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Hoop Group Summer Jam Fest: Day 2 Notebook

07/19/2015, 12:15am EDT

By Josh Verlin

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
—

MANHEIM, Pa. — There’s no crazier tournament all year long than the Hoop Group’s Summer Jam Fest at Spooky Nook Sports.

The continent’s largest indoor sports facility hosts a few hundred AAU teams from 13U up to 17U for what amounts to 48 hours of insanity, with every team guaranteed at least three games on the facility’s 26 basketball courts, which only make up part of the 700,000-square-foot, two-story facility.

Here’s a notebook from Saturday’s action:

Pat Andree (2016/F/Jersey Shore Warriors)
Even as this 6-foot-8 stretch forward from Christian Brothers Academy (N.J.) continues to expand his recruitment, he's focusing in on the finish line.

He picked up an offer from Lafayette the other night, adding to a list that also includes Lehigh, Holy Cross, George Washington, American, Princeton, Yale, Penn and Vermont.

That's the fourth Patriot League school on the list, and with those schools showing some of the heaviest interest, it's certainly a conference that Andree could see himself in next fall.

“I think it would be a good league for me, I think I fit in well with the caliber of players,” he said. “Some people would say I could go higher, but it’s not about how high you go, it’s about how you adapt to the environment and how you fit in the league.”

Lehigh, which offered last year, is still chasing after Andree, with head coach Brett Reed in attendance at the Warriors’ game against the B.C. Eagles on Saturday afternoon.

He’s visited the Allentown, Pa. school a few months back, and they seem one likely candidate to get an official visit in August.

“I like them a lot, one of my favorite coaching staffs to talk to,” Andree said. “I’ve really bonded with them and I think I fit in well at the school.”

Another Patriot League school that seems in good position is Holy Cross

Andree has one close connection to the school already--his sister, Katie, is an alumna of the Worcester (Mass.) college, though he said that doesn’t give them an advantage aside from his familiarity with the school.

“I knew the campus and I knew how they felt about basketball about there, and I know they have a great tradition,” he said. “I like coach (Kevin) Driscoll a lot...I just met coach (Bill) Carmody but he seems like a really nice guy.”

Davidson, Richmond and William & Mary have also reached out and showed interest, but he's not worried about pulling in more higher-level offers before the end of the July recruiting period.

With a targeted decision date in early September so he can focus on his high school senior season, Andree is getting ready to wrap up his recruitment.

“It’s time for me to figure out which school I fit into best at,” he said, reinforcing a point he made earlier. “It’s not really a matter of how high the league is, it’s just how I fit with the team.”

~~~

Anthony Johnson (2016/PF/Team Supernatural)
Things are looking up for Johnson (pictured above), who’s back home in Harrisburg after spending the last two years at Glen Mills School.

Glen Mills, located in Delaware County, is a unique juvenile detention facility whose stated mission is “to change anti-social behavior to pro-social and...to provide the necessary life skills to sustain that change.”

Johnson attributes his being there in the first place to “not going to school,” but he’ll be back in school this fall at Harrisburg High School, hoping to contribute for the Cougars for the first time in his high school career.

“I changed how I am as a person and how I interact with my teammates,” he said. “My attitude, on the court and off the court, and just in general, I changed as a person.”

Last year, the 6-foot-7, 225-pound Johnson led Glen Mills into the PIAA Class AAA playoffs, but the Bulls would lose to Susquehanna Township in the first round.

Now that Harrisburg’s first-team all-state guard, Jahaad Proctor (24.4 ppg), has graduated and started school at Iona, look for this year’s Cougars to be much more interior-based.

Along with Johnson, Harrisburg High will feature 6-9, 240-pound Brennan Jackson up front, giving head coach Kirk Smallwood one of the bigger and more talented forward tandems around.

“If I get double-teamed, he’s going to be open, and if he gets double-teamed, I’m going to be open,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be a good advantage.”

In addition to playing for his hometown team, Johnson gets to enter his senior year as a Division I recruit. In May, he earned his first scholarship offer from Rider; the Broncs are still the only school to offer, but Towson, UMass-Lowell and Penn State have showed interested.

“I was excited (about the offer), I didn’t know what to say--I was just smiling,” he said.

Johnson has not visited the school yet, but said he’ll likely do so in August.

~~~

Nysir Marshburn (2016/F/Team Philly)
Up until his senior year at Imhotep Charter, Marshburn has mostly been a role player for the Panthers.

The muscular 6-foot-5 forward did the dirty work for head coach Andre Noble--cleaning up the glass, playing tough defense, running the floor.

But as he showed off on Saturday, he’s willing to be a much bigger piece for Imhotep in his senior season.

“I’m playing a different position, the ‘3’, for my school this year,” he said, “so I’ve got to learn how to dribble more and be more of a scorer, look to score instead of passing and being a defensive player.”

In Team Philly’s 73-67 win over the Boston Warriors that earned them a spot in the third round, Marshburn’s evolution was on display--the first two times he caught the ball with plenty of room in the corner, he tried to attack the hoop and was forced into a tough shot.

The third time, he just let rip from the perimeter: nothing but net.

“He’s worked on his jump shot, he’s really explosive, he’s been hitting the 3 a lot better than he was in April,” Team Philly coach Kyle Sample said. “I feel like he can get anywhere on the court because he’s so strong and athletic, but once he gets there we’re just working on being able to get him to finish better.”

With his increased production and assertiveness on the court, Marshburn has seen his recruiting stock rise as well: Division II schools like East Stroudsburg and Kutztown have been getting involved, and Sample said a few Division I schools had also inquired as well.

Though Imhotep graduated four of its top six scorers, Noble shouldn’t lack for buckets next year. Rising junior guard Daron Russell, who led the way last year at 16.5 ppg, has picked up offers this summer from Temple, La Salle and more.

With former Mastery Charter wing Koby Thomas transferring in and Marshburn’s emergence, Noble’s attack could even be more dangerous this season.

“It’s just going to be downhill offense,” Marshburn said. “Daron, of course he’s going to score, but we’re going to get in it too--me, Koby, Jaquan Arrington and Jaekwon Carlyle.”

~~~

Austin Gilbertson (2017/SG/Jersey Shore Warriors)
Up until July, Gilbertson--a rising junior at Trinity High School (Pa.)--played his AAU basketball with his dad’s program, Central PA Elite.

But after he was invited to a practice with the Jersey Shore Warriors last month, it was a quick realization that he needed to make the move to play with numerous Division I prospects.

“I liked everything about it,” he said. “It’s like you’re playing with a high school team--everyone knows what to do, everyone makes the extra pass, everyone plays good defense. It’s a great environment.”

One of several programs in the area that’s regularly pumping out D-I talent year after year, the Warriors and program director Tony Sagona have earned a reputation for featuring numerous high-academic prospects every summer.

And Gilbertson fits right into that mold.

A 6-foot-3 guard with a sweet outside shot, Gilbertson showed he can do more than just spot up and shoot in a 68-44 win over the N.J. Thunder in 16U third round action. He hit a few nice turnaround jumpers, and played solid defense on both the perimeter and interior, pulling in a few rebounds to boot. And like the rest of his teammates, he did a good job of making the extra pass and not settling for bad shots.

Lafayette and Holy Cross are two of the “numerous Ivy and Patriot League” schools that have reached out to him--Saint Joseph’s is another--since colleges could first contact rising juniors back on June 15. He also said that Penn State has been in touch with his high school coach.

Though he hasn’t gotten his first scholarship offer, the attention alone from Division I schools has given him a boost heading into his junior year.

“It’s helping the ego a little bit,” he said with a laugh. “No, it’s a good experience, it gives me confidence going in, and it’ll probably help me have a better season.”

As a sophomore, Gilbertson averaged 17.3 ppg, earning third-team all-state honors as Trinity went 19-8, making it to the PIAA Class AA second round.

He’s aiming much higher for his junior year: specifically, with his sights set on the defending state champs.

“I want to contend against Conwell-Egan--they’re going to be really good, but I think we can beat them,” he said. “We have a lot of height with Sean Good, he’s a beast. I think we’ll be real good next year.”

Quick Hits
—With a feel for the game that seems like it’s a tick ahead of the pace of play, Geo Baker (2017/G/DC Blue Devils N.H.) stood out in a 70-52 win over Team Supernatural. The 6-foot-2 lead guard is a good distributor and facilitator for his teammates, but he’s also got a sweet shooting stroke and didn’t hesitate to pull up and drain shots from beyond the arc.

“I’m from Derry, New Hampshire--there aren’t many great basketball players there, I come from a small town, not many people,” he said. “I really like to represent New Hampshire, I make sure people know where I’m from. I like that.”

Fairfield, New Hampshire and Central Connecticut have already offered, with Davidson, Massachusetts and Boston University also calling after the Pinkerton Academy guard, who said he’s working hard this offseason at trying to add weight to his 160-pound frame.

—Even when he’s not scoring at a high clip, Cal Reichwein (2016/G/Jersey Shore Warriors Blue) finds a way to have an impact on the game. The Central Bucks West rising senior is an exceptional passer and tough defender and rebounder, and he’s capable of playing (and guarding) anywhere from the ‘1’ through the ‘4’ at the right level. And colleges are picking up on it: Division II schools East Stroudsburg and Kutztown, plus D-IIIs like Dickinson, Muhlenberg, Cabrini, Catholic U, Gettysburg and more have reached out; Reichwein also said that a few D-Is, including Stony Brook and Fairleigh Dickinson, have spoken to his coach, but haven’t reached out to him personally.

—One entry for the day’s diamond in the rough performance was Justin Jaworski (2017/G/Philly Edge), who had quite a few people buzzing--including some Division I coaches sitting courtside--with his performance in a close 68-65 loss to Team Final Black in 16U consolation action. The 6-foot-tall guard from Perkiomen Valley didn’t back down from Final Black’s D-I prospects, dropping 20 points in an impressive all-around game. If he keeps bringing that intensity and confidence to the court, he’ll be impressing a lot more coaches, and making some D-II or D-III program very happy in two years.

--The biggest crowd all day long gathered by Court 3 for a 17U matchup between Team Final Black and Team Takeover Orange, which went into double overtime before Takeover emerged with a 92-90 win. That overcame maybe the most impressive individual performance of the tournament thus far: a 42-point outing by Towson commit and Neumann-Goretti senior Zane Martin (2016/SG/Team Final Black) that included eight 3-pointers. Tigers head coach Pat Skerry, who was watching the game, must be looking forward to having the athletic 6-foot-3 wing guard on campus next fall.