City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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The first session of Philly Live 2024 brought nearly 200 boys teams to the City of Brotherly Love from all over the region — Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware were well-represented, but teams from as far away as Florida came up for three days of competition in front of college coaches of all levels.

CoBL’s writers spent the weekend at both Jefferson University and the Philadelphia Youth Basketball ‘6th Man’ Center catching up with local teams and prospects of note. Here’s a notebook featuring updates on several District 1 programs:

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(Ed. Note: Links to all of our 2024 Philly Live I content can be found at the bottom of this article)

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Experienced Bishop Shanahan aiming for more

Records aren’t everything.

Despite a sub-.500 mark each of the last two seasons, Bishop Shanahan had the opportunity to play for a title. Two years ago, the Eagles landed with a District 1 4A championship but fell short last season, in the process losing out on the district’s sole state playoff bid.

With a now veteran core, that’s very much motivation.

(L to R): Sean Griffin, Danny Keenan and David Maddrey-Rylander. (Photo: Andrew Robinson/CoBL)

“That’s our first goal, win more than we lose,” senior guard David Maddrey-Rylander said. “The past couple years having a losing record that set off a fire and we just want to win everything.”

Shanahan went 2-0 Sunday, all with 6-foot-8 center Sean Griffin sidelined in a boot and on crutches. Griffin, a second team All Ches-Mont selection last year, said he’s due back in September and he’ll only solidify a roster that’s been hard at work building itself up.

Assistant coach Tyler Neuhaus has been organizing regular pick-up runs at LA Fitness or a local park over the last few months and the players are seeing the payoff. Those runs have been developing depth that Shanahan wants to use next season.

“We’re a hard-working group, we’ve been hooping all summer and doing conditioning in the mornings but we’re also really close,” junior guard Danny Keenan said. “Defense has been our biggest emphasis getting into this summer stuff and it will continue to be next season.”

The Eagles will rely on their experience at the top. Maddrey-Rylander, Griffin, Ryan Ambrose and Chase Nestor are the four seniors while Keenan is coming off a breakout sophomore year where he earned honorable mention All Ches-Mont. Keenan was fantastic in Sunday’s win over Brandywine (DE), with Maddrey-Ryland playing a strong second chair and Ambrose relentless on the glass.

“The last couple years, our league has been very tough,” Griffin said. “Now, we’re older, our core guys aren’t young anymore. I think we’re going to have a strong run because we’re more mature.”

Between Griffin, Keenan and Maddrey-Rylander, they probably mentioned every other guy on the team as someone who’s taken strides from last season, so they anticipate having plenty of options. They’ve been able to score the last few seasons but the Eagles know their goals of reversing their record and chasing both Ches-Mont and District 1 titles will start with their defending.

“We had a soft defense, we’ve always had a good offense but we didn’t play enough defense,” Griffin said. “We want more wins, that starts with our defense winning games.”

Records aren’t everything, but Bishop Shanahan has a goal to prove it's better than its record showed the last two years. The Eagles are motivated and know what they have to do.

“It’s a mix of communication and effort but also a little toughness,” Keenan said. “We have to want it more and that means everyone has to play a little tougher.” — Andrew Robinson

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Upper Dublin looks dominant with expectations high

There wasn’t much for Derek Brooks to say after Upper Dublin’s Philly Live debut. The Cardinals came out like gangbusters against one of the state’s proudest programs, Reading, and it was never really a contest. 

Ryan Mulroy was a one-man show with 19 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, throwing down a big dunk in transition and causing all sorts of problems for the Reading defense. Juniors Kobe Bazemore (10 points) and Noah Cohen (13 points) were knocking down shots from deep. Big man Idris Rines was nearly perfect from the floor (6-7 FG) for 13 points of his own.

It was a runaway midway through the first half and a running clock the entire second half, the starters all sitting the final 10 minutes. The final result, 70-29, was a startling one considering the two program’s general levels of success on a state playoff level. Not that Upper Dublin has been an afterthought, but — Reading is Reading. 

“That was our ‘A’ game, obviously,” Brooks said. “I know they’re younger, but anytime you can beat Reading, have that performance against one of the best programs in state history, you feel good about it.”

The Suburban One League champions and District 1 5A runner-ups a year ago, Upper Dublin entered this offseason with high expectations, and there’s been no reason to lower them. Mulroy has emerged as one of the best players in all of District 1, while Bazemore, Rines, and Cohen all return from last year’s rotation. Left-hander Brandon Altman, a 5-9 senior, also looked the part with seven points, four assists and two steals as the team’s fifth starter. 

Rines, a 6-5 forward, has dropped more than 40 pounds in the last six months and is in the best shape of his life, giving them a true inside-out threat who can bang in the post and stretch the floor with his shooting. He said he’s been hearing from Arcadia, Chestnut Hill and West Chester so far this spring, with others likely to join in after this weekend’s showing. 

He’s happy to have some fellow length up front in the form of 6-5 rising senior James Castronuovo and 6-6 rising sophomore Justin Ragsdale, who combined for eight points and five rebounds against Reading. There was a point where Brooks had all three on the court at the same time with Mulroy.

“Practicing with those guys, we always make each other better and compete,” Rines said of his fellow forwards. “Having people with your skill set to practice against and get your game better, instead of just beating up on [shorter] kids, it helps us a lot.” — Josh Verlin

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William Tennent restocking after Mooney’s graduation

The Panthers know what they’ve lost but they also know what they have.

WIlliam Tennent will certainly have a different look next season without Kirby Mooney (Richmond) Chris D’Ambra and Imad Abunima, leaving a lot of points to be replaced. The Panthers, who compete in the SOL Freedom, also don’t have a lot of size on paper but they do have athletes.

The product’s not finished, but Tennent is starting to get an idea of what its identity could be.

“We’ve shown we can still play even losing the school’s all-time leading scorer,” forward Tony Pople said. “We all have tremendous chemistry with each other, we can shoot, we can get to the rim, we’re showing we can still play well together.”

Longtime coach Robert Mulville does have junior Tre Stracuzzi back from last year’s starting lineup, along with seniors Pople and Jayden Bright who got plenty of minutes last year. 

In 2021-22, Tennent won 16 games and the SOL Freedom title. A season ago, with Mooney as their only returning starter, the Panthers won 15 games and while they couldn’t repeat in the division, they were again District 1 6A playoff qualifiers.

That’s the bar.

“We don’t want to fall off,” senior forward Ryan Bula said. “A lot of people are saying we’re going to have five wins this year, we had 15 last year so we want to at least be in the same spot. We learned a lot from the seniors last year, I think we can do a lot of the same things.”

Tennent didn’t have anyone taller that 6-foot-2 on their roster this weekend but also no one listed shorter than 5-foot-10. Bright and Pople said whatever they don’t have in height they make up in mentality, plus the similar size across the board allows some versatility and an ability to play fast.

“We have certain guys out there who can fill certain roles,” Bright, a tough, physical guard, said. “We all fit in very well together. Even though we’re all around the same height, we can do things that are unmatched on the floor.”

The Panthers players have been pretty active this offseason. Bula, who also plays volleyball, said they’ve been lifting a lot while Bright added they’ve been playing almost every day to work on areas of strength like playing in transition or driving and kicking to shooters.

“It starts with a great mentality,” Bright said. “That leads to great offense and great defense.”

Pople singled out Bula as a player he expects to have a breakout year. Bula, who didn’t duck the fact that he only played JV last year, showed his defensive presence with several blocks in Sunday’s win over Gloucester (NJ) and added that the Panthers will have to be willing to do the dirty work like taking charges and being sound in help defense if they want to be a playoff team.

“We all have to be accountable with each other,” Bula said. “If someone is mad at something, you’ve got to say it. untable with each other,” Bula said. “If someone’s mad about something, you’ve got to say it. We can be open with each other and stay on the same page.”

“We’re trying to build each other up,” Pople said. “We’re going to need to have that chemistry.” — Andrew Robinson

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2024 Philly Live Session I Standouts
Jefferson Day 1 | PYB Day 1 | Jefferson Day 2 | PYB Day 2 | Jefferson Day 3 | PBY Day 3 |

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2024 Philly Live Session I Coverage
Team Notebook Pt. 1: St. Joe’s Prep, Archbishop Ryan, West Catholic
Team Notebook Pt. 2: Upper Dublin, Bishop Shanahan, William Tennent

Recruiting Notebook Pt. 1: Matt Gardler, Jayden Taylor, Isaac Cole

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