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Hoop Group Pitt Jam Fest: Day One Notebook (April 20)

04/21/2018, 1:45am EDT
By CoBL Staff

Enoch Cheeks (above) stood out on the opening night of the 2018 Pitt Jam Fest. (Photo: Brian Batko/CoBL)

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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PITTSBURGH — The first of two April Live Recruiting Periods began on Friday night in tournaments around the country. Here’s a notebook from the opening night of the Hoop Group’s Pitt Jam Fest:

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Cheeks turns heads in 16U action

Enoch Cheeks stands out as soon as you find his team on the court, thanks in part to his wavy headband with a tail and his rather unique game.

Oh, and there’s also that rather unique first name.

“It comes from the Bible,” Cheeks explained. “It means ‘Walk with God.’ My mom decided that was a good name for me. I like it. Not many people have it.”

Not many people have Cheeks’ athleticism and quickness, either. That’s part of the reason why the 6-foot-3 point guard for the Expressions 16U EYBL team already has scholarship offers from NCAA tournament teams Arizona State and St. Bonaventure.

If you’re not familiar with the name, it’s pronounced ee-knock. So, unsurprisingly, many call him “Knock” or just “E” for short. If you’re not familiar with Cheeks, he could start turning more heads on the spring AAU circuit after going for 22 points in a 67-41 rout of the similarly talented NY Rens.

“My jump shot, I’m trying to make my handle a little tighter, just trying to be a leader and trying to get stronger,” said Cheeks of his biggest points of emphasis at the moment, adding that he considers himself a pure point guard.

He has a wiry build, and his style of play is somewhat hard to put a finger on. He’s almost a herky-jerk ball-handler, but he also seems to simply glide and float when he does decide to take off. His opponent often struggled to stay in front of him, and he even knocked down a 3-pointer while getting to the free-throw line consistently.

Maybe it was that headband, which looks typical from the front, but has a tail hanging out the back. Just goes to show his swagger goes beyond the physical attributes.

“One of my friends put me on to it. I did it the past two games and played really well, so it might be my thing,” Cheeks said with a smile. “I stand out more.”

Maybe his “dream school” will even notice him. According to Cheeks, who plays at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, N.H., that’s nearby Connecticut. His love for the Huskies predates new head coach Dan Hurley, but Cheeks would love to hear from the new staff all the same.

“I think I had a relationship with Hurley before [when he was at Rhode Island],” Cheeks said. “He’s offered a lot of Expressions guys.”

If Cheeks is next, he could be the subject of a Hurley vs. Hurley recruiting clash, given that Bobby Hurley and Arizona State were his first offer.

“I know that St. Bonaventure was like a Top 25 team in the nation,” Cheeks said, “and Arizona State was really good at the start of last college season. Other than that, I don’t really know too much about those schools.”

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Alikakos makes return to live period action

It’s been a while since Nick Alikakos last played on the summer basketball circuit.

The 2017 Episcopal Academy grad was committed to Navy this time last year, but after spending the spring and summer intending to go to Annapolis, an August change of heart resulted in him de-committing and going to the Hill School for a prep year. But that was after the AAU season had already ended, meaning he had to rely solely on his post-graduate year to attempt to secure a Division I scholarship.

Alikakos wasn’t able to do that, though a trio of Division II programs offered him free rides. So in March, Jersey Shore Warriors director and 17U coach Tony Sagona reached out to Alikakos to see if his former player would be interested in a couple more weekends of summer ball, six more days of live period action to try to reign in that D-I look.

So there was Alikakos on one of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center’s 36 courts, starting for the Warriors and chipping in five points and a handful of rebounds in a Hoop Group Summer League showcase win over Wrightway Skills (Mass.) on Friday night. It was his first AAU action since July 2016.

“It’s kind of strange, the last time I played for Coach Sagona was two years ago,” he said. “It felt good to be back out here.”

As a 2017 high school graduate playing with mostly teammates in the 2019 class -- Episcopal’s Alex Capitano is in the 2020 (current sophomore) class, though he reclassified last summer -- Alikakos is two years older than most of his teammates, which include Capitano and Lower Merion’s Jack Forrest, who combined for 32 points in the win over Wrightway Skills.

Alikakos is trying to take advantage of his brief time with the group to be one of its leaders, he said, “trying to do all of the small stuff and get everybody involved...a lot of teams don’t talk as much as they should and do all the little stuff and help defense, so if I can help us capitalize on that, it’ll make a difference going forward, if I can get everybody on the same page.”

With his high school eligibility finally exhausted, Alikakos knows his AAU time remaining is limited to this weekend and next, when the Warriors will be playing at the Hoop Group’s Spring Jam Fest in Manheim, Pa. That’s only about 10 more games out in front of the Division I coaches, and then a decision will be forthcoming.

So far, Alikakos’ three scholarship offers come from D-IIs West Chester (Pa.), Bentley (Mass.) and Pace (N.Y.), but he said he’s been hearing recently from D-Is Maine and Manhattan.

“I like them all, really,” he said of his three offers. “I’m hoping I’ll get some more looks this period.”

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Leo O'Boyle (above) dropped 29 points to open up the April live periods with a bang. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Quick Hits

-- JB Hoops opened its April live periods with a four-point overtime win against Alvin Gentry Elite (Az.) in a 17U showcase game, riding the hot hand of Leo O’Boyle. The Scranton Prep junior accounted for 29 of his team’s 62 points in the victory, showcasing a versatile scoring ability from all over the floor. A 6-foot-6, 215-pound wing forward, O’Boyle knocked down three 3-pointers along the way but got most of his production within 15 feet, hitting several contested pull-up jumpers and driving layups with both hands through contact.

“It’s really going to build up my confidence, now knowing that I’m shooting pretty well, driving pretty well and all of that,” he said afterwards. “So hopefully I can keep it going.”

O’Boyle has picked up one Division I offer in high school tenure, from NJIT as a sophomore, but he said he’s no longer being recruited by that school’s staff. Instead, it’s now Ivy/Patriot types who are reaching out to a student-athlete with a 3.7 GPA; O’Boyle named Colgate, Holy Cross, Dartmouth, and Penn as four in particular that had been in touch of late. Penn head coach Steve Donahue, who brought O’Boyle down to an elite camp last summer was watching this outing from the baseline.

-- PK Flash’s 17U team has garnered a bit of a reputation as being a joy to watch for college coaches during the often-hectic days of AAU hoops. With a team comprising all Western Pennsylvania standouts from the WPIAL, PK Flash had no trouble dispatching Albany City Rocks Orange, 60-37, in the earliest game of the night. Given their balanced lineup, there were no big scoring efforts, but a pair of big wings with good bloodlines are hearing from Ivy and Patriot League Schools. Dan Petcash, a 6-foot-4 guard from Pine-Richland High School, and Bryce Butler, a 6-foot-5 wing from Latrobe, are both younger brothers of players who were standouts two years ago and are now playing at the Division I level. Andrew Petcash recently wrapped up his freshman year at Boston University, while Austin Butler did the same at Holy Cross. The younger Petcash has been contacted by Dartmouth and Holy Cross, while the younger Butler has heard from Holy Cross (of course), Lafayette, Loyola Maryland, Columbia, Dartmouth and Princeton. Both players are still waiting on their first Division I offer.

-- Colin Smalls isn’t the biggest name for Team Durant 16U, but he couldn’t miss Friday night. He led all scorers with 19 points in a 61-40 blowout of the NJ Playaz, and his five 3-pointers helped make the difference in a matchup of high-end athleticism on both sides. “I’m pretty much a shooter, but I thought I got my teammates involved and encouraged them,” said Smalls, a 6-foot-1 combo guard who averaged 10.5 points per game last season as a sophomore at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Md. Smalls shares a loaded Team Durant perimeter with the likes of Cory Barnes, Darius Maddox, Xavier Lipscomb and 2021 Erie McDowell standout William Jeffress Jr., all names to watch.

-- The final set of games brought one of the best of the loaded 16U EYBL slate. After a slow start, All Ohio Red stormed back to knock off Boo Williams, 59-52, thanks to 15 points from big wing Devontae Blanton, who did it in front of Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot. Blanton has offers from Duquesne, Dayton, Cleveland State and Toledo. All Ohio Red has a pair of solid point guards in Dominiq Penn, an Ohio State target who scored 7 points; Isaiah Wilson, a Pittsburgh native who plays with a calm demeanor and sports a Winthrop offer. Big man John Hughley, a 6-foot-8 burly post presence, had nine points and said he’s hearing from almost every school up and down the ACC and Big Ten. But the most intriguing prospect on the floor might’ve been Boo Williams 2021 standout J.T. Thor, who considers himself a big wing at 6-8, 180 pounds. Thor’s given first name is Jokhow (pronounced Yo-ko), but the rising Huntington Prep (W.V.) sophomore goes by JT. Given that he has new interest from Michigan, where he thinks he could fit in well, he’s sure to blow up beyond his current offer sheet of Howard, Hampton and Maryland Eastern-Shore. A former soccer goalie originally from Omaha, Neb., he’d love to hear from hometown Creighton, as well as the “blue bloods” of the sport, such as Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina.

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