City of Basketball Love

Isaac Pitkow
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The Spring Jam Fest in Manheim, PA has become one of the most hectic yet exciting events that take place in the first few weeks of the AAU summer circuit.

Coaches, scouts and parents nearly fill up the massive multi-sport complex at Spooky Nook, home to 20-plus courts, to watch some of the premier high school players from all over the east coast.

Age groups for this event include 14u, 15u, 16u, 17u and an open bracket.

Here is a notebook from some of the action that took place on Sunday, the final day of the tournament:

Cormac Ryan (2018/Middlesex Magic)

Coaches continue to be impressed with the already extremely polished game of Cormac Ryan. Currently playing with the Massachusetts-based AAU program, Cormac is a 6-foot-5 point guard with a lengthy wingspan who is able to influence the game in a variety of ways on the offensive end of the floor.

After his team suffered a tough triple overtime loss in the Sweet 16 on Saturday, Cormac went for 24 points in the Magic’s 77-62 win over Team Choo.

Only a sophomore at Milton Academy (Mass.), he already holds offers from Penn, Rice and Boston College, but there are some other schools showing interest as well.

“Yale and a couple of the other Ivies have showed some interest, Davidson also reached out a little while ago,” he said. “My coach (Juan Ramos) has been talking to Michigan, Notre Dame, some high-level schools, since he has some connections there. Virginia has also reached out.”

In addition to being a very sharp shooter in catch-and-shoot situations, Cormac has an advanced handle for a guy his size, and also uses ball fakes very well to create his own shot.

In addition to his scoring capabilities, Ryan shows extreme promise as a facilitator. He has outstanding court vision, and unselfishly always looks to get his teammates involved. This coupled with his tight handle and court awareness, allows him to be one of the primary ball handlers for the Magic.

Despite all the attention that he is already receiving in his sophomore year, Cormac still has a very humble demeanor about him and notes some areas of his game he still feels like he needs to improve on.

“I know I need to work on my physical strength, and conditioning just so I can play physically at the next level,” he said. “And also just being more aggressive. I like to pass; I’m pretty much a pass first point guard. But I need to balance like when is the right time to pass and when it’s time to score when my team needs a bucket, stuff like that.”

He currently has no timetable for when he wants to make a college decision. With an extremely sound skill set as his base and a lot of time to improve, bet on Cormac to bring his game to the next level in the coming years and to continue garnering interest from high major programs in need of a versatile wing.

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Geo Baker (2017/DC Blue Devils NH)

Geo Baker was the headline name of the well coached and hardworking Blue Devils, who have some of the top players in the state of New Hampshire. The fearless backcourt duo of Baker and fellow Proctor Academy classmate Caleb Green, are two extremely talented combo guards who have the ability to play both on and off the ball, complimenting each other very well.

Baker can flat-out score the ball. Despite being a lethal shooter off the bounce, his ability to get to the rim is what sticks out. He has an astonishing change of pace, complemented by a deceptive handle that always leaves defenders leaning the wrong way.

Geo led the Devils in scoring in their 71-58 win over BSA Select with 15 points, and he also dropped 15 in their heartbreaking 70-69 loss in the semifinals to the East Coast Cyclones.

He is extremely-sought-after amongst mid major programs, as he currently holds offers from 16 different schools including Boston U, William & Mary, George Mason, Brown, Lehigh, New Hampshire and Northeastern, just to name a few.

As to which schools are recruiting Geo the hardest:

“BU has been on me a lot, UNH has been on me a lot, George Mason was talking to me the other day, William & Mary is in there.”

He is a true competitor who loves the game and just wants to be out on the court, which he says will play heavily into his ultimate decision of where to go.

“In terms of basketball, I want to go somewhere where I can play right away. I really like to play. I’m not a guy who likes sitting on the bench. Academics are also definitely important. My mom went to MIT so she definitely wants me to go to a good academic school.”

Judging by his list of offers so far, she won’t have a problem getting her wish.

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Jonathan McGriff (2019/Team Durant)

One of the most exciting 16U guys to watch today was certainly Jonathan McGriff of Team Durant.

The small point guard has fantastic vision and passing ability along with handles that will blow you away. He was drawing “oohs” and “ahhs” from the crowd and people were slowly coming over from surrounding to courts to get a look at McGriff, who is playing with and against players a year older than him.

But this incredible talent that he possesses didn’t just come over night. Jonathan is a kid who puts in a lot of work in the gym, especially on his handle.

“A lot of times I do two-ball handling, like two balls at once. It makes your hands hurt but it makes you stronger and obviously makes you better”

McGriff had a solid stat line of 10 points and eight assists in a 66-56 win over Team Loaded from Virginia, with most of his buckets and dimes being accompanied by one of his nasty crossovers.

Only a ninth grader, Jonathan has not been in contact with any schools yet but there are some schools such as Virginia and Virginia Tech that are beginning to show interest. This kid is definitely one to watch for the future.