City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
& Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21)
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READING, Pa.--After four busy days of basketball at Albright College, the Hoop Group Elite Camp session 1 wrapped up Friday afternoon.

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

Jahsim Floyd (2017/Sayreville, N.J.)
The younger brother of Holy Cross rising sophomore Jehyve Floyd, Jahsim has figured out how to best his older brother in friendly games of 1-on-1.

With both brothers standing 6-foot-7 and with somewhat similar strengths, Jahsim has had to get crafty to win -- and he’s found one key weakness.

“Pump-fakes--he goes for everything,” said Floyd, who admitted his success rate against his older brother “depends on the day.”

Jahsim Floyd has been on Division I radars for quite some time, and now has a variety of college offers and interest with his improving play drawing notice amongst coaches.

As a sophomore, the Sayreville HS rising senior got his first offer, from the same Crusaders program where his older brother was just about to begin his first year of school. Now, Jahsim is up to four offers, adding those from NJIT, Rider and Quinnipiac this spring.

Dayton and DePaul are among some higher-level schools that have also been reaching out to his coaches, so for now Floyd isn’t leaning anywhere with regards to his decision.

“I would love to play with my brother but I’m not sure where I’ll be headed yet,” he said. “It’s all open right now.”

As one of 20 players selected to the Hoop Group’s Top 20 All-Star Game, Floyd had a chance to show off his skill set in front of easily 50-60 college coaches who were courtside for the camp’s premier game. A smooth, athletic forward, Floyd is a solid rim protector who runs the floor hard and is crafty with the ball within 10 feet of the basket.

Like many forwards caught in his height range, he’s planning on expanding his game outwards as he gets older.

“Because I’m 6-7 so I’ll probably be a wing so I have to get more perimeter (oriented),” he said.

Next week, Floyd will be heading down to Atlanta with his Sports U teammates to play in the Under Armour Association championships.

After his 16U team missed out on making the UAA finals a year ago, he’s certainly looking forward to getting out in front of the multitudes of coaches who will be at one of the premier sneaker circuit events of July.

“It’s going to be a great experience,” he said. -- Josh Verlin

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Kendrick Gray (2017/Vermont Academy, Vt.)
Like many high school students, Kendrick Gray faces the quandary of either staying close to home for his college experience, or going out and exploring the world outside of his home state.

Gray, a Vermont native, has that nearby option in Vermont, which is one of his three current scholarship offers, along with St. Bonaventure, and Winthrop.

One of Vermont’s incoming freshmen, Ben Shungu, is one of his best friends, adding an extra layer of intrigue to the Catamounts’ program. He played alongside Shungu at Rice Memorial High School before transferring to Vermont Academy.  

That said, there are enticing options outside of the New England region that could pull him away from the nest. Gray mentioned schools like Georgetown, Duquesne, and Holy Cross that have expressed interest.

“I’d love to stay home and play (at Vermont), my family wants me to stay home, or at least stay in New England, but I also kind of want to explore and everything,” Gray said. “It’s all about the right fit at this point, I’m open.”

In order to pick up offers from some of the higher-profile schools that have been in touch, Gray recognizes the weaknesses in his game that he plans to work on during the summer before his senior year.

Gray, a long 6-foot-6 wing, proved he can play at a high level above and around the rim with, showing both finesse and toughness in the way he finishes with his strong yet lanky frame. He also handles the ball very well, and puts in hard work on the glass.

“I just want to work on my ball-handling, expand my range a little more,” he said. “I put on quite a bit of weight playing at Vermont Academy--when I first got there I was like, 190, and now I’m up to 215--it’s been a really fun process though.”

A thunderous jam off of a lob off the backboard from one of his teammates put an exclamation point on Gray’s week, and provided a sample of the kind of highlight-reel athleticism he possesses for the scouts on hand.

“It’s good,” he said. “I have a 40-plus-inch vertical, so it’s fun to be able to use it like that, my teammates got me open, got the ball in my hands when I was open. When I get open, I try to use my skills to make those plays and energize my team....You go through the motions sometimes, so you need that energy booster.

If the kind of displays he put on Friday and throughout his time at Albright are a foretelling of the summer and senior season he has ahead of him, Gray’s college decision should get significantly more difficult over the next several months. -- Jeff Griffith

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Gabe Stefanini (2017/Bergen Catholic)
Stefanini came into the camp calling himself a “combo guard,” but after a solid week of playing on the ball, he’s beginning to think he’s found his calling.

“I want to work on my point guard game, I’m a combo guard but I played really well as a point guard this weekend, and I’m going to keep doing that,” he said.

A native of Bologna, Italy, Stefanini only came to the United States last September, playing at the same school where his countryman, Pierfrancesco “Cecco” Oliva, played before heading off to Saint Joseph’s last fall.

The 6-2 guard was one of the top three scorers on the Crusaders last year, along with D-I recruit Taj Benning and senior guard David Logan.

Though Logan has moved on, Benning and Stefanini -- each of whom participated in the camp’s Top-20 All-Star Game -- will give Bergen Catholic one of the better 1-2 backcourts in North Jersey.  

Stefanini finished with 13 points in the all-star game, with four assists as well. He showed off a knock-down 3-point stroke with three triples in the game, and kept his head up on the break to find teammate A.J. Wilson for several alley-oop slams.

“It’s great, a really great experience, I had a lot of fun. I think I’m playing really well too and I feel I’m getting confident and in good shape now, so I feel really happy about my choice (to come here).”

So far he only has one offer, from Stony Brook, but it certainly seems like he’s expecting several more soon enough.

“Columbia is going to offer as soon as the transcript comes from Italy,” he said. “Lafayette is going to offer me too, and then a lot of interest -- Princeton, Yale, Brown, Monmouth, I know Davidson is interested, St. Joe’s, Duquesne, so Ivy/A-10, Patriot League and the like.

“I would love a great education and great basketball, for now the Ivy is what I want, but I wouldn’t mind playing (in) the A-10,” he added. -- Josh Verlin

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Quick Hits
-- One national prospect at the camp that could end up in the region is Jeff Gary (2017/Austin, Tex.). A 6-3 point/combo guard, Gary’s two current offers are from Lafayette and Navy, with further interest from Bucknell, American, Northern Colorado and Rice. And it’s no accident that his recruitment is focused mainly in the Northeast: “I prefer it,” he said. “better weather.” Gary, playing in his first Hoop Group Elite Camp, showcased his passing ability, often giving up a good shot for a better one without a second thought, though he also knocked down shots when left open.

-- Jeffrey Allen (2017/Cheshire Academy, Conn.) had a solid camp, helping his team into the championship game of the camp’s top division. A 6-7, 210-pound forward, Allen is a slightly-undersized pick-and-pop ‘4’ who can put attack the rim in mismatch situations off the rip. An active body, he makes him for his lack of high-end athleticism with a strong motor, fighting for second and third-chance rebounds or looking to tip a ball out to his teammate. He also was a good screener, giving his guards plenty of opportunities to work in pick-and-roll situations, often setting multiple screens in a row to free up space for his teammates. He’s hearing from both D-I (Holy Cross, Binghamton) and D-II (St. Anselm, Stonehill) schools.

-- Right now, Elijah Olaniyi (2017/Newark Eastside, N.J.) only has a trio of offers from Stony Brooks, Saint Peter’s and NJIT, but if he scores the ball the way he did on the final day of camp, it won’t be long before a number of other mid-major programs jump in; Monmouth, FDU, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris and others have also been keeping tabs. The 6-4 wing got to the bucket with ease off the bounce, utilizing a long stride in transition to beat defenders to the bucket, and he also made a few nice-looking jumpers as well en route to a game-high 17 points in the Top-20 All-Star Game.. Over the rest of the summer, which he’ll spent mostly with his NJ Roadrunners squad, he’s focusing on “ball-handing, creating my own shot and just being a smarter player on the court.”

-- Abington (Pa.) 2017 guard Rob Young capped off a strong week by being named Most Outstanding Player of the NBA West division of the camp, a nice honor for a player who’s largely flown under the radar on Charles Grasty’s program despite being a solid role player the last few years. Young, a 5-10 guard with a strong work ethic on the defensive end of the floor, said he hasn’t spoken to any colleges lately, but his award is sure to cause a few D-III programs to poke around.

-- John Kelly (2018/Fairfield Prep) is an intriguing rising junior, with a developing perimeter game that, at 6-7, could make him a matchup nightmare at the right level. Sacred Heart offered at the beginning of his sophomore year and remains his only scholarship at the moment; Ivies Yale, Penn and Brown are amongst the schools that have also been in touch. He displayed some flashes of putting it all together on Friday, including a smooth baseline pull-up jumper and a knockdown rhythm 3-pointer from the top of the arc. Getting stronger and improving his handle/adding a one-dribble pull-up would do wonders for his game.