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Temple Team Camp: Day 2 Notebook (June 27)

06/27/2015, 7:45pm EDT

By Josh Verlin

Jack Goodwillie (@jackgoodwillie) &
Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Temple’s practice facility in Pearson-McGonigle Hall was buzzing all day Saturday, as the Owls’ high school team camp continued with seven sets of action taking place on six courts throughout the building.

Some of Philly’s top high school programs took the court with quite a few other area teams, joined by some schools from New York, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland.

Here’s a notebook from the second day of action:

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Constitution dealing with near-total roster overhaul
For the first time in three offseasons, Constitution head coach Rob Moore has a lot of empty spaces to fill in his rotation.

Since their sophomore year, recent graduates Ahmad Gilbert (Minnesota), Kimar Williams (Florida International), Akeem King and Haneef Vaughn had formed a reliable core for Moore, one that brought him dozens upon dozens of wins--not to mention two PIAA state titles.

It’s the second real core group of players that Moore has had at the Philadelphia magnet school, whose basketball team is still less than eight years old. That one, led by Division I recruits Savon Goodman and Daiquan Walker, also brought a state championship back to the school.

Now he gets to find who will be the next stalwarts for the Generals.

“I went through this when Savon and Daiquan and Fajion (Jones) and Tamir (Bolger) graduated three years ago, so it’s just part of the process,” Moore said. “I get an opportunity to see these young guys and see what they’re made of and see where they’re at.”

He’ll have a few veterans left to assemble those young players around, led by rising seniors Anthony Satchell, Nasir Randolph and Khalif Kroma, but there’s no doubt that Moore will have to rely on some underclassman if the Generals are going to have any chance at a third PIAA title in a row.

Those young players will have a very good role model in that regard in Anthony Satchell, a 6-foot guard who served as both a starter and sixth man last season. The team’s leading returning scorer (5.9 ppg), Satchell is a high-energy defender who will be the lead-by-example type to show the way for the future of the program.

“It’s his team, so everything is going to revolve around what tone he sets in practice, in games; he’s got those leadership qualities,” Moore said. “Just sets the tone in practice, plays hard and if you don’t play to his level, then he’s going to let you know.”

“I’m confident that the kids aren’t going to stray from his leadership, that’s for sure.”

Moore certainly got a good look at his young crop in the team’s last game of the day, a romp over St. Thomas More (Del.). With his team comfortably up double-digits against an overmatched opponent, Moore was able to insert a group that included rising freshmen Abdul Riggins, Naeem Mapp and Jihad Saunders plus rising sophomores Jerry Andrews-Fulton and Hakim Hudson.

Everybody in the group made plays as Constitution cruised to victory.

“They came out and they competed, they played hard, and that’s the most important thing for those young guys,” Moore said. “If I’m going to lose with youth, you’re going to have to play hard, there’s no excuses for not playing hard."

Of course, losing isn’t really in the plans for Moore. Though he’s not going to challenge this year’s squad with the same national schedule that they played last year, he expects that his group will take their bumps and bruises along the way to success just like the ones before did.

“Those guys have to be seasoned a little bit more,” he said, “but I think by February and March those guys will be ready to step up.”

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Chestnut Hill hoping future is bright behind Anderson
If Springside-Chestnut Hill is going to emerge from the murky waters of the local basketball landscape and emerge as a team worth watching, it’s going to be under the leadership of Justin Anderson.

That’s a lot to ask for a rising sophomore, but the 6-foot-2 guard (pictured above) certainly represents the most talented player to come through the school in quite a few years. And he knows that he’s going to have to take on a heavier load than most of his classmates both locally and nationally.

“I’m trying to work on leading my team to have as much success as possible,” Anderson said. “I’m trying to become a better leader out there by working out, working on my ball handling and my passing and also by talking and communicating.”

The Blue Devils will be looking to improve on a dismal 7-20 season, which in itself was an attempt to improve on a 7-18 season the previous year. That season was meant to build upon a 10-15 2013. Their last winning season came in 2012, when they barely eclipsed .500 at 12-11.

At a glance it is easy to overlook why this season can buck the losing trend.

While the young and talented Anderson is one reason, a young core that is eager to improve has head coach Jamie Chadwin believing his team can take the next step.

“We need Justin to lead,” Chadwin said. “Sean Simon shoots it very well and is getting better with every opportunity he gets. Zuri Peyton is another one that’s getting better. [Peyton] and Conor McAdoo will both be juniors. Bruce Howard will be a senior, and Bruce is our lunch pail guy. He does a lot of the little things and usually against guys that are bigger than him.”

Chadwin knows his kids are coachable and has spent the last year developing a system he believes his group can thrive in. In order for it to work, he will need to get the Blue Devils to play fundamental team basketball. If he can, he will be able to put his players in a position to be successful.

“My job with this group is that I have to get them to realize the importance of each possession and compete whether it’s on offense or defense,” Chadwin said. “They’re great character kids and they’re very coachable. You can see that we’re not a big group physically and we’re not imposing when you look at us.

“We’re trying to get those five fingers together to be a fist and not be an open hand and be a little more powerful as a group.”

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Temple remains in the mix for NY guard
Since we last caught up with Quinton Rose at the EYBL’s stop at Boo Williams in April, the rising senior from Bishop Kearney (N.Y.) has seen his offer list nearly double, with plenty of high-majors come aboard.

Miami (Fl.), Rutgers, Seton Hall, Southern Methodist and Rhode Island all extended scholarships during the April live periods, but as as the months approach July there are two schools that are putting in the most work for the 6-foot-5 combo guard.

Temple was a school that Rose was certainly very interested in back in April, and that hasn’t changed a bit. So playing in the north Philly school’s practice gym under the watchful eye of the Temple coaching staff--which there were multiple members of at each of his games--might very well be something that continues beyond this weekend.

“It feels good,” he said. “I really feel comfortable here, definitely.”

The other main suitor for Rose’s services right now is another American Athletic Conference school, SMU. Head coach Larry Brown offered Rose in late April after the second live period, and Rose said he hears from the former Sixers coach and assistant Jerry Hobbie “three to four times per week.”

He plans on taking official visits to both schools, seeing Southern Methodist in August and Temple either the last weekend of August or the first weekend in September. Another school that could potentially receive a visit is Stanford, who Rose says is in touch about once per week; if they offer after Peach Jam, expect the Pac-12 school to get a visit as well.

Rose showed off why his recruitment has reached high-major territory with two strong performances on Saturday afternoon, in a win over Reading and a loss to Imhotep Charter. He’s perfectly capable of being a point guard with great size, but Rose can really score the ball when he wants to, knocking down pull-up 3-pointers and finishing some tough buckets through contact.

“They’re just telling me I was playing (well), I’ve got to keep getting my teammates involved,” he said. “And they were talking about July, where I would be, stuff like that.”

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Germantown’s McCloskey facing tough decision
Kyle McCloskey has a good problem on his hands.

On the basketball court, he can do a little bit of everything and will be one of Germantown Academy’s primary contributors heading into next season.

On the football field, he is the starting quarterback for the Patriots, and has received plenty of interest from Division I colleges, with genetics on his side. His father Mike, a former tight end won a national championship with Penn State 1982 before going on to play in the NFL with the Houston Oilers and Philadelphia Eagles from 1983-87.

Conventional wisdom says that playing two varsity sports in high school inhibits the ability to dedicate the time to one of them that is necessary to grow and improve. McCloskey does not share this sentiment and believes football has helped him grow his basketball skillset and vice-versa.

“I think [playing both sports] definitely helps me,” he said. “I’m a quarterback and I see the field and everything so that helps me be a better passer on the court because I can diagnose where people are and know where the ball needs to go.

“I think running the football and being physical that way helps me get into the lane and be physical in the lane, so I think they correlate.”

At 6-foot-4 and 205-pounds, McCloskey has the prototypical size required to be a pro-style quarterback and has received interest from Temple, Penn State, Duke, Boston College, Purdue, Virginia, Wake Forest and Richmond.

Collegiate interest in McCloskey as a basketball player has not been as significant. He has received interest from varying Ivy League schools as well as Lafayette.

While he has time to figure out which sport he wants to play the most, McCloskey knows that a potentially life altering decision is looming for him.

“I love them both,” McCloskey said. “I can’t really compare them because they’re different. I’m going to be a junior so I’ll make my decision on what I want to focus on soon but I love them both. I can’t really decide right now. I am leaning towards football, but I love basketball so much and it’s hard to see myself giving that up.”