Jefferson and Goodman Host the Blue Devils

Two of the top forwards nationally in the junior class happen to be from Philadelphia. 6'7 combo forward Amile Jefferson attends Friends' Central and 6'6 small forward Savon Goodman attends Academy of the New Church. Both players hosted the reigning national champion Duke Blue Devils today. Today, September 9th, happens to mark the first day of the open contact period. During this period, players typically schedule in-home visits, like the ones that both Amile and Savon have today with Duke.

A Look at Rivals' Top 100 of 2012

Earlier this week, I went through Rivals.com's list of the top 150 players in 2011, highlighting players from the Philadelphia and New Jersey area, as well as those with recruiting interest from Saint Joseph's and other Big 5 schools. Today, I will do the same with Rivals' list for 2012. Three of the 100 players on the list have already made college choices, with two of them (Rapheal Davis and Jay Simpson) signing with Matt Painter's Purdue team.

There are a number of Philadelphia/New Jersey prospects on this list. In fact, there are five in the top fifty, four from Pennsylvania and one from New Jersey.

The top-ranked prospect from Philadelphia is Westtown School center Daniel Ochefu, who checks in at number 8 on the list. Ochefu is making a big splash this spring, attracting interest from local schools such as Temple and Rutgers as well as national powerhouses such as Georgetown and Kentucky. In an article on Zagsblog, Ochefu listed Georgetown and Kentucky as his favorites.

Kyle Anderson, a 6'7 rising junior from New Jersey, cracks the list at number 11. I had a chance to watch Anderson back in September at the Gym Rats Midnight Madness event in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and came away extremely impressed. Anderson has the ability to play any position, from the point to both forward positions. He plays a very intelligent and selfless brand of basketball. Anderson played last season at Paterson Catholic, and due to the closing of the school, will suit up next year for Bob Hurley's Saint Anthony team.

One of my favorite local players, regardless of class, is Friends Central's Amile Jefferson. The 6'7 forward plays high school ball with rising senior guard Devin Coleman, who also projects as a high-major college players. As good as Coleman is, Jefferson is a truly special prospect, and colleges are well aware of that. Jefferson just competed in the Adidas Invitational in Indianapolis, where he continued to elevate his stock. The Hawks were on Jefferson early, having him on campus last year when he was a rising sophomore. At last year's Reebok U camp at Philadelphia University, most of the SJU staff was sitting front and center when Jefferson played. He will be a very tough pick-up for the Hawks though considering the long list of suitors that Amile has. A list that includes Duke, Villanova, Georgetown, Wake Forest, Ohio State, and many others.

While Jefferson has been on the national radar for the better part of the past year, another local star emerged on the national stage this spring. Neshaminy's Ryan Arcidiacono, a 6'4 point guard, makes his debut on the list at number 37. Ryan's stock exploded this spring at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions event in North Carolina. Prior to the event, Ryan was already being recruited by Temple, Saint Joseph's, Villanova, Notre Dame, and others. His play at the TOC led to even more interest and offers. Villanova has been considered the team to beat for Ryan's services should they extend an offer his way. Notre Dame, Temple, and Saint Joseph's are among the other teams with a legitimate shot at the talented guard.

Only a few spots down from Arcidiacono is Academy of the New Church (PA) combo forward Savon Goodman (pictured above). Before Ochefu and Arcidiacono blew up this spring, it looked like Savon and Amile Jefferson were going to battle it out for status as the top 2012 player in Philadelphia. That's not to say that the two have identical games though. While Amile loves his mid-range jumper and is a bit more of a finesse player at this point, Savon's bread and butter is taking the ball to the basket. When he does, he is nearly unstoppable. Savon's combination of toughness, strength, and athleticism are tough to match. He just played in an event down near Georgetown called the DC Metro Showcase. Goodman, like Jefferson, has serious interest from Georgetown and Villanova. North Carolina, Syracuse, Texas, and Pitt are other schools involved with the wing.

Most of these players have a long way to go before making their college choices. Even those who make their choice this summer have a strong chance of reopening their recruitment over the next year and a half. These are names you are likely to hear more from over the coming years though.

The picture of Savon Goodman above is courtesy of Scout.com

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

Savon Goodman Can Play

Yesterday Hawk Hill Hardwood gave you a recap of Wednesday's Academy of the New Church game against Plymouth-Whitemarsh. Plymouth-Whitemarsh was led by MVP CJ Aiken, junior forward Jaylen Bond, and senior guard Whis Grant. Today we will look at three of Academy of the New Church's players: junior center Malcolm Gilbert, junior big Roc Christmas, and sophomore forward Savon Goodman.

Malcolm Gilbert- Malcolm is a 6'11 center for Academy of the New Church who I had seen twice prior to this game. He did not get much in the way of touches or minutes in this game. Malcolm's offensive game is raw at this time but he is already quite a defensive presence. In this game, he scored a bucket, had a few rebounds, and at least one big-time block. Again, Malcolm's minutes were limited in this game. He is a player with all kinds of college options. The Hawks are involved with Malcolm, as are a number of other schools. This game was not a particularly strong performance, but the talent, size, and athleticism are certainly there for Malcolm to be a legitimate college center.

Rakeem Christmas- Roc is one of the most highly-regarded post players nationally in the junior class. Christmas is currently looking at five colleges: Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgetown, and Florida International. In this game, he showed glimpses of the talent that has so many college coaches salivating. First of all, Roc looks more like a college junior than a high school sophomore. He is already built to play in the post at the college level. Toward the end of the game, he had a block on the fast break that demonstrated his athleticism and tenacity. He plays with a bit of a mean streak, one that you are likely to either love or hate. Roc was very frustrated throughout this game, and that is reflected in the fact that he only scored five points in the outing. Christmas is likely to be one of those players that is much better at the college level than the high school level due to the very nature of the game.

Savon Goodman (pictured above)- While Christmas gets most of the attention for Academy of the New Church, it was Goodman who starred in this game. Goodman, a 6'5 sophomore forward, won MVP honors for his team in this game, scoring 20 points. Goodman scored most of his points at the rim in this outing, either on dunks or acrobatic layups. Like Christmas, Goodman looks nothing like a high school player. Goodman likely projects as a 3 at the college level, and like Plymouth-Whitemarsh's Jaylen Bond, he will have to continue to work on his perimeter skills. He did demonstrate an ability to put the ball on the court and drive past his man. A number of college coaches, including SJU's Phil Martelli, Rutgers' Fred Hill, and La Salle's Dr. John Giannini, were in attendance. Goodman has a while to go before making a college decision, but it is likely that he will have nearly every school in America interested in his ability. Savon has elite level athleticism and showed an understanding of the game, both offensively and defensively. On one play in this game, he met PW's CJ Aiken a good six inches above the rim. Keep in mind that Aiken has hops and is a solid four inches taller than Savon. The only player in Philadelphia in the junior class that will give Savon a run for his money for top billing was also in attendance. Friends' Central's Amile Jefferson was in attendance for the game although his team was not playing. Savon and Amile are two names that you are likely to hear for a long time.

Photo Courtesy of Scout.com

More From the Jameer Nelson Classic

The Jameer Nelson Classic continued on Monday and was highlighted by a resounding win by the Penn Wood Crusaders over Academy of the New Church. Pat Leonard of the Philadelphia Inquirer has a great article about the day's games linked below.

In a game that featured at least 3 recruiting targets for the Hawks, Penn Wood beat Academy of the New Church 53-41 at Widener University. Academy of the New Church boasts one of the best high school frontcourts in America, with Roc Christmas, Savon Goodman, and Hawk target Malcolm Gilbert. Gilbert was limited to 5 points while being guarded by another Hawk target, Shawn Oakman. Oakman, a 6'9 250 pound presence in the paint, scored 8 points in the winning effort. Another target for Saint Joseph's, small forward Aaron Brown (pictured above), notched a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Pat Leonard Recap of JNC Day 3

Photo Courtesy of Maxpreps

Jameer Nelson Classic Gets Underway Today

The sixth-annual Jameer Nelson Classic will tip-off later today, marking a start to four great days of high school hoops in the greater Philadelphia area. The tournament features a number of players with bright college futures ahead of them. One of the players, Plymouth-Whitemarsh's CJ Aiken, will be suiting up for Jameer's alma mater, Saint Joseph's, next fall. Jameer's younger brother, Chester guard Maurice Nelson, is another of the top-level talents playing in the showcase. Below is a list of some of the highlight games.

Saturday at Widener College:

1:00- Strawberry Mansion vs. Girard College- Strawberry Mansion stars one of the best unsigned seniors in the area in 6'4 guard DJ Newbill. Girard College lives and dies with the success of junior guard, and Pitt Panther commit, John Johnson.

4:30- Archbishop Carroll vs. Bartram- This game features two of the best guards in the Philadelphia area in Carroll's Juan'ya Green and Bartram's Tyrone Garland. Garland is an ACC-bound senior, headed to Virginia Tech next year. Green, on the other hand, is a junior who has yet to make a college decision. Many of the Philadelphia schools, including Saint Joseph's, have exhibited interest in the 6'3 shooting guard

6:15- Friends' Central vs. Life Center Academy- This game features two players considered elite talents in their respective recruiting classes. Life Center Academy, out of Burlington, New Jersey, stars Syracuse-bound college-ready senior guard Dion Waiters. Friends' Central has plenty of D1 talent, with sophomore forward Amile Jefferson being the most well-known name on a national level. Rivals.com has Jefferson as the number 5 player nationally in his class. Another player to keep an eye on on Friends' Central is junior guard Devin Coleman.

8:00- Plymouth-Whitemarsh vs. Chester- As the younger brother of Jameer Nelson, Maurice Nelson inherently has great expectations placed upon him. The 6'1 guard for the Chester Clippers doesn't seem to let that bother him though. Maurice, who recently stated that his dream is to play for the Saint Joseph's Hawks, is coming off a 38-point outburst earlier this week. The Clippers are always one of the best in the state, and they face a Plymouth-Whitemarsh team tonight with one of the best frontcourts in the area. That frontcourt features SJU-bound 6'9 senior CJ Aiken as well as hotly-recruited junior Jaylen Bond. The nightcap to the Saturday games is sure to be a great one.

Monday at Widener University:

6:00-Penn Wood vs. Academy of the New Church- When I looked at the schedule for the tournament, this is one of the two or three games that stood out most to me. Academy of the New Church features a frontcourt that many actually consider one of the elite in all of America. 6'11 junior Malcolm Gilbert, 6'9 junior Roc Christmas, and 6'6 sophomore Savon Goodman have size and athleticism usually reserved for college rosters. They will be tested tonight by a Penn Wood team that has some size and athleticism of their own. Penn Wood throws junior multi-sport standout Shawn Oakman at you in the post. Small forward Aaron Brown is coming off a monster effort at the City of Palms Tournament that garnered him national praise from the likes of recruiting sites Rivals.com, Scout.com, and ESPN.com. The 6'5 Brown and the 6'8 Oakman are both receiving recruiting interest from the Hawks, along with numerous other programs.

8:00- Chester vs. Bartram- A chance to see Mo Nelson and Tyrone Garland go head-to-head.

Wednesday at Gwynned Mercy College:

6:15- Academy of the New Church vs. Plymouth-Whitemarsh- A battle between the two best frontcourts in the area. Bond and Aiken for PW against Gilbert, Christmas, and Goodman for ANC. Hawk Hill Hardwood will be on hand for this match-up. A detailed recap will be on the site on Thursday.


Check back in here throughout the week for updates on these games and more. It's a great week of Holiday Hoops in Philadelphia.

Gym Rats Recap Part One

Last night many top players from not only the Philadelphia area, but the country, descended upon Cherry Hill East High School for the annual Gym Rats Midnight Madness event. Hawk Hill Hardwood was on site to check out some of the big names participating. In this first installment, we will talk the Philly area products. Tomorrow we will report on some of the national names such as Syracuse commit Fab Melo, Cezar Guerrero, LaQuinton Ross, and North Jersey super-soph Kyle Anderson.

Malcolm Gilbert (Class of 2011, undecided, picture above): When you first look at Malcolm, the first thing that you notice, beside his height, is his ridiculous wingspan. Malcolm stands a legitimate 6'10 with what looks like some room to grow. In the All American game Gilbert faced a daunting task- guarding one of the top 3 centers in the whole 2010 class in Fab Melo. Melo is a 7 footer with an offensive repertoire that has NBA written all over it. With that being said, Malcolm did a very respectable job. In the opening minutes of the game, Malcolm had a highlight reel dunk over Melo that sent the building into an uproar. He finished the game with roughly 18 points, all of which came on dunks. Malcolm runs the floor very well and is basically a goalie around the basket. He has athleticism that allows him to react quickly on both the offensive and defensive ends. While Malcolm, at this point, does not appear to have great hands, he is an extremely talented defensive player who has the tools to become a more-than-adequate offensive player. One of the biggest needs in the 2011 class for the Hawks is a talented center. Malcolm Gilbert certainly fits that bill and is receiving interest from the Hawks. It should be an interesting recruitment to follow. Malcolm was co-MVP for the Red Team alongside LaQuinton Ross.

Tony Chenault-(Class of 2010, Wake Forest): Tony won MVP honors at last year's Midnight Madness event, and from the get-go appeared determined to repeat. And repeat he did. Tony and Fab Melo were co-MVP's for the White Team. Although Tony has dropped significantly in the national rankings over the past couple years, when his jumper is falling like it was tonight, he is still a legitimate, big-time high major talent. Tony not only led the Red Team in scoring with around 28 points, but he did so efficiently. I didn't keep track of shots taken and shots made, but Tony was certainly making many more than he was missing. At one point in the first half, he absolutely took it to Memphis high school junior Bobby Parks Jr. Parks, a talented player in his own respect, looked like he wanted no part of Tony. On 5 or 6 straight possessions, Tony either took Parks off the dribble to the basket or pulled up and shot over him. Again, when Tony is on like he was tonight, he is a very dangerous player. And one that is certainly capable of contributing in the ACC.

Shaq Duncan- (Class of 2010, Niagara): This was the second time I've seen Duncan, and from what I can tell, he is a significant signing for Niagara. Standing around 6'8, Duncan is as thin as he is athletic. As he continues to put weight on, there is no reason to think he can't be a major factor in the MAAC. Duncan runs the floor very well and did not look at all out of place on the court with many top 100 players. Most of his points came off of dunks, but the same could be said for nearly every players in this run-and-gun style of play. A style of play where layups were met with groans from the crowd. While he may not quite live up to either of his namesakes, Niagara fans should be excited about this signing and the 4 years of basketball that you'll get out of him.

Savon Goodman- (Class of 2012, Undecided): When I arrived at Cherry Hill East and first looked at the rosters, this is one of the names that instantly jumped out at me. Goodman is generally considered one of the best prospects on the East Coast in the Class of 2012. About 4 minutes into his first game I could understand why. Goodman, who played in both the Junior All-American Game and the All-American game, won MVP honors in the Junior game. Savon is in that 6'4-6'6 range and only a sophomore, so there is time for him to grow. The first things about his game that you notice is his athleticism and general understanding of the game. He plays with a very calm and level-headed demeanor, just like his Academy of the New Church teammate Malcolm Gilbert (talk about a scary frontcourt when you have both of those guys alongside top 5 junior Roc Christmas). He showed an above-average handle, and ability to take the ball hard to the basket, and great athleticism. In this particular game, his jump-shot wasn't falling, but I know that is supposed to be one of his assets. He was dominant in the Junior All-American game with his jump shot a little off. The thought of him with a jump shot is scary for anyone that has to go up against ANC this year.


A couple other quick notes:

Roc Christmas was in the house but not playing. I don't know if he was scheduled to play and hurt or just there to watch his high school teammates Malcolm Gilbert and Savon Goodman.

Former SJU assistant coach and current New Jersey Nets assistant Doug Overton was there since his son was playing in one of the afternoon games.