City of Basketball Love

By Mike Gross
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MANHEIM - The April live evaluation weekend began Friday with more than 400 different grassroots teams descending on Spooky Nook for the Live! At the Nook event, which also featured the Select Events P24 and S40 circuits. 

Here’s the second part of our recruiting coverage from the weekend; CLICK HERE for Pt. 1:

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Kendall Chiavelli (2027 | Lady Running Rebels HGSL 16U)

Chiavelli is a junior at Downingtown East. and like most of the Rebels, spends the spring and summer playing with teammates who are rivals during the high school season.

“I think it’s pretty fun,’’ she said. “I’ve seen some girls I know the past couple weeks, and it’s fun to joke around with them.’’

John Russo, who coaches Perkiomen Valley High in the winter and assists a rival, Downingtown East’s Darren Domsohn, with the Rebels says love of the game is the common denominator.

“If you’re playing on the A level of an AAU team, you love the sport of basketball, right?’’ he said. “The love of the game brings you all together. We don’t even think about our high school season now. We just want to help the kids who are here. They get along great.’’

Downingtown East went 23-6 last year, although it lost three of its last five, including to rival Downingtown West for the Ches-Mont League championship. East reached the second round of the 6A state playoffs before losing to Haverford.

At 5-9, Chiavelli is making a familiar transition from a youth-league post player to a more rounded, perimeter game. After flashing some impressive moments as a freshman, she became one of the Cougars’ go-to scorers as a sophomore, the only one in a lineup otherwise full of juniors who have high expectations for 2025-26.

“I really want to work on being stronger with the ball and being more aggressive,’’ she said. “For AAU, last year we won the (Hoop Group Showcase League) championship so I’d really like to do that again.’’

The summer league style of play demands aggressiveness.

“It teaches us toughness,’’ Chiavelli said. “We have to play with their physicality, because if we don’t, they’re going to punch us in the mouth.’’

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Naiya Murphy (2026 | WeR1 Lady Sharks)

Murphy is a long (6-0), versatile forward who can post up, shoot from beyond the arc and create her own shot off the dribble. She led the U17 Lady Sharks to a 37-32 win over Washington, D.C.-based Team Museum Friday in what was a two-point game with 11 seconds left.

“I think I’m a wing,’’ she said. “(This summer) I’m hoping to improve my shooting and also play team basketball, passing it better. And, of course, get myself seen.’’

Murphy lives in West Grove, Pa. and attended Avon Grove High as a freshman and sophomore. Prior to her junior year, she transferred to Ursuline Academy, about a half-hour commute away in Wilmington, Del.

Her Lady Sharks teammates are all from Delaware.

“It’s a higher level of basketball, better coaching,’’ she said. “I was going to stay and try to build a community at Avon Grove, but (Ursuline) came to get me.’’

Murphy said she’s heard from a number at Patriot League schools, including Lafayette and Navy.

Members of the Navy coaching staff were at the Nook Friday.

Yes, she said, the military lifestyle appeals.

“I love the structure (at Navy),’’ she said. “I’ve talked to the coach there many times, and I love the lifestyle.’’

An honor student, Murphy said she wants to major in “auto-mechanical engineering, or any kind of engineering.’’

She said if a school that didn’t have the right major offered a scholarship, “I would turn them down. It’s really school-based for me.’’

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Allie Esposito (2027 | Lady Running Rebels HGSL 16U)

Esposito, a sophomore, is fresh off Lansdale Catholic’s run to the state 4A championship game in March, where it lost a narrow 48-45 decision to Neumann-Goretti. She scored eight points, including two three-pointers, and grabbed five rebounds in that game.

At 6-0, her range and perimeter skills make her an intriguing prospect.

“I want to be able to score a little more myself,’’ she said. “In AAU, you have to be strong, physical and score through contact.’’

This is Esposito’s first run with the Rebels after coming over from the Lehigh Valley Fever.

“It’s actually really fun,’’ she said. “I’ve been wanting to play with them for a while.’’

Esposito said she’s already heard from colleges in all three divisions, including Division Is Lehigh, Loyola (Md.) and Manhattan.

“I think I want to go into something like criminal justice,’’ she said. “It’s all very preliminary at this point, but I’m open to anything.’’ 

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Avery Kocur (2026 | PA Royals)

Just seconds into her team’s game with Rhode Island Basketball Club Friday, Kocur rifled a long, quarterback-style pass that a teammate wasn’t expecting. It ended up in the bleachers.

Kocur soon tried it again and again and again, all three leading to layups. She looked, running the show in her team’s 57-47 win, very much like a pure, pass-first point guard.

“That’s mostly because there’s a big difference for me between high school and AAU,’’ said Kocur, who averaged 18.3 points a game as a junior at William Tennent last season.

“My high school team isn’t as good, so I am definitely more of a score-first point guard. But on this team? It makes sense.’’

She scored Saturday by slashing to the rim and, occasionally, on clever cuts without the ball. 

Kocur has been with the Royals since fifth grade. The entire time, she’s played on the back end of the club’s zone press.

“I’ve always felt like the smartest player has to be in your back row,,’’ said Royals’ coach Ray Horn. “She has to have the instincts to not get beat for the touchdown, but also to get those steals. Her instincts are awesome.’’

Kocur said two Division IIs, Holy Family and Kutztown, are actively recruiting her. She wouldn’t say it’s necessarily going to be one or the other, on the hope that other schools get involved.

“Let’s see how the season goes,’’ she said.

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