City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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READING, Pa. -- The second (and final) Hoop Group Elite Camp of the summer wrapped up on Friday, with camp championships and all-star games bringing out dozens upon dozens of college coaches to the courts at Albright College.

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

Obseil Caraballo (2017/Upper Room Christian, N.Y.)
With seconds winding down in overtime of Hoop Group’s Elite 2 championship, Caraballo made a layup while getting fouled to put his team up for good.

That’s about as good as it gets to end the week of camp.

“I just feel happy,” Caraballo said.

The Venezuelan-born wing had a solid game, and the game-winning shot certainly made a good final impression to the college coaches that were in attendance.

He credits his father, Oswaneo Caraballo, for his love of basketball.

“My father was a professional player in Venezuela, so I grew up watching him and now I want to be a basketball player,” Caraballo said.

His dad isn’t the only Venezuelan basketball player he has looked up to in his life. Greivis Vasquez, a former University of Maryland standout now entering his seventh year in the NBA, is one of only four players from Caraballo’s homeland who’s ever made it to the highest level of hoops.

Vasquez ran a camp Caraballo attended a couple months ago, and gave the rising senior some advice if he wants to make it to a high level.

“I’m 6-foot-5, but in Venezuela nobody is that tall,” Caraballo said. “I’m used to playing [center]. He said that if I want to play at a high level, I got to play point guard or (shooting) guard.”

Caraballo has one more year before he can play college ball and, so far, he has not received any offers. He has, however, gained interest from Appalachian State, Morehead State, and Penn State recently.

“[Playing college basketball in America] is my dream,” he said. “I want to become a really good basketball player. I want to be able to play in the NBA or in Europe.”

Caraballo is still adjusting to the speed of the game here in America.

“American basketball is a little faster. Everyone is tall and strong. To me, it’s a new experience. I want to keep playing ball here so I can become a better player,” Caraballo said.

Even with the difference, he still believes that he has what it takes to play at the next level.

“I play hard every time,” Caraballo said. “I attack the basket and when I can make shots and rebound for my team, I can help my team win.” -- David Gough

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Chase Audige (2018/Hill School, Pa.)
For Audige, the recruiting process really started picking up a little over a month ago.

Prior to the month of June, Audige, a lanky 6-foot-4 wing, held just one Division I offer, from Penn. Once the month ended, however, he held five, adding Drexel, Binghamton, Canisius, and Towson.

Audige opened June with the Drexel offer -- one of the first extended by new head coach Zach Spiker -- and never looked back, kicking off his busy summer before his junior year the right way.

“It was just a humbling experience to be honest, it was a blessing,” Audige said. “I didn’t really expect all of that to happen, and the first day they were calling me the phone was blowing up, so I was just excited and feeling very blessed.”

That said, June isn’t the only month out of the summer; the remainder of July and August prove to be formative months as Audige looks to garner more D-I interest, and potential offers from schools like St. Joe’s, Yale, Harvard, and Temple who have already been in touch.

In order to continue to improve his recruiting, the rising junior looks to improve on his current strengths--his defensive prowess and his ability to score in a variety of ways--while also chipping away at some of the flaws he recognizes in his game.

“I’ve been trying to work on everything; at this camp I haven’t been shooting well so definitely my shot,” he said. “Also I’m trying to play point guard for my high school this year so I’m working on my handles and just being poised, everything. I’m in the weight room trying to get stronger, just everything basically.”

With that in mind, the outlook for the rest of the summer--and the rest of his recruitment--is full of optimism for Audige, who hopes to stay humble and keep taking it in stride.

“I’m just taking it as it comes to be honest,” he said. “I take care of myself everyday and I’m just blessed to be getting all of these offers and interest, I’ve come a long way.” -- Jeff Griffith

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P.J. Ringel (2017/Marlboro, N.J.)
Ringel doesn’t have to go very far to get a good workout in.

That’s the benefit of having a half-court in his backyard--and an older brother who plays college basketball.

Not only that, but the two complement each other well: P.J. is a 6-2 guard, while Matt Ringel is a 6-6 forward. So when the younger Ringel brother wants to work on his shooting, he’s got the whole setup anytime he wants.

“My brother, he sets me screens, I come off and shoot it,” P.J. said.

The contrast in styles forces each other to learn new tricks, which help them out greatly at their respective schools; P.J. at Marlboro and Matt at D-III Drew University.

“He’s got to guard me, and I’ve got to guard him,” P.J. said. “I challenge him at the rim and that helps me with my finishes on the court against the other bigs.”

Ringel, who was selected to the senior All-Star Game has emerged as one of the better small-college guards in New Jersey, with a variety of Division II and Division III programs closely tracking him. D-IIs Stonehill, Assumption and Bentley plus D-IIIs Wesleyan, TCNJ and Bard, among others, have all been in touch.

Watching him on Friday, it’s easy to see why. Ringel has a smooth floor game, with a strong handle and great court vision that allows him to find shooters all over the court. He’s a solid athlete to boot, with the ability to rise up and finish through contact.

And he really enjoys playing on the other end of the court: “I just annoy the crap out of guys.” -- Josh Verlin

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Aaryn Rai (2017/Orangeville Prep, Can.)
One of several players to come to the Hoop Group from our northern neighbor, Rai is used to seeing high-level competition. At Orangeville Prep, his locker was right next to that of Thon Maker, the Sudanese-born forward who was picked No. 10 in the 2016 NBA Draft.

Maker, who was ruled eligible for the draft this year despite having never played in college, played for Orangeville’s Athlete Institute team; Rai played for the Orangeville A’s, so they weren’t quite teammates. But he got an idea of what it took to be that good.

“People don’t see the hours he puts in off-camera, he’s always in the gym,” Rai said. “First one there, last one out.”

A 6-6 wing, Rai is working hard on his own game, trying to transition from his natural spot at the ‘3’ to more of a guard, with hopes of landing his first Division I offer. The smooth shooter didn’t start playing basketball seriously until ninth grade, and it didn’t click until last summer.

“I went to an exposure camp and got a ton of looks, got a highlight tape off of that,” he said. “After that, I really engrossed myself in basketball, before that it was just something to keep me busy.”

He’s starting to get some Ivy League looks, having been to Cornell’s elite camp and planning on attending those at Dartmouth and Brown later in the summer. Rai also said he’s been contacted by Yale, Princeton, American and Albany.

In order to secure an offer, the Toronto native will need to continue to add strength to his lanky frame, as well as tighten his handle and add a pull-up jumper to keep defenders honest.

“I kind of really want to work on my aggressiveness, especially my point guard skills,” he said. “I used to play the ‘3’ but this next level I need to play either the ‘1’ or the ‘2’ so I’m trying to work on play-making and being aggressive every time I take the court.” -- Josh Verlin

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Quick Hits
-- Olanrewaju Olamuyiwa (2019/Capitol Christian, Md.) is as difficult a defender to score on as his name is to pronounce. The rising sophomore, a 6-9 center, was an absolute force in the paint in his team’s game Friday morning, going up against a very promising rising freshman in Isaiah Todd (2020/John Marshall, Md.) and more than holding his own on that end of the court. Offensively, the African import is certainly still very much a work in progress, though his general coordination and frame suggest he’ll be a wanted commodity amongst high-major coaches before long; Kent State is the only D-I to offer thus far, extending a scholarship just last month.

-- Jalen Ray (2017/Hampton, Va.) dropped 22 points to take home MVP honors of the Top 20 All-Star Game, a performance that could certainly help him build on his three existing offers. Quinnipiac, Saint Peter’s and Loyola (Ill.) have all extended scholarships to Ray, who’s working on being a better rebounder from the guard position as well as finishing with his off (right) hand; Richmond and James Madison have also reached out to the 6-0 guard, who showed off a smooth outside shot in the ASG as well as a high-end top speed that allowed him to beat all defenders down the court on the break.

-- Noah Fennell (2017/Lower Merion, Pa.) took home Most Improved Player honors for the camp’s top division after helping his team into the camp championship game; Fennell nearly won it for his team with a 3-pointer late in OT before Caraballo’s game-winning layup. The 6-2 guard was a starter for the Aces as a junior and served as the team’s gunner, a trait he showed off time and time again this week, but is working on his handle and passing ability to be able to play both guard spots at the next level. High-academic Division III schools are all over Fennell: he named NYU, Vassar, Franklin & Marshall and Williams College among those who had already been in touch.

-- Jake Betlow (2019/Montverde Academy, Fl.) was named the Station Star of the camp for his work ethic during camp. The rising sophomore put on a show in the Underclassmen All-Star Game on Friday afternoon scoring 38 points. He was on fire from beyond the three-point line making nine from long range. The vast majority of his shots came from long range as he admits that he still needs work on getting to the rim. Stony Brook and Columbia have already offered, while high-major program like Stanford and St. John’s are starting to express interest in giving him an offer.