Wednesday Night Donofrio Recap: Part One

On Wednesday night, a packed Fellowship House in Conshohocken watched on as the I-3 All-Stars and Team Bucks County won their quarterfinal games at the Donofrio Classic. Due to NCAA rules, Division 1 coaches are forbidden from attending the games at Donofrio, but that doesn't mean that there weren't a number of familiar faces in the gym. DIck "Hoops" Weiss, Tom Konchalski, and Allan Rubin were among the media that I recognized, while recently hired Holy Family coach R.C. Kehoe was also there alongside Bill Phillips and Donnie Carr.

The night's first game pitted the I-3 All-Stars against Players Teaching Players. I-3 starred former Pitt signee Jaylen Bond, highly-regarded senior forward Amile Jefferson, Clemson-commit Devin Coleman, Academy of the New Church junior wing Marcus Gilbert, and sophomore guard Karron Davis among others. On the other side of the ball, PTP featured West Virginia-bound senior forward Aaron Brown, Vaux sophomore guard Rysheed Jordan, Math, Civics, and Sciences sophomore wing Jeremiah Worthem, Roman Catholic freshman guard Shep Garner, Penn Wood senior Darian Barnes, and Chester sophomore Rondae Jefferson among others. Ultimately, I-3 took the game 90-86, but it wasn't without a fight.

For I-3, the three biggest names on the court were Academy of the New Church teammates Dev Coleman and Amile Jefferson and former Plymouth-Whitemarsh star Jaylen Bond. While he didn't put up the biggest numbers in the game, Bond definitely provided the highlight-reel moments of the night. On the break, Jaylen received a through-the-legs pass from unsigned senior guard Joey Gripper that he threw down with authority. Bond had at least two other crowd-pleasing dunks as well, with one coming off an off-the-backboard pass, again from Gripper. Originally signed with Pitt, Bond is now going the prep school route, reclassifying into the 2012 class, and reopening his recruitment.

Despite what really was impressive defense from Chester's Rondae Jefferson, Amile Jefferson was able to score both inside and out. Although his jumper wasn't the best I've seen from him, Amile still did score 19 points to pace the winning team. Amile scored on a number of post moves down low, got to the line, and played physically on the boards. Coleman, who is headed to Clemson next year, played a very composed game considering how physical and scrappy it got. Coleman displayed his lightning-fast first step and also his ability to lead a break, scoring on one particularly impressive coast-to-coast drive in traffic. Coleman too finished with 19 points.

Two players on I-3 that also impressed, despite not having quite the name recognition yet are Marcus Gilbert and Karron Davis. Gilbert, the younger brother of 6'11 Malcolm Gilbert who is headed to Pitt next year, showed that he too can play. This was my first time seeing Marcus since last winter, and his game has progressed significantly in that time. Marcus, while not being nearly as tall as his brother, showed that he can grab rebounds among the bigs. Marcus also got himself to the line at least 5 or 6 times and displayed what was easily the best free-throw form in the game. While not the most athletic player on the court, Gilbert is deceptively quick and very smart around the basket. He used that intelligence to out-rebound players that had at least 4 inches on him and to also finish around the basket around them. Marcus is a player whose recruitment remains somewhat under the radar but will be worth monitoring this summer, as his game really has matured and progressed.

Karron Davis, a sophomore at Friends' Central, is accustomed to playing with Amile and Devin, and he looked right at home on the court Wednesday night. Davis had 15 points and more than held his own on the court despite being an underclassmen. Karron is very strong, both physically and with the ball. He possesses a great handle, quickness, and very good decision-making skills. The Philly area is loaded in the sophomore class with high-upside guards, and Davis is definitely on that list. He hit jumpers, drove with power to the basket, and played with great confidence. As he continues to grow and mature, he is a player that has significant upside and is a name that you're bound to hear quite a bit about.

Check back later today for a write-up on the Players Teaching Players team and the night's second game.

Coleman to Clemson

According to a number of sources, Friends' Central (PA) senior guard Devin Coleman ended his recruitment Saturday night, committing to Clemson and coach Brad Brownell. Coleman, a 6'3 guard, is currently on an official visit to the ACC school. Coleman selected Clemson over Penn, Saint Joseph's, La Salle, Siena, Rhode Island, and several other schools.

Last night, Coleman watched Clemson easily dispatch of Wake Forest, 63-49. With the win, Clemson improved to 8-6 in the ACC and kept themselves on the tournament bubble. Wake Forest dropped to 1-13 in conference play with the loss.

Below is a link to an interview with Devin's high school coach, Jason Polykoff, as well as a recap from when Friends' Central took on Jersey City's Saint Anthony High School.

Interview with Jason Polykoff


Friends' Central-Saint Anthony Recap

Devin Coleman Sets Clemson Visit

According to Hale McGranahan, on the Clemson Scout.com site (linked here ) Friends' Central senior guard Devin Coleman is planning a late-month visit to Clemson. The ACC school is a relative newcomer in Coleman's recruitment, but they are coming hard. An assistant from Clemson was on hand when Coleman and his Friends' Central squad nearly knocked off Bob Hurley's Saint Anthony team last weekend.

Most schools involved with Coleman, like Saint Joseph's, Penn, Penn State, and La Salle, are close to home. Obviously Clemson is not, but that does not seem a deterrence at the moment. In the McGranahan article linked above, Coleman expresses high interest in Clemson.

I have written a number of pieces on Coleman over the past couple of weeks. They are all linked below.

Hakim Warrick Classic Recap-Devin Coleman

Hakim Warrick Classic Recap-General

Interview with Coleman's High School Coach

Continue to check back for updates on Devin's season and recruitment.

2/12 Odds and Ends

It was a great night of high school hoops in Philadelphia on Friday. I was unable to make it out to any of the games, but fans were treated to a number of great games with major implications.

First off, Friends' Central defeated Academy of the New Church last night for the Friends League title. It is their second consecutive title, one they captured with a 52-48 victory last night at Haverford College. Unsigned senior guard Devin Coleman had 17 points and 6 boards for Friends' Central. Star junior Amile Jefferson had 12 points and 8 rebounds, despite battling foul trouble once again. For ANC, junior Marcus Gilbert had 18 points. Recently named McDonald's All-American Rakeem Christmas had 7 points and 12 rebounds in the losing effort. Rick O'Brien's article from Philly.com is linked here .

In the Philadelphia Catholic League, Neumann-Goretti defeated Saint Joseph's Prep on a final-second three by Lamin Fulton. With the game tied at 74, Neumann rebounded a Prep miss and called a timeout. Out of the timeout, Fulton heaved a three-pointer at the buzzer, giving Neumann a 77-74 win. Lamin Fulton was the star for Neumann, but also got help from sophomore guard Johnny Davis, who had 13 points and 12 rebounds. For the Prep, the star was once again sophomore Steve Vasturia. He had 28 points for Saint Joseph's Prep. The box score and recap are linked here .

In Saint Joseph's recruiting news, according to Alex Kline of TheRecruitScoop, coaches watched Princeton Day School's Davon Reed on Thursday night. Reed appears to be one of the staff's top recruiting target in the 2013 class.

On Wednesday, Ted Silary released a list of the city's best college basketball prospects. It's well worth a look. The article is linked here .

Hakim Warrick Classic Recap Part One

Yesterday afternoon, Philadelphia University hosted the Hakim Warrick Classic, a triple-header of high school hoops featuring some of the best teams in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In fact, the headliner game of the day featured the number one high school team in America, Jersey City's Saint Anthony. In order to get something up here tonight, I am breaking the recap into two parts. The day's first game, between Neshaminy and Penn Wood, ended up being much more of a one-sided affair than I anticipated. Penn Wood won going away, 85-49. Penn Wood got a 29 point, 12 rebound MVP performance from senior wing Aaron Brown. I will write about Brown, fellow Penn Wood seniors Sean Oakman and Darian Barnes, and Neshaminy junior Ryan Arcidiacono tomorrow, so please check back. The focus of this entry will be on the day's second game, between Friends' Central and Saint Anthony.

Earlier in the week, Saint Anthony coach Bob Hurley registered his 1,000th win of his career. On this day, he would earn win 1,002, although, the game was anything but easy for Hurley and his Friars. Saint Anthony came out of the gate very slowly, and found themselves trailing 12 to 7 at the end of the first quarter. Saint Anthony actually went into the locker room trailing 22-21 at the half. An offensive outburst at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarter helped Saint Anthony close the gap and take the lead. Rutgers-bound guard Myles Mack caught fire near the end of the third quarter. He scored 18 of his game-high 22 points in the second half. The Friars ended up winning the game 59-49, but it was a much closer and more competitive game than that score indicates.

A few players on each side stood out to me. Below are write-ups on the Friends' Central players, with Kyle Anderson, Josh Brown, Jerome Frink, and Myles Mack's write-ups for the Saint Anthony side of things being posted tomorrow.

Devin Coleman- Friends' Central Senior: Coleman won MVP honors for the Friends' Central Phoenix, scoring 19 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. It was a gritty performance by Coleman, who scored all 19 points in the paint and at the free-throw line. In the first quarter alone, Coleman scored on three offensive rebound put-backs. While he never got it going from the perimeter, Coleman was extremely effective defensively, on the glass, and scoring the ball. The 6'2 guard plays with toughness and a great competitive streak. His athleticism and toughness were on display yesterday as he went toe-to-toe with the number one team in America. A number of college coaches were in the house yesterday, a few of whom were probably paying extra attention to Coleman. Clemson, Penn, Saint Joseph's, La Salle, Penn State, and Siena are rumored to be among the schools battling for his services next year.

Amile Jefferson-Friends' Central Junior (Pictured Above): Jay Wright, Fran Dunphy, and Phil Martelli represented 3/5 of the Big Five at the games yesterday. With the possible exception of Saint Anthony's Kyle Anderson, there was no player yesterday who those coaches would rather have on their team in two years. Amile scored his 1,000th career point during yesterday's contest. Despite being riddled with foul trouble, Amile had a strong outing, scoring 15 points and collecting 8 rebounds. Amile picked up his third foul in the second quarter on a questionable charging call. From that point on, he had to play more tentatively, and FCS coach Jason Polykoff went offense-defense substitutions with Amile whenever he could. Amile has just about every school in America recruiting him. Where he plays in college will be interesting, as he appears to be a combo forward at the moment. For Friends' Central, Amile is the only player about 6'2 or 6'3 that gets significant minutes, so he is forced to play in the post. He is very likely, at 6'8, to play at the 3 in the right college system too. Wherever he plays his college ball, and whatever position, Amile is one of the nation's most interesting and talented juniors.

Conrad Chambers-Friends' Central Freshman: Chambers is a freshman guard who played well beyond his years yesterday, scoring 10 points and handling intense ball pressure from Saint Anthony. Chambers hit at least once from beyond the arc during the contest, and also earned a few trips to the free-throw line, where he knocked down critical shots. At the moment, Amile and Devin get the lion's share of the recognition at FCS, but Chambers and sophomore guard Karon Davis are going to earn their accolades as well. Chambers really impressed yesterday, playing a very mature game for a freshman on a big stage.

Karon Davis-Friends' Central Sophomore: This was my third time seeing Davis, and he continues to impress. The heady, strong sophomore guard is one of many talented sophomores in Philadelphia. Davis, like Conrad Chambers, handled Saint Anthony's defensive pressure very nicely. Davis, Chambers, Malique Killing, and Devin Coleman were the primary ball-handlers for FCS during the game. Davis scored five points, including a corner three when Friends' Central was in control of the game. Only a sophomore, Davis is one-half of Friends' Central's backcourt of the future.

A write-up of the Penn Wood game, as well as player reviews for Saint Anthony will be up tomorrow, so please check back again then. I am also working on a number of other articles. These will be a bit of a departure from the norm here. I'm looking forward to writing them and hope you will enjoy them. They will pop up over the next week or so.

Picture of Amile Jefferson Courtesy of bluedevilnation.com

Saint Anthony, Penn Wood Victorious in Hakim Warrick Classic

I caught two-thirds of today's Hakim Warrick Classic over at Philadelphia University this afternoon. A complete recap of the games will be up here tomorrow. In the day's first contest, Penn Wood ran all over Neshaminy. Penn Wood was led by senior wing Aaron Brown, who had 29 points and 12 rebounds in front of one of his future coaches, West Virginia's Billy Hahn.

In the day's second game, Saint Anthony (NJ) took down Pennsylvania's Friends' Central 59-49. The final score, however, is not indicative of how close the contest was. Friends' Central took a lead into halftime, and expanded it to nearly double digits near the end of the third quarter. Some shaky ball-handling and questionable shot selection allowed Saint Anthony to claw into that lead going into the fourth quarter, before getting an offensive outburst from senior Myles Mack. Mack, who is headed to Rutgers next year, breathed life into a somewhat stagnant Saint Anthony offense on a flurry of drives to the basket.

Friends' Central was led by unsigned senior Devin Coleman. Coleman had 19 points and 15 rebounds, winning MVP honors for the Phoenix. Junior forward Amile Jefferson had a solid outing despite being saddled with foul trouble. Freshman Conrad Chamber and sophomore Karon Davis also played well for Friends' Central.

A number of college coaches were in attendance for the day's triple-header. In addition to Billy Hahn, Saint Joseph's Phil Martelli, Villanova's Jay Wright, Temple's Fran Dunphy, and a member of the Clemson coaching staff were also in attendance. Jay Wright watched his 2012 commit Ryan Arcidiacono in the day's first game. Villanova is also recruiting Saint Anthony's Kyle Anderson and Friends' Central's Amile Jefferson. Clemson and Saint Joseph's are among the schools recruiting Devin Coleman, who played a terrific game in front of some potential suitors.

Again, a complete recap will be up tomorrow.

Enjoy the Super Bowl everyone!

Friends' Central Star Having Strong Senior Campaign

This weekend, a number of the top high school programs in the tri-state area will converge upon Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School to participate in the 2011 PrimeTime Shootout. Schools such as Academy of the New Church (PA), Chester (PA), Roman Catholic (PA), Life Center Academy (NJ), and Trenton Catholic (NJ) are among the headliners. In addition to those schools, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania's Friends' Central will be one of the main draws. Friends' Central has a number of impressive victories on their resume already this season, including ANC and Life Center. A key component of their success has been senior guard Devin Coleman. I got a chance earlier this week to talk with Friends' Central head coach Jason Polykoff about his senior guard.

Devin Coleman's name is not a new one to those that follow Philadelphia hoops. He and junior Amile Jefferson have been one of the best one-two punches in the area over the past couple years. While Devin doesn't have quite the national recognition of Jefferson, he is a vital part of Friends' Central's success. While Coleman has long had a reputation as a gifted scorer, he has improved significantly in a number of categories over the past year, most notably rebounding the ball and the defensive side of the game. "While he's traditionally been offensive-minded, over the past two years he's made a conscious effort to be a defensive stopper," Polykoff said. "I have assigned Devin to defend the opposing team's best player for the last two years."

This improvement on the defensive side of the ball and in rebounding can be attributed to Devin's conscientious efforts in the weight room. "Devin made a concentrated effort to improve his overall physical conditioning this offseason and it's paying dividends for him," Polykoff explained. In many instances, Devin, who stands right around 6'3 and 185 pounds, is asked to guard players who have 4 or 5 inches on him. That size difference hasn't posed too much of a problem due to "his wider frame and physical strength, combined with natural athleticism." That athleticism is on display in the video clip at the bottom of this article.

While Devin has played a number of positions for Friends' Central over his time there, Coach Polykoff views Devin as a wing guard at the college level. Although Devin can handle the ball, and has played the point at times, his coach thinks that "he would be most successful as a wing guard at the college level."

Earlier this month, Devin won MVP honors at the Big Apple Invitational after scoring 30 points and collecting 12 rebounds in a winning effort. This performance came against a very talented Quality Education (NC) team that features a number of high-major recruits. Senior guard Anthony Fields is headed to Wake Forest next season and senior forward Sir'Dominic Pointer is one of Steve Lavin's prized recruits up at Saint John's.

As Devin continues on with his senior season, there are many schools that would love to see him suit up in their uniforms next year. According to his coach, Devin is looking for the best fit, both academically and athletically, and will likely wait until after his high school season to make a college decision. At the moment, his recruiting is wide open. While Coach Polykoff didn't get into specifics with schools, Devin is apparently looking at a number. According to TheRecruitScoop's Alex Kline, Saint Joseph's, Drexel, Siena, La Salle, Penn State, Fairfield, Rhode Island, and Clemson are among the schools checking out the Philly senior.

Devin is one of the most talented senior guards in the city, and is paired with one of the country's best juniors in forward Amile Jefferson. Friends' Central is a team worth watching as the season continues to progress. Today they take on George School, and Sunday they have a showdown with Trenton Catholic. Their biggest contest of the season is a February 6th date with Jersey City's Saint Anthony at Philadelphia University.

A youtube clip of Devin Coleman can be found here .

Photo Courtesy of TheRecruitScoop

Hawk Offense Looking for a Point

Earlier this week, the Inquirer's Ray Parillo wrote an article (linked here ) about how a lack of a pure point guard has been a major detriment to the Hawks so far this season. While sophomore Tay Jones is leading the team in scoring, he is playing the point more out of necessity than anything else. In high school, and through roughly a year-and-a-half on Hawk Hill, Tay is a scoring point guard, not one always looking to distribute the ball. This season, Tay has 54 assists to 40 turnovers, for a 1.35/1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Where do the Hawks turn? One possibility is sliding freshman guard Langston Galloway over to the point. This suggestion was made by Aaron Bracy of Philahoops.com here . Looking at the numbers, Langston has 48 assists to 16 turnovers, for a 3/1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Sliding Langston to the point may give the Hawks' offense some new life and give the team a spark. They certainly need it, as they are now 5-12 heading into tomorrow night's home game against Rhode Island.

While that may be a short-term solution, Hawk coaches and fans are hoping that Chris Wilson arrives at Saint Joseph's next year ready to take the reigns at point guard. I will be speaking with Terry Sanford High School coach Bill Boyette tomorrow about his senior point guard. Check back here on Thursday for the article.

In one last bit of guard-related news, Friends' Central senior guard Devin Coleman continues to list Saint Joseph's as a school of interest. He did this most recently after a 30-point and 12-rebound performance in New York over the weekend. Read about the performance and Devin's list of schools here .

Davon Reed Collects SJU Offer

Day in and day out, one of the very best people in the area at breaking news is TheRecruitScoop's Alex Kline. He broke news earlier today that is of note to Saint Joseph's fans. In the article linked below, Kline talks about the scholarship offer that Princeton Day School sophomore guard Davon Reed picked up last night. SJU head coach Phil Martelli was in attendance at the game, and offered the talented sophomore after. The article below has reaction from Reed about the offer.

In the coming day or so, I will have an article on Friends' Central up, with specific focus on senior Devin Coleman, junior Amile Jefferson, and sophomore Karon Davis.

Davon Reed Gets SJU Scholarship Offer

Local Coaches Watch on as Friends' Central Upends ANC

On Wednesday night, in the frigid cold, three of the area's most recognizable college coaches were seated in a high school gym in Bryn Athyn. What would drag Phil Martelli, Fran Dunphy, and Jay Wright to a suburban high school gym on a 25-degree December night? How about two of the most talented teams in the area. Academy of the New Church boasts a starting frontcourt with players committed to Pitt, Villanova, and Syracuse. On the other side of the ball, Friends' Central stars one of the best juniors in the nation, in 6'8 forward Amile Jefferson. They also feature one of the better unsigned seniors around: athletic combo guard Devin Coleman.

While I was unable to attend the game, Rick O'Brien of the Inquirer was on hand. His write-up of the game is below, and it's a good one.

Worth highlighting from the article are the college lists of both Amile Jefferson and Devin Coleman. Coleman, who had 19 points and 11 boards, said that he is hearing from "Saint Joseph's, La Salle, Rice, and Maryland." His teammate, Amile Jefferson, who went for 12 and 12, mentioned visits to Temple, Villanova, Maryland, Georgetown, and Duke. He also said that he is considering "Syracuse, North Carolina, and Saint Joseph's."

The article is linked here

Devin Coleman Has a List; Some Odds and Ends

One of the people that I seem to be getting a lot of my news from lately is Alex Kline of TheRecruitscoop. His site is a really good one, and although I'm not really a huge Twitter person, his twitter is tremendous ( here ).

According to Kline, 2011 Friends' Central guard Devin Coleman has a list. Coleman's recruitment is one of the more interesting ones in the area. Iowa made him a priority over the spring and summer, and he was considered an Iowa lean. Both sides then moved in a different direction. At one point, Rutgers was making a hard push for him. Since that point, Rutgers has signed 7 (yes, 7) players in the 2011 class and moved on. Saint Joseph's and Temple both had great interest in him. Since that point, the Hawks signed guard Chris Wilson and Temple signed Florida guard Will Cummings. Coleman has a list now that includes Rice, Saint Joseph's, La Salle, Delaware, Saint Bonaventure, Marshall, and Canisius. Talk about a diverse list. Devin is a tremendously talented player, and one that, this time last year, I thought would be a stretch for any A10 team. I viewed him more as a Big 10 or Big East player. Obviously things have changed. I have no inside info on the subject, but am surprised to see the Hawks still listed by Coleman, with Langston Galloway and Pat Swilling freshmen this year and Chris Wilson already signed in the 2011 class. This is a recruitment that I will try to find out more about.

With the season opener only a week away from tomorrow, I have still yet to make it over to Hawk Hill to watch a practice. That will change either today or tomorrow, so check back over the coming days for a practice report.

In other news, multiple sites, including Zagsblog and TheRecruitScoop, are reporting that former Overbrook High star Nurideen Lindsey had 48 points, 10 assists, and 5 rebounds last night. Those numbers are remarkable enough, and all the more impressive when you know that it was his first organized regular season basketball game in over two years. Lindsey is playing at Redlands (OK) Community College this year and will suit up for Steve Lavin and Saint John's next season.

Donofrio Classic Gets Underway

Now that the high school seasons in Pennsylvania and New Jersey have come to an end, the time for Spring showcase and AAU competition has begun. One of the most well-known, well-respected, and well-liked events in the Philadelphia area is the annual Donofrio Classic held at Fellowship House in Conshohocken. I have not made it to any of the games thus far, but will be there in the coming weeks. Most of the Philadelphia area's best will be competing in the event. I have a few articles worth checking out linked below. In the first article linked below, Mainstreet, featuring four Penn Wood players, blew out the Del Val VC team behind 20 points from Aaron Brown. The article also includes video. The second article linked below is from RecruitRecon and has player write-ups on Friends Central's Amile Jefferson and Devin Coleman, along with Liberty High's Darrun Hilliard and Neshaminy's Ryan Arcidiacono. Both articles are well worth a look.

Times Herald Article on Donofrio

RecruitRecon Article on Day One at Donofrio

Penn Wood and Plymouth-Whitemarsh Roll; Friends Central Beats ANC

The Pennsylvania Boy's Basketball playoffs got underway today. In the AAAA bracket, the number one and two seeds cruised into the second round. Plymouth-Whitemarsh, the number one overall seed, blew out West Chester East 70-28. According to Philly.com, PW got 20 points from senior bigman CJ AIken and a triple-double (16 points, 11 boards, 10 blocks) from junior forward Jaylen Bond. PW will play the winner of tomorrow's Spring Ford- Upper Dublin game on Tuesday night at PW in the second round.

Penn Wood, the overall number two seed, pummeled Oxford 80-36 at home earlier tonight. According to Philly.com, Dequan Parker paced the Patriots with a career-high of 20 points. Junior Hawk target Aaron Brown had 17 points. Penn Wood center Shawn Oakman, another SJU target, had 8 points and 11 rebounds in the victory. Penn Wood plays Bensalem at home on Tuesday evening in the second round.

The sophomore class in Philadelphia has three elite level recruits in Friends Central's Amile Jefferson, Academy of the New Church's Savon Goodman, and Westtown's Daniel Ochefu. Two of those sophomores met this afternoon when Friends Central and Academy of the New Church took the court. Amile Jefferson's Friends Central team got the best of ANC despite trailing 14-3 at the end of the first quarter. Friends Central got 14 points from junior guard Devin Coleman and super-soph Amile Jefferson. Both players are receiving recruiting interest from the Hawks. Savon Goodman, as he has all season long, paced ANC. He was the game's high-point man with 16 points. Malcolm Gilbert had 4 points for ANC and elite-level 2011 center Roc Christmas was limited to 6 points.

Links to the Philly.com scores are below:

Friends Central beats ANC

Plymouth-Whitemarsh Pounds West Chester East

Penn Wood Beats Oxford

Friends Central-Saint Anthony Game Snowed Out

Going into the weekend, I was really anticipating attending a match-up between one of Philadelphia's best high school teams, Friends Central, and a team coached by arguably the best high school coach in America, Saint Anthony's. The game was scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Philadelphia University. As anyone in the Northeast knows, the region was blanketed with 20-plus inches of snow over the weekend, forcing the postponement of the game. According to Philly.com, the game will be rescheduled on one of four dates: February 19th, 20th, 26th, or 27th. Both teams are loaded with Division 1 talent. Saint Anthony's features senior guard Eli Carter, who will be playing in the A10 for Saint Bonaventure next year. Derrick Williams, a monster of a power forward, will be suiting up for Richmond next year. Along with these two A10-bound players, the Friars also star Oregon State signee Devon Collier and University of Maryland signee Ashton Pankey. Friends Central is loaded in their own right, starring junior guard Devin Coleman and sophomore forward Amile Jefferson. Both are SJU targets. I will be on hand for this game whenever it is rescheduled, and a recap will be posted here.

Sneaker Villa Classic Today at Saint Joseph's

A day after the Hawks suffered a humiliating 70-62 defeat to Princeton, the Hawks' home court hosted the Sneaker Villa Classic. Four games were played on Hawk Hill today. Friends' Central defeated Phelps 61-55 behind a double-double by sensational sophomore Amile Jefferson. Amile had 13 points and 13 rebounds in the win. Junior Devin Coleman, another Saint Joseph's recruiting target, also had 13 points.

Despite 31 points from Pitt-commit John Johnson, Harrisburg bested Girard College 76-74 in overtime. Johnson is a tough, gritty, deceptively athletic scoring guard who should certainly find his niche in the Big East.

Imhotep Charter was hammered 57-23 by Bishop Loughlin out of New York City. Loughlin was led by senior forward Jayvaughn Pinkston (pictured above), a Villanova commitment. Pinkston had 19 points in the win and will be a huge help inside for Nova next year.

In the day's final game, Strawberry Mansion beat North Catholic 78-77 on a DJ Newbill 3 pointer at the buzzer. Newbill led Mansion with 30 points. Mansion also got a dozen points out of sophomore wing Kyhree Wooten who recently told Alex Schwartz of Northstar blog that he has interest from the Hawks. North Catholic got 20-plus points out of Jaleel Mack and Mike Terry.

The article from Northstar is linked below. In the article, Amile Jefferson and Juan'ya Green claim Hawk offers. Wooten claims interest from the Hawks and lists Temple as his favorite.

Northstar Blog-Green, Jefferson, and Wooten Updates