City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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Lots of 2016 recruits from the area have decided on their college homes in the last few weeks. CoBL caught up with North Penn’s J.J. Melchior and Norristown’s Roy Green, who recently committed to University of the Sciences and Kutztown, respectively, about their D-II choices.

Melchior picks USciences

JJ Melchior didn’t know much about the University of Sciences until he got a piece of mail a few months ago from coach Dave Pauley.

“He left his business card in there, and on the back he left a note just saying ‘Hey JJ, I saw you play a few times, I really like your game. Give me a call when you get the chance,’ Melchior recalled.

“So I showed my dad, and I was kind of curious. We researched the school, saw it was D-II and was right in Philly. So I gave him a call and we talked for a solid 30-45 minutes, and that’s when I scheduled a visit.”

When he got there, Melchior liked what he saw. He had lunch with some players, got to know the coaches and also was intrigued by what USciences had to offer on the educational side. Altogether, it looked like the perfect fit to Melchior.

The 6-foot-5 guard was a standout shooter for North Penn and for his AAU team, the Pennridge Mojo. He also has the ability to get to the basket and score, but after spending most of his high school career as a shooting guard, he might be asked to changed roles for the Devils.

“They told me they want me to play point guard for them at least a little bit next year, which is going to be an adjustment for me,” Melchior said. “They want me to be able to utilize my scoring ability and my shooting from the outside from the point guard position.”

Melchior chose USciences over a handful of offers from D-III schools, D-II Nova Southeastern, which is based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. and a chance to walk on at Drexel.

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Green continues Norristown pipeline to Kutztown

Roy Green had a pretty clear idea that he wanted to go for Kutztown for quite some time.

“Me and the coaches got along from the rip,” he told CoBL over the phone. “I visited the campus my 10th grade year, I liked the campus. Basically, the school kind of chose me.”

And if that wasn’t enough, Green has watched former Norristown star John Johnson star for the Golden Bears over the last three seasons. So there was not too much hesitation for Green to commit to Kutztown.

A 6-foot-4, 190-pound wing, Green has played on the AAU circuit for Team Philly as well as being a standout for Norristown. He projects to be a 2 or 3 at the next level and will give Kutztown a talented scorer.

Green says he thinks about getting to Kutztown every 20 minutes or so and is “super excited” about getting to college -- something that was heightened after watching Johnson tear up the PSAC over the last three years. Johnson, who averaged 14.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in the 2015-16 season, was named the PSAC East Player of the Year, and he had some words of encouragement for Green during his recruitment.

“I talked to him a couple of times. He basically said it’s a great school, I’d love it there and it’d be a great fit,” Green said. “He had such a great career there, so I definitely take his word.”