miller (2025 | Roman Catholic) scored 11. Philly Hoop Group got another outstanding performance from George School junior Peyton Miler, who slashed and drove his way to 30 points, while Munir Greig (2027 | Archbishop Carroll) scored 19 points and Marvin Reed (2027 | Malvern Prep) scored 15.

~~~

Bonner’s Nelson makes quick PSAC swap

It all happened quicker than expected for Devon Nelson. 

The Bonner-Prendergast grad had been committed to Millersville since late last summer, but he changed his mind in March, posting on March 20 that he was re-opening his recruitment. He figured it would take a little while for a suitor to come back around, planning on playing grassroots hoops in April and May to get his mane back out there. 

Instead, exactly 15 days later, he posted that he had found a new destination in Lock Haven, moving from one PSAC East program to another. 

“I didn’t think Millersville was the best fit for me,” Nelson told CoBL, “so I decommitted. And the same day I decommitted, I posted it on Twitter and [Lock Haven] coach [Mike] Nestor texted me. [...] He reached out to me, we got to talking, I went out for a visit, got the offer the same day, and committed a couple days later.

“I was definitely thinking about playing AAU,” he added, “but once Lock Haven reached out, I kind of threw AAU out of the window.”

After sitting out his entire junior year at Bonner due to a transfer dispute following his move to Drexel Hill and transfer out of Upper Merion, Nelson averaged 12.8 ppg and 3.2 rpg as a senior for Bonner, which finished 18-9 and in the PIAA Class 5A state quarterfinals. 

A strong, athletic 6-2 combo guard, he shot 52.8% from the floor and 33-of-88 (37.5%) from 3-point range, tending to play off the ball in a Bonner backcourt that featured two talented sophomore point guards in Kam Jackson and Korey Francis. 

Nestor, a 1995 Bonner grad who’s been at Lock Haven the last 14 years, had a number of other Catholic League products on the roster this year including junior Mike Knouse, freshmen LaQuan Byrd (Father Judge) and redshirt freshman Blake Deegan (Archbishop Carroll). All three were big parts of LHU’s rotation this year (15-13, 12-9 PSAC); Byrd averaged 7.0 ppg, fourth on the team, in just 16.4 mpg off the bench, while Deegan started 25 of 26 games (5.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg) and Knouse started 13 of 28 appearances (2.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg). 

“(Nestor) told me he thinks I can get great minutes as a freshman like LaQuan Byrd last year,” Nelson said. “He told me they graduated six senior guards, so I can definitely come in and step in and play right away.”

~~~

Wood senior Mike Green narrowing in on college options

It’s been a while since Mike Green had a moment like he did on Wednesday night. 

In the basketball realm, there’s few things that match the rush of hitting a true buzzer-beater in a knockout setting, and doing it in a crowded Fellowship House gym followed by a teammate mobbing was a new one for the Archbishop Wood senior, who was still getting dapped up by just about everybody that walked by him in the lobby 15 minutes after his big shot.

“I don’t think I ever hit one like that,” he said. I hit some in middle school, but nothing that crazy.”

A Catholic League veteran who went from a key reserve as an underclassman for the Vikings into one of their leaders and one of the area’s best shooters as a senior, Green has had no shortage of college attention. He’s whittled things down to two programs, both of which will take him across the Delaware River and into New Jersey: Georgian Court and Montclair State. 

Georgian Court, a D-II program, is under the direction of Dave Fedor, who just wrapped up his first year as head coach as he tries to kick-start a program that’s yet to have a winning season in 12 years of existence. Montclair State, which plays at the D-III level, is coming off a 22-7 (14-4) year in the NJAC, a league consisting entirely of Garden State schools like Rowan, Stocktown, William Paterson, TCNJ and more. 

Head coach Justin Potts has been on him, like Fedor, since last year, the two coaches recruiting him all throughout this senior year. As a senior, he averaged 10.3 ppg while going 63-of-141 (44.7%) from downtown, with 2.3 apg and 2.0 rpg.

“My last two schools are both great coaches, so that’s what makes the decision so hard,” Green said. “[They’re the] two best coaches that talked to me.”

Green said a decision is likely coming in the next few weeks, having seen what he needs to see from each. 

“I’ll see where I see myself playing and (if) they fit my game the best,” he said. “I’m hoping in the next two or three weeks. I just (visited each) the last few weeks, so now it’s just talking to my parents. We’re not rushing it too much.”

~~~

Adam Walker ready for return to EYBL

Two years ago, Adam Walker played on the Nike EYBL circuit with Meanstreets, out of his hometown of Chicago. It was a level that was a significant challenge for the young big man, who found himself more comfortable the following summer — last year — on the Hoop Group circuit with Young & Reckless. 

“I wouldn’t say it was too big for me, but I definitely wasn’t as prepared as I am now,” he told CoBL. “And as I think I should have been.”

So consider this a summer of redemption. 

After a move to Westtown and a reclassification to the 2026 year, Walker is playing this summer with Team Durant, back on the EYBL. And the 6-foot-11, 205-pound forward/center wants to show he’s ready to be a high-major presence, with schools from the Big Ten, Big East and ACC interested. 

Walker came to Westtown from Romeoville (Ill.) last year, joining a rotation that included numerous mid-to-high-major Division I commits in Cam Wallace (Temple), Jayden Forsythe (Xavier) and more. 

“It was definitely an adjustment,” he said. “It was an adjustment to the  competition and the speed of everything but I was able to adjust and pick up the game and understand the game at a higher level than I was before.”

A lanky post, Walker is a high-level rim-protector, which he showed with no fewer than four or five emphatic rejections during Wednesday night’s competition. He’s an easy lob-catching threat with good hands, and he’s flashed face-up abilities with good upside throughout the season. 

“I feel like I’m able to see the game better and act on what I see,” he said, “as far as being aggressive and how the game develops. So the game has moved at a faster pace for me and I feel like I’m able to keep up now.”

Walker said the main schools currently asking after him are Creighton, Virginia Tech and Penn State, though none of those schools have offered thus far; he also said his Team Durant coaches mentioned Maryland as a school that would be coming to see him during the EYBL circuit’s first live weekend in May. 

“This summer, I just want to show that I’m ready for college,” he said. “As far as rebounding, protecting the rim, that’s really my focus. I know the offense is going to come, but I want to show that I can be aggressive and I’m ready for high-level basketball.”

Quick Hit
— Onyx Nnani’s college plans changed somewhat unexpectedly at the end of last month. The Phelps School senior had been committed to play for  Bryan Hodgson at Arkansas State since last year, but Hodgson’s back-to-back 20-win seasons at ASU got him the job at South Florida, where he was announced as the head coach on March 24. The night he got the job, Nnani said, Hodgson was on the phone, telling him he wanted the 6-foot-9 wing/forward to follow him to the American Athletic Conference. 

“Out of all the coaches that recruited me, I liked Ccach Bryan the most, so when I heard he got a new job, it wasn’t really a hard decision to make,” Nnani said. “And he wanted me to come, so I was all for it. It’s just an opportunity to showcase my talents and skills on an even bigger stage and I’m excited.”