That Nike event...UConn recruits

[Blakeon18]

It starts today...ends Thursday. A few days ago a Boneyarder said that Morgan Cheli [class of 2024] and
Kelis Fisher [class of 2025] were playing. I hope we can get some stats on them....and the poster said
their teams might meet in the semis...maybe a tape if possible? Don't know if we have other targets
down there. The elite division in this one always has blue chip programs in it.

 

[Zarathustra]

It starts today...ends Thursday. A few days ago a Boneyarder said that Morgan Cheli [class of 2024] and
Kelis Fisher [class of 2025] were playing. I hope we can get some stats on them....and the poster said
their teams might meet in the semis...maybe a tape if possible? Don't know if we have other targets
down there. The elite division in this one always has blue chip programs in it.

Archbishop Mitty (CA) with Morgan and McKenna vs Miami Country Day (FL) at 10:30 AM
today. IMG (FL) and K. Fisher vs Lone Peak (UT) at 12:00 PM, noon. With a win today
and a win tomorrow, MITTY and IMG will play each other on WEDNESDAY at 6:00 PM. The
winner of that semi could be playing the winner of Long Island Lutheran vs Monteverde ( if
that follows the seeding) on Thursday at 8:00 pm. I saw/heard a rumor that that final may
be streamed or televised????

 

[HuskyNan]

The final is on TV

 

[Dillon77]

Regarding the Nike TOC, I saw this in a Shane Laflin article on the ESPNw site and wrote an article for The Bench.
I'll "De-Irish" it...lots of top HS teams and prospects, as you could guess. Here are participating teams (and prospects):

• No. 1 Long Island Lutheran (ND '24 signee Kate Koval; Top '25 Prospect Jordan Speiser #20 (HG) 6'1" guard. Top '26 Prospect Savvy Swords #13 (HG) 6'1" wing),
• No. 2 Montverde
• No. 3 IMG
• No. 7 Archbishop Mitty (UConn commit Morgan Cheli & Top '26 prospect McKenna Woliczko (#5 HG) 6'2" wing/forward)
• No. 9 Sacred Heart ('25 prospect ZaKiyah Johnson (#3 HG), a 6'0" guard)
• No. 10 Bishop McNamara
• No. 11 Mater Dei (Top '25 prospect Addison Deal (#12 HG), 6'0" guard)
• No. 14 Hebron Christian
• No. 22 Hazel Green.

 

[Zarathustra]

Regarding the Nike TOC, I saw this in a Shane Laflin article on the ESPNw site and wrote an article for The Bench.
I'll "De-Irish" it...lots of top HS teams and prospects, as you could guess. Here are participating teams (and prospects):

• No. 1 Long Island Lutheran (ND '24 signee Kate Koval; Top '25 Prospect Jordan Speiser #20 (HG) 6'1" guard. Top '26 Prospect Savvy Swords #13 (HG) 6'1" wing),
• No. 2 Montverde
• No. 3 IMG
• No. 7 Archbishop Mitty (UConn commit Morgan Cheli & Top '26 prospect McKenna Woliczko (#5 HG) 6'2" wing/forward)
• No. 9 Sacred Heart ('25 prospect ZaKiyah Johnson (#3 HG), a 6'0" guard)
• No. 10 Bishop McNamara
• No. 11 Mater Dei (Top '25 prospect Addison Deal (#12 HG), 6'0" guard)
• No. 14 Hebron Christian
• No. 22 Hazel Green.

Doesn't Bishop McNamara have "Q's' younger sister? or was this just "Q's" H.S.??

 

[Zarathustra]

Regarding the Nike TOC, I saw this in a Shane Laflin article on the ESPNw site and wrote an article for The Bench.
I'll "De-Irish" it...lots of top HS teams and prospects, as you could guess. Here are participating teams (and prospects):

• No. 1 Long Island Lutheran (ND '24 signee Kate Koval; Top '25 Prospect Jordan Speiser #20 (HG) 6'1" guard. Top '26 Prospect Savvy Swords #13 (HG) 6'1" wing),
• No. 2 Montverde
• No. 3 IMG
• No. 7 Archbishop Mitty (UConn commit Morgan Cheli & Top '26 prospect McKenna Woliczko (#5 HG) 6'2" wing/forward)
• No. 9 Sacred Heart ('25 prospect ZaKiyah Johnson (#3 HG), a 6'0" guard)
• No. 10 Bishop McNamara
• No. 11 Mater Dei (Top '25 prospect Addison Deal (#12 HG), 6'0" guard)
• No. 14 Hebron Christian
• No. 22 Hazel Green.

Addie Deal of Mater Dei and Morgan Cheli are on the same AUU team, see other Boneyard thread.
Mater Dei is playing Aaliyah's old school Crestwood Prep in the first round at 1:30 PM today, the winner
could be playing IMG in the second round.

 

[Zarathustra]

Doesn't Bishop McNamara have "Q's' younger sister? or was this just "Q's" H.S.??

Yes, I just checked Quandance Samuels, is on the McNamara Girls Varsity, a Ninth Grader, class of 2027.

 

[Dillon77]

Yes, I just checked Quandance Samuels, is on the McNamara Girls Varsity, a Ninth Grader, class of 2027.

I imagine there are lots of prospects, given how good these H.S. Teams are (as noted, I initially put this list together for The Bench and focused on prospects that have some connection to ND, as well as other teams such as UConn (Cheli).

Depending on a team's schedule, would make sense for a Head Coach to dispense an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator to show the flag and/or take things in (can't talk off-campus now....).

 

[MooseJaw]

The final is on TV

View attachment 94203

Direct tv list the game to be played as the boys game, not the girls game. Hope they have it listed incorrectly, impossible to get a reply from them. Also has the 8pm game listed as a boys Hs game. ???

 

[JBK]

Long Island Lutheran is becoming a basketball factory and their coach Christine Raiti played ball at Trinity in CT. I would assume she would be very receptive to a relationship with Geno.

 

[Zarathustra]

Results from yesterday: Long Island Lutheran 82 - 35 over Ontario Christian, LIU plays Hebron Christian (GA)
who beat Hazel Green (AL) 59 - 48. Bishop McNamara ( Q's sister) 72 -53 over Folsom ( CA, for those
Johnny Cash fans!) Bishop McNamara will play Monteverde (FL) who won over St. Francis ( GA) 61 - 45. Bottom Bracket:
Archbishop Mitty with Morgan and McKenna 62 -35 over Miami Country Day. Mitty will play Xavier College
Prep who , pause,... WON !!! over Sacred Heart ( KY) who has Zakiyah Johnson (one of everybody's POI). Sacred Heart
moves on in the loser's bracket. Crestwood Preparatory College (Aaliyah's old school) 70 - 51 over Mater
Dei!! who has Addison Deal, another 6'0"a POI for many schools. Crestwood to play LONE PEAK (UTAH) who upset??
IMG and Kelis Fisher (UCONN Commit) 61 - 60. IMG, with Kelis, to play Mater Dei with Addie Deal in
the loser's bracket. Eight Games today. Semis are on We. Finals are on Thursday. These young ladies may be young but I
suspect the "deeper bench" team will win due to FRESHER LEGS. What a grind: four games in four days, progressively
harder!

 

[Blakeon18]

Z....Love your updates...keep'em coming.

 

[JDForever]

Results from yesterday: Long Island Lutheran 82 - 35 over Ontario Christian, LIU plays Hebron Christian (GA)
who beat Hazel Green (AL) 59 - 48. Bishop McNamara ( Q's sister) 72 -53 over Folsom ( CA, for those
Johnny Cash fans!) Bishop McNamara will play Monteverde (FL) who won over St. Francis ( GA) 61 - 45. Bottom Bracket:
Archbishop Mitty with Morgan and McKenna 62 -35 over Miami Country Day. Mitty will play Xavier College
Prep who , pause,... WON !!! over Sacred Heart ( KY) who has Zakiyah Johnson (one of everybody's POI). Sacred Heart
moves on in the loser's bracket. Crestwood Preparatory College (Aaliyah's old school) 70 - 51 over Mater
Dei!! who has Addison Deal, another 6'0"a POI for many schools. Crestwood to play LONE PEAK (UTAH) who upset??
IMG and Kelis Fisher (UCONN Commit) 61 - 60. IMG, with Kelis, to play Mater Dei with Addie Deal in
the loser's bracket. Eight Games today. Semis are on We. Finals are on Thursday. These young ladies may be young but I
suspect the "deeper bench" team will win due to FRESHER LEGS. What a grind: four games in four days, progressively
harder!

Are any of these schools public schools or do top recruits no longer go to public schools

 

[Dillon77]

Long Island Lutheran is becoming a basketball factory and their coach Christine Raiti played ball at Trinity in CT. I would assume she would be very receptive to a relationship with Geno.

"LuHi" has been a very good program for years (Celeste Taylor, Grace Stone) come to mind. However, Raiti has raised them to the stratosphere with this current group of players (Koval, Swords Sisters, Haeckel, etc.). Even with the Trinity background and the fact that LuHi is just over the Sound, not any UConn transactions to note with this group. Those players are headed to Syracuse and Southern Cal, Michigan and Notre Dame. But there's more in the pipeline, such as Jordan Speiser and Savvy Swords (who reminds me a bit of Sonia Citron).

Geno has spent a lot of time at Christ the King in nearby Queens. Maybe he'll drive over a bit east to Nassau County to see the next round of LuHi stars.

 

[cancontent]

Results from yesterday: Long Island Lutheran 82 - 35 over Ontario Christian, LIU plays Hebron Christian (GA)
who beat Hazel Green (AL) 59 - 48. Bishop McNamara ( Q's sister) 72 -53 over Folsom ( CA, for those
Johnny Cash fans!) Bishop McNamara will play Monteverde (FL) who won over St. Francis ( GA) 61 - 45. Bottom Bracket:
Archbishop Mitty with Morgan and McKenna 62 -35 over Miami Country Day. Mitty will play Xavier College
Prep who , pause,... WON !!! over Sacred Heart ( KY) who has Zakiyah Johnson (one of everybody's POI). Sacred Heart
moves on in the loser's bracket. Crestwood Preparatory College (Aaliyah's old school) 70 - 51 over Mater
Dei!! who has Addison Deal, another 6'0"a POI for many schools. Crestwood to play LONE PEAK (UTAH) who upset??
IMG and Kelis Fisher (UCONN Commit) 61 - 60. IMG, with Kelis, to play Mater Dei with Addie Deal in
the loser's bracket. Eight Games today. Semis are on We. Finals are on Thursday. These young ladies may be young but I
suspect the "deeper bench" team will win due to FRESHER LEGS. What a grind: four games in four days, progressively
harder!

Re Crestwood, keep an eye out for Agot Makeer. Believe she's a 2025 who is only scratching the surface. Not sure if she's on UConn's radar however, if she's not on the radar for some of the better programs in D1 now, I'd be surprised.

 

[Zarathustra]

Are any of these schools public schools or do top recruits no longer go to public schools

YES, we have public schools! For Example: Hazel Green H.S. from Alabama. It has 1,000+ students. Their
women "Trojan" BB team has been the Girls BB Champions three years in a row. Girls Softball is also the
State Champion. Then, of course, Johnny Cash's own Folsom H.S. in Folsom, CA. The BULLDOGS are
a public H.S. with 2,500+ students. Folson's girls are #1 in their district and # 7 in the state of
California (note, this is by conference/ division, not a ranking of the whole state of Girls BB combined (as best
as I can figure). And finally, Lone Park H.S., apparently a regional H.S., the " Knights" have an exquisitely
developed " feeder system" with a "Skills Camp" in the Spring and a program called the "Junior Knights" which
is set up for " third to eight graders"!! So, the " KNIGHTS" are not imported from around the country ( like many
of the better schools in California, Florida, and elsewhere, i.e .. to
the best of my knowledge). Those Knights are "home grown" and developed! NICE. !! As noted above, Lone
Park beat IMG (FL), 61 - 60 in the first round. IMG was considered the # 4 seed in the Vincent Cannizzaro Division of the NIKE
Tournament of Champions. I believe that the seeding #1 Long Island Lutheran, # 2 Monteverde and a very close
#3 Archbishop Mitty (the seeding, probably, could/should have been flipped ?) and then # 4 IMG (FL), who is now in
the loser's bracket, perhaps to redeem themselves in the next three games.

 

[Zarathustra]

Partial results from today, Tuesday: Consolation round: Hazel Green over Ontario Christian 60 - 57
and lower Consolation Bracket: IMG (Kelis Fisher) over Mater Dei (Addie Deal) 58 - 52.
Winners Bracket: Long Island Lutheran over Hebron Christian 61 -54 , and Bishop McNamara
(Q Samuels sister< Quandance, 9th grader ) over Monteverde 61 -56. LIU to play McNamara
tomorrow at 4:30 PM. Other games later today. Note: I do not have access to box scores. That
seems to involve $$. I am sure that there will be an announcement of the most talented players
in the tournament, e.g. an "All tournament team" and MVP at the end Thursday's Championship
FINAL ( which is at 8:00 PM). Archbishop Mitty ( Morgan and McKenna) vs Xavier should be over by now, but it has not
been posted.

 

[FanFromMaine]

"LuHi" has been a very good program for years (Celeste Taylor, Grace Stone) come to mind. However, Raiti has raised them to the stratosphere with this current group of players (Koval, Swords Sisters, Haeckel, etc.). Even with the Trinity background and the fact that LuHi is just over the Sound, not any UConn transactions to note with this group. Those players are headed to Syracuse and Southern Cal, Michigan and Notre Dame. But there's more in the pipeline, such as Jordan Speiser and Savvy Swords (who reminds me a bit of Sonia Citron).

Geno has spent a lot of time at Christ the King in nearby Queens. Maybe he'll drive over a bit east to Nassau County to see the next round of LuHi stars.

Lutherans boys team used to be big time as well. I’m not sure how they are now.

But, as far as i know, no boys ever came to UConn either.

 

[Zarathustra]

Last four game results from Tuesday evening:
Winners Bracket MITTY ( MORGAN AND MCKENNA) 72 -42 over Xavier
and Crestwood Prep over Lone Peak (Utah) 59 - 53. BIG GAME TODAY at 6PM
MITTY vs Crestwood (Aaliyah's school!!!)
Consolation Bracket IMG (KELIS F.) 58 - 52 over Mater Dei . IMG continues
today vs Miami Country Day at NOON. Folsom over St Francis 74 - 56. Folson to
play Hazel Green at 10:30 AM today Miami Country beat Sacred Heart and Zakiyah
Johnson yesterday that consolation game 54 - 43.
Big Four are L. I. Lutheran vs Bishop McNamara and Archbishop Mitty vs
Crestwood at 4:30 and 6;00 pm respectively. NICE!

 

[cancontent]

Last four game results from Tuesday evening:
Winners Bracket MITTY ( MORGAN AND MCKENNA) 72 -42 over Xavier
and Crestwood Prep over Lone Peak (Utah) 59 - 53. BIG GAME TODAY at 6PM
MITTY vs Crestwood (Aaliyah's school!!!)
Consolation Bracket IMG (KELIS F.) 58 - 52 over Mater Dei . IMG continues
today vs Miami Country Day at NOON. Folsom over St Francis 74 - 56. Folson to
play Hazel Green at 10:30 AM today Miami Country beat Sacred Heart and Zakiyah
Johnson yesterday that consolation game 54 - 43.
Big Four are L. I. Lutheran vs Bishop McNamara and Archbishop Mitty vs
Crestwood at 4:30 and 6;00 pm respectively. NICE!

It just dawned on me that Crestwood won't be on hand to watch Aaliyah's homecoming. Dang.

 

[PWS]

Lutherans boys team used to be big time as well. I’m not sure how they are now.

But, as far as i know, no boys ever came to UConn either.

Kenton Facey went to LI Lutheran

 

[Dillon77]

It just dawned on me that Crestwood won't be on hand to watch Aaliyah's homecoming. Dang.

Times have changed when it's the high school team taking a road trip to Phoenix!

 

[cancontent]

Times have changed when it's the high school team taking a road trip to Phoenix!

Boy is it ever. They've been doing this since Aaliyah joined the team. A couple other OSBA programs attend annually too (Niagara Prep and Lincoln Prep). Glad my kid's graduated and I don't have to face these types of costs as a parent!

 

[HuskyNan]

Kenton Facey went to LI Lutheran

Wrong board. Try this one. UConn Men's Basketball Forum