Admission of guilt: The last place I wanted to be Saturday afternoon was The Bronx. My Friday night – or should I say Saturday morning – was a marathon, over six hours of PSAL Class A and B championship baseball.
The ‘A’ title game, won by Tottenville, 1-0, over Lehman went 10 innings. I didn’t get out of MCU Park in Coney Island until close to midnight, which was followed by six hours of work, until the sun came up.
Clearly, I wasn’t ready for wall-to-wall basketball action. Or, so I thought. Once I made the trek up to Fordham University, my fatigue waned somewhat. There were familiar faces everywhere, players, coaches, and parents, not to mention high-level hoops from several states representing all points of the country.
So much happened in the handful of hours I spent at Fordham. Here are some news and notes from Day 2 of the Rumble in The Bronx.
— Jermaine Sanders’ recruitment figures to heat up in the coming weeks. One of the top rising seniors in the city, Sanders, a talented wing out of Rice, will take an unofficial visit to Rutgers next weekend. He plans to compete in the Villanova and Virginia Tech Elite Camps. He also plans to visit Miami, Seton Hall and Fordham this summer, as well as Boston College and Providence, two other interested programs.
Sanders has spoken with Durand Scott, his former teammate at Rice who finished his freshman year at Miami, and Jayvaughn Pinkston, a Villanova recruit Sanders has teamed with on New Heights. His dream school, Sanders said, would be a place he can improve academically and athletically, would be able to contribute immediately, and be able to improve enough to play professionally.
“I’ll see how the summer goes and once schools starts, maybe I’ll decide before the season,” said Sanders, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer in New Heights’ 65-62, overtime victory over Team Final in 17U pool play. “I’m going somewhere I’m comfortable at and I’ll be treated right.”
In the meantime, Sanders is working on improving his right hand, getting into better shape, and developing into a vocal leader.
— New Orleans Hornets all-star forward David West stopped by, along with Kentucky recruit Doron Lamb, a Queens native and former Bishop Loughlin star, and Maryland commit Pe’Shon Howard, Lamb’s Oak Hill Academy teammate.
— Chris Ortiz failed to finish off an open baseline drive. Later, he was unable to convert following an offensive rebound. The Lincoln forward isn’t concerned; he’s still getting back into the groove after missing his entire junior year.
The 6-foot-7 Ortiz transferred from Christ the King to Lincoln in December, but was ruled athletically ineligible by the PSAL.
“I got to get my legs back, get my aggressive mentality back,” he said.
Ortiz said he was initially expelled from the Queens powerhouse when a student’s I-pod was stolen and he was implicated because he was in the vicinity. Later, he was offered the chance to return, but opted to remain at Lincoln.
“I feel everything happens for a reason,” said Ortiz, who has drawn interest from LIU, Rider, St. Francis College, St. Peter’s, and Davidson. “I don’t think it hurt me. My senior year will be good. When you watch, you see the game different. Sitting out, I learned certain things I wasn’t aware of.”
— If Brooklyn native Tyquan Goodlet does in fact land at Thomas Jefferson, he will make an immediate difference for the Orange Wave. The versatile 6-foot-3 guard, a potent penetrator, played very well for New Heights in its 65-62 overtime victory over Team Final in 17U pool play, scoring 13 points.
Goodlet characterized the odds of him leaving St. Anthony (N.J.) at “50-50,” although he said he was leaning towards leaving the New Jersey powerhouse. “I like Coach [Bob] Hurley a lot as a coach, but I miss home, I want to play in the PSAL.” He likes the idea of playing for Jefferson coach Lawrence Pollard, who lives on his block. “He relates to me well,” Goodlet said.
— Lincoln guard Shaquille Stokes is playing with the New York Gauchos these days because the Bronx-based program offers him the best opportunities to be seen by college coaches. Stokes did say he will play at some point with the Juice All Stars, the program run by Lincoln coach Dwayne (Tiny) Morton.
Stokes, one of the PSAL’s elite scorers, has drawn interest from Rutgers, South Carolina, St. John’s, and Seton Hall. He plans to take an official visit to Rutgers next weekend with Lincoln teammate Kamari Murphy, a 6-foot-8 forward, and will compete at the South Carolina Elite Camp.
Murphy, meanwhile, said he has recently drawn interest from Iowa, Iowa State, and Western Kentucky, in addition to Rutgers, Seton Hall, and St. John’s. Murphy is looking for a school with solid academics, a good coach, and a program he can make an immediate impact at. As for when he will commit, Murphy doesn’t have a timetable.
“I don’t know if I will do a postgraduate year or not,” he said.
— Poly Prep’s future next year depends on Bradley Gifford and Alex Buford, a pair of versatile forwards that will be seniors next season. The two will have a head start on the rest of the Ivy League as they are teaming together for the Riverside Hawks. Buford has played for the program before while Gifford is new. Buford, in fact, recruited him to the program.
“This is just a bonus,” the 6-foot-4 Gifford said. “It seemed like a good opportunity.”
Gifford, who has received interest from Lehigh, Lafayette, Columbia, and Penn, wasn’t satisfied with the amount of playing time he was receiving at New Heights, so he didn’t need much prodding.
“We want to win the championship, go upstate and the only way to do that is by playing together,” said Buford, who has heard from Davidson and Hamilton College. “It helps us build chemistry and makes us feel more comfortable together.”
They aren’t the only Ivy League players on Riverside; Collegiate rising junior Ryan Frankel of the three-time New York State Federation Class B champion Dutchmen is also on the club. Gifford reminds him often next winter will be different.
“I always tell him, ‘You better watch out,’” Gifford joked.
