City of Basketball Love

Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21), Varun Kumar (@vrkumar8)
& Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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Week 2 of the July Live Period was in full swing at the Hoop Group Elite 2 Camp on Wednesday at Albright. Here’s a notebook from the action:

Nick Alikakos (2017/Episcopal Academy, Pa.)
According to Alikakos, one of his best traits that college scouts is his passion for winning and doing whatever it takes to get there.

That’s why, after three years of his high school team at Episcopal Academy, the fact that he has yet to push his team out of second place in the Inter-Ac over the now four-time defending champion Germantown Academy Patriots is the driving force for his senior season.

Because of that, Alikakos--who holds offers from Penn, St. Francis (PA), Hartford, and Lafayette--is hoping to commit prior to the upcoming season, his last at EA.

“With my senior season coming up, I’m already going to have a lot of pressure on my shoulders to win in a championship, because I felt like the last two years could’ve been ours and it didn’t work out for us,” he said. “I definitely want to go out with a championship, so I want my full focus this year to be on school and basketball season.

Alikakos also mentioned interest from a long list of mid-majors, mostly out of the Patriot and Ivy league realms--the likes of which include Princeton, Brown, Holy Cross, Navy, and UNC-Wilmington.

The motivation to win this season comes in part from the fact that Alikakos--a 1,000-point scorer and soon-to-be Division I product--wants to make his final mark on the Churchmen program.

In order to overtake the Patriots, Alikakos and his fellow senior Connor Delaney will have to take on leadership roles on a young team and develop the winning mindset that every game means something important.

They speak from experience, as a slip up against Penn Charter arguably be the difference between first and second place last season.

“In the Inter-Ac, what happened to us last year is Penn Charter beat us, and that kind of hurt us and everything,” he said. “I think we need to treat every game like a championship because that what it is in the Inter-Ac, one loss can blow your chances of winning outright.

“(Conner Delaney and I) are just trying to define roles for everybody and encourage them,” he added, in reference to his and Delaney’s leadership roles. “We need to give everyone confidence, because we know we’ll need them this year if we want to win.”

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Justin Winston (2018/Immaculate Conception, N.J.)
A few years ago, Saint Joseph’s successfully recruited a wing that could do a little bit of everything- score, handle, rebound and defend.

That player, DeAndre' Bembry, would of course go on to become one of the finest players in school history and develop into a first round draft pick by his third year on Hawk Hill.

Entering his junior year at Immaculate Conception (N.J) forward Justin Winston has looked like he could be the second coming of Bembry, who the 6-7 wing says he models his game after.

“I like DeAndre Bembry,” the North Jersey native said after a game at Hoop Group’s Elite Camp on Wednesday afternoon. “I play for SportsU just like he did. I think we play in the same spot [on the court]. I like how he got the ball, scored and how they ran the offense through him.”

As he alluded to, Winston has many of the same on-court attributes, most notably a tight handle and quick first step. He is a matchup nightmare, using his skill and athleticism to breakdown bigger players, while also using his size to post up smaller perimeter players.

That’s why there’s little surprise as to why Phil Martelli and his staff are going after Winston hard, as he has become one of the top targets for the Hawks ever since they offered at the end of April.

“Definitely, St. Joe’s [stands out]. I like Coach Martelli,” he said. “I haven’t visited yet, but I will soon.”

St. Joe’s already finds themselves in a battle for his services, with stiff competition coming in from Rutgers, Seton Hall, Pitt and DePaul, the four other schools that have offered. Winston mentioned Miami and Georgia Tech, among other schools that are interested, as Winston’s offer list only looks to grow into the future.

(Update: Winston received an offer from Penn State following the publishing of this story.)

For the time being, he isn’t letting recruiting take too much priority. Instead he’s just focused on getting better as a player, and letting his play determine where his recruitment goes from here.

“I’m trying to improve my shooting,” he said. “That and my defense.”

~~~

Bryce Willis (2019/Iona Prep, N.Y.)
For Bryce Willis, who is breaking out as a potential big name in the 2019 class, the last few weeks have felt like a blur.

“It’s been going by really, really quickly,” he said Wednesday at the Hoop Group Elite Camp. “I feel like the summer just started. I just came back from Peach Jam, picked up some offers there, I had a few more offers right when the summer started. I’ve been trying to grind and keep putting my name out there and show I can be a top 25 prospect in the class of 2019.”

That number of offers for the 6-5 guard is now at 10. Penn State was the latest school to give Willis a scholarship opportunity on Monday – something that caught Willis off guard.

“I didn’t know they were interested in me,” he said. “They offered my (PSA Cardinals) teammate Isaiah Mucius a while ago. So they were at our games, but I was kind of surprised.”

The Nittany Lions are joined by Providence, Wake Forest and Temple among others, and there’s no doubt that list is going to grow.

Willis could certainly end up as one of the most coveted recruits in his class over the next few years. He possess a smooth handle, strong jump shot and a 7-foot wingspan that could gain a few inches by the time he gets to college.

The long-armed rising sophomore is currently 6-5, but said he could grow another inch or two. He showed his shot blocking ability on Wednesday, too, and has impressed during the July Live Period with the PSA Cardinals.

The New Rochelle, N.Y. native had been itching to get back out on the court after missing almost his entire freshman high school season at Iona Prep with an ankle injury.

So coaches and schools will get to know Willis better over the next couple of weeks. And as his recruitment heats up, he’s starting to do his homework, too.

“From the school, I look at the academic part, because that will be something I need to have after the basketball stops bouncing,” Willis said of what he takes into account when he gets an offer. “I look at the coaching staff, how they talk to me, my parents, my AAU program. Because it’s not just me in this program. I look at the conference, what players they have now, and how they play offensively, defensively.”

~~~

Zach Jacobs (2017/Trinity (Va.)
Zach Jacobs’ birthday originally missed the cutoff for being a 2017 recruit by just three days.

“Thanks mom,” he joked Wednesday.

But the 6-6 forward from Richmond, Va. reclassified last year, and it’s a decision that is paying off. The wing currently sits with a handful of D-I scholarship offers, and is looking to end more by the end of the month.

He put up an impressive performance on Wednesday afternoon, scoring often in transition and using his size on the glass. He even made what was the go-ahead basket with less than five seconds left (though his team went on to lose on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer).

Jacobs currently has offers from Air Force, East Tennessee State, NJIT, Furman and James Madison, and he’s planning on making some visits to Ivy League schools in August. Jacobs originally had an offer from Drexel in January when Bruiser Flint was the head coach, but the offer was off the table after he was fired.

Jacobs said he had initially thought he wanted to make his college choice by September or October before his senior high school season got underway, but he said he’s still “just exploring everything.”

“My main goal is to get a couple offers from some schools I think I can go to,” Jacobs said. “I also want to get better as a player. And as a person, get a bit more college ready and see how that translates into the high school season.”

~~~

Quick Hits

--Incoming Westtown forward Jake Forrester (2018/PSA Cardinals) mentioned two schools that have stood out thus far-- area schools Penn State and Temple. “Penn State is just around the corner [from his Harrisburg area home] and the program is definitely on the rise. Temple has a lot of legacy behind it in my family. The coaching staff is amazing and the campus is amazing.” Both schools extended offers in the last month. The 6-8 Forrester will take a visit to Penn State in August, and is also garnering interest from across the country in UConn, UCLA, Stanford, San Diego St. and Yale, among others.

-- Josh Nickelberry showed why he was one of the top guards in the 2019 class with his play Wednesday. The 6-4 rising sophomore from Fayetteville, N.C. looked like one of the most in control players on the floor, doing a lot offensively. He already has offers from Baylor, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech and VCU and will likely receive more before the end of July.