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Green's USA Basketball selection puts him in rare air

07/14/2016, 10:30am EDT
By Josh Verlin

Neumann-Goretti's Quade Green (above) has put himself in the discussion for best guard in the country with a strong summer. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Neumann-Goretti has been one of the standard-bearers of Pennsylvania high school hoops over the last decade, winning six state championships since the Catholic League became part of the PIAA in the latter part of the 00s.

Now, one of the Saints’ players is taking the program onto the national stage.

Rising senior Quade Green was named to USA Basketball’s U-18 team on Tuesday, one of 12 American high school and college basketball players who will compete in the FIBA Americas tournament in Chile from July 19-23.

Neumann-Goretti head coach Carl Arrigale, who has coached plenty of Division I prospects in his 17 seasons at the South Philadelphia institution -- including quite a few high-major stars -- has never before had someone wear the red, white and blue.

“It’s a great honor for him and cool for our program,” Arrigale said. “I’m really proud of the way he’s played this summer and handled himself.”

Indeed, Green has been one of the nation’s biggest breakout stars on the sneaker circuits this summer. In playing with the PSA Cardinals of Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League, the 6-foot-tall guard proved he was not just the talented scorer he proved he could be with Neumann-Goretti but also one of the best playmaking guards around.

The tone was set with his first EYBL game in Brooklyn in April, when Green scored 17 points and dished out 10 assists as PSA downed the top 2017 prospect in the country, DeAndre Ayton and Cal Supreme. He recorded double-digit assists in his first seven games on the circuit, ultimately setting a new EYBL record and leading the league with 10.5 apg.

“He played the way we asked him to play the last couple of years, the way our team was built,” Arrigale said. “We always knew he was this good and he was able to be a playmaker the way he is now, probably the best play-making guard in the country right now.”

Green’s rise into five-star prospect status -- he’s currently No. 22 on the ESPN Top 100 for 2017 -- has also seen his recruiting rise to a level that’s rarely been seen in Philadelphia. Duke and Kentucky are amongst the favorites for Green, who’s also been offered by Syracuse, Villanova, Kansas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Louisville, Arizona, Michigan State and many more.

In Chile, he’ll be playing alongside fellow blue-chip guards Trae Young (ESPN No. 21) and Matt Coleman (ESPN No. 27), plus PSA teammate and five-star center Mohamed Bamba (ESPN No. 3) and a host of incoming college freshmen: Kevin Huerter (Maryland), Markelle Fultz (Washington), Jarrett Allen (Texas) and more.

“It should be great, it’s going to be a good experience for him, he should be riding super-high after it,” Arrigale said. “He talked about wanting to be a McDonald’s All-American, and this can’t hurt his case. This was the last thing he could do before the end of the summer to solidify where he stands as far as players in the country.

“He’s had one of the best, if not the best summers of anyone I’ve ever coached,” Arrigale continued. “I’ve had some guys with some bang-up summers where they did some things, but (not) as far as jumping 20-30 spots in the rankings and putting yourself in the conversation as one of the top two or three guards in the entire country in a couple of months.”


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