City of Basketball Love

By Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito) +
Sean McBryan (@SeanMcBryan)
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MANHEIM, Pa. — For the second-straight weekend, a small army of high school players showing off their skills once again converged on Spooky Nook Sports before myriad college coaches sitting courtside. The Hoop Group Summer Finale offered another chance to prospective college recruits playing for nothing more than to show what they can do.

Here’s Pt. 2 of our recruiting coverage from the weekend, focusing on players from outside the typical CoBL coverage range:

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Yaw Ansong (2025 | Marston Elite 17U) 

Ansong stood head and shoulders above everyone else on a soccer pitch when he was growing up in Ghana. It is the reason why he is no longer kicking a soccer ball and why he has been playing basketball the last two years in the United States for Union Catholic in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. 

He never picked up a basketball until four years ago, after the COVID-19 pandemic struck. He was playing soccer in Ghana when someone asked why, considering he was 7-foot and there were tall people playing basketball. 

“I thought I would give it a try, and everything changed from there,” said Ansong, who has not received any college offers yet, though he is receiving a wealth of interest from Seton Hall, Princeton, Columbia, Penn, St. John’s, Cornell, St. Joe’s, Lafayette and NJIT. It is a growing list.

Ansong carries a 4.0 GPA and is coming off a junior season in which he averaged 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots a game—while still learning the game.

On Saturday, numerous college scouts were nodding their heads as Ansong ran the floor, blocked shots and was an inside presence. His offensive game still needs to be sharpened, though a legitimate 7-foot, he runs like he is a 6-foot guard, with great feet, a byproduct from years of kicking a soccer ball.

“I’ve been in the U.S. for two years, and I really did not start playing basketball until two years ago,” the soft-spoken Ansong said. “I would play and work out, but I did not really being playing until March 2022. I started with AAU. I am still working on my game and have a lot of things to work on. I leave the scoring to my guards. When I have a chance to score, I score. I wanted to work on mid-range shot. Colleges are telling me I should work more on my inside game, my post moves and threes. I can take three-point shots once in a while.”

He weighs 210 pounds and would like to add weight. He was 185 as a sophomore and is focusing on handling the ball.

“I have seen a lot of progression the last two years,” Ansong said. “When I came here, the game was really fast for me. I don’t see the game as fast. I know when I go off to college, the game will be fast again, but I will adapt to it. Right now, I have adapted to (this level’s) speed of the game. My confidence is there.”

Peter Marston, Ansong’s Marston Elite AAU coach, has seen Ansong make vast improvements in a short amount of time.

“Yaw works hard,” Marston said. “He went from 185 to 210 in two years, and once a coach sees his GPA, how intelligent Yaw is on and off the court, they are going to love him. He is very skilled, and he is learning how to move better. He has been working with Phil Dyer, who is the former strength-and-conditioning coach at Rutgers, Seton Hall, Clemson, and has worked with Dariq Whitehead and Mark Armstrong (from the Brooklyn Nets). He has helped Yaw.

“Yaw is a real hidden gem. The coach who gets him is going to get a real hard worker. He knows his strength and works on his weaknesses. You can’t coach height. He is a legit 7-foot, is very athletic and the school willing to take the right risk on him will see he will work out. Within the next year or so, once he gets everything going, he is going to be okay. Yaw has a great support system. He has his Union Catholic teammates, his Marston Elite teammates, and a great guardian family. He has a good village around him. He is Ivy League, which is a good quality of basketball and a good quality of life. The feedback we are getting from college coaches is seeing him be more consistent.”

Ansong, whose family still lives in Ghana, took an unofficial visit to Penn, will go on an unofficial visit to Columbia in August, and has planned visits on NJIT, Lafayette and Cornell. — Joseph Santoliquito

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Luke Brown (2025 | WeR1 17U HGSL)

The 6-9 forward decided to attend Vermont Academy for a post-grad year following his senior season at Salesanium with the goal of finding his home at the Division I level.

“I want to get my 3-point shot college ready,” he said. “Get my handle a little tighter because guards at the college level are going to be a little harder to get by. Those are the two main things. I’d like to put on 10 pounds of muscle too.

Brown chose Vermont Academy mainly due to the success of the program, which Toronto Raptors guard Bruce Brown attended, and head coach John Zall.

“Coach [Zall] has a lot of connections,” Brown said. “He’s a good coach and wants us to get better, so that’s really the main thing.”

Brown said he’s received interest from Elon, Stetson, St. Francis, UMBC, and Air Force and has also heard from Denver and UMass-Lowell.

“I’m really trying to solidify and lock down visits with those schools,” Brown said. “Obviously there’s a bunch of schools on the sidelines [at the Hoop Group Summer Finale] so I’m trying to catch their eyes too.” — Sean McBryan

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Alex Grospe (2025 | NJ Panthers 17U HGSL)

The 5-10 guard led New Jersey high school basketball in scoring with a 29.7 average during his junior season with South River.

Grospe was matched up Friday night with New York’s top scorer in Ryan Moesch, who averaged 37.0 points with Chittenango as a junior (he’s since reclassified to 2026 and is attending the Cushing Academy), and the back-and-forth battle was certainly fun to watch.

“I thought it was pretty cool that we went head-to-head since we both led our states in scoring,” Grospe said after the game. “That’s my boy. It’s always a great battle going against him.”

Grospe finished with 11 points, four assists, three rebounds, and two steals and played tough defense on Moesch, who finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.

He may not have imposing size, but Grospe doesn’t back down and uses his footwork, ball fakes, and high motor to put himself in good positions on the court.

“Being shorter you always have to be tougher than the person guarding you,” he said.

Grospe has been hearing mostly from Division III schools including TCNJ, NYU, Washington College, and Gettysburg. Division II Georgian Court reached out last week. He’s visited TCNJ and has Gettysburg lined up and wants to see Georgian Court soon.

“Free college is the dream,” said Grospe, who’s planning to follow a career in the physical therapy/Kinesiology field. “I’m just trying to work hard and do whatever it takes.”

He’s hoping to improve on South Rivers 13-14 overall record last year as the team replaced nine seniors.

“I’m going to do whatever I can to help the team get a positive record,” Grospe said. “Whatever it takes to win. Individually, I want to get my threes off quicker, stay consistent, and just be a great leader.” — Sean McBryan

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Sebastian Kramar (2024 | Global Squad 17U) 

Kramar nodded his head immediately when he heard the name—Pepe Sanchez, the former Temple star of the late-1990s and Big Five Hall of Famer. Kramar aspires to be Sanchez one day. He is a point guard, like Sanchez was, though at 5-foot-11, there is a five-inch difference from Sanchez. 

They do have something vital in common: they are both from Argentina. Sanchez made a name for himself in the U.S., and it is what Kramar is trying to do.

He certainly helped his cause last weekend. He dropped 40 points on Friday against Virginia Premier and followed that with 24 against Team PA Freeburn on Saturday in a 78-73 loss. Kramar is quick, fast, possesses great court awareness and seems to have a billion moves to the basket.

Kramar, who is from Buenos Aires, Argentina, has been in the U.S. for three weeks. The Hoop Group Summer Finale last weekend was only his fourth live game. Kramar graduated high school with an 8.67 GPA out of the 10-scale marking system Argentina scores. He is looking at a post graduate school, junior college or Division II program. Interest has come in, though after his play this weekend, that interest should spike up considerably.

“The biggest difference between Argentina and the players here is the athleticism of the players, compared to Argentina,” said Kramar, 18, who fluently speaks Spanish, English and German. “The game is so fast here, too. I love playing fast. That was the problem in Argentina. I had to slow down. I would get the rim and stop and wait. I love the college coaches and the exposure here that we don’t get in Argentina. I know Pepe Sanchez. He is a legend in Argentina. He is old now (laughs). I like to pattern my game after Trea Young. I am not saying I am Trea Young, but I like to copy his game. He is small and thin like me.

“I grew up playing soccer and played soccer until I was 13. It was tough giving up soccer. My focus is basketball. I want to improve my left handed finishes this summer, so I could use both hands and stay focused. I feel I am getting better. I am okay with what I have done so far, but I will never stop working. My objective is to play at the highest level of basketball possible. I play fast and think I can help a team win. I see myself playing point guard in college. I hope I get the chance.”

Kramar and Global Squad coach John Alexander have spoken to some post-graduate boarding schools in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) like Hill School, Hun School, Peddie School and Blair Academy.

“I think Sebastian is good enough to find something straight up at Division II, and there is no doubt in my mind it is a timing issue because he can definitely play D-I, but D-IIs are still able to sign kids,” Alexander said. “There are so many options we can go to, and the reason why I keep saying D-IIs is because they are the last schools that can sign players this late. D-Is have their 2024 kids, between the transfer portal and incoming freshmen.”

Kramar was discovered on a Buenos Aires playground by the Global Squad.

“An American scout saw me in January playing street ball in Argentina, and this coach put me in contact with John, and here I am,” Kramar said. “My parents pushed me to do what I want. It has worked out.” — Joseph Santoliquito

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Marshall Bailey (2027 | WeR1 15U UAA)

Bailey’s father Marty shot nearly 40-percent from 3 during his four-year career at Delaware State from 1998-2002 and clearly he’s passed some of those traits off to his son.

The 6-1 guard already has a pure, compact jumper which was on full display when he hit four 3s in WeR1’s victory over Penn Warriors Friday night. 

“I put reps in because my dad was a good shooter back in high school and college, so he always just told me to get a lot of reps up and taught me to knock ‘em down.”

The younger Bailey transferred to Westtown and reclassified to the class of 2027 this summer after completing his sophomore season at Easton (Md.) to go up against stronger competition to sharpen his game.

“I knew if I was going to a place with better competition it would be best for me to get an extra year of development to help me get to my goal of playing Division I basketball,” he said. “I’m going to get a lot more time in the gym and player development because they have coaches specifically for that at Westtown. I’m going to learn a lot.”

Bailey’s jumpshot form needs no improvement, but he said he’s trying to work catch-and-shoot and pick-and-roll reads the rest of the summer and when he gets to West Chester.

“They don’t play pick-and-roll basketball that much in the Bayside [Conference] where I used to play,” Bailey said. “I’m trying to get more used to it because Westtown and every college plays it.” — Sean McBryan

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Riley Jacobs (2025 | New World 3SSB 17U)
The 6-8 double-double machine from St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes (Va.) has offers from over 15 schools and is nearing the time to take official visits, which he plans to begin in August and September.

“I definitely want to visit George Mason, George Washington, and North Texas,” Jacobs said after his 22-point, 14-rebound game in New World’s 25-point win over NJ Panthers Sunday morning.

The versatile wing most recently picked up offers from North Texas, Murray State, Fairfield, and New Hampshire in July with Morehead State, Charleston, and Holy Cross offering in the spring and summer.

Siena and Rhode Island offered in the fall and George Mason, Mount St. Mary’s, George Washington, Norfolk State, Loyola Maryland, Bryant, and Old Dominion offered in the spring/summer of 2023.

“Before the summer I was talking to George Mason and George Washington a lot,” Jacobs said. “Since the summer I’ve been hearing a lot from Fairfield and North Texas.”

Jacobs said he averaged around 13 points and 10 rebounds during his junior season and is looking to boost his scoring average closer to 20.

He showed potential in handling the ball and extending his scoring beyond the paint Sunday, something he said he’s improved drastically but can still finetune.

“I’ve always had the mindset that I was a versatile player,” he said. “But sometimes my guard skills didn’t allow me to do that. I had to work on that a lot this summer bringing the ball up with people pressuring me. I want to improve my jump shot too. I’m definitely shooting it more but it’s not always falling.” — Sean McBryan

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Donte Tisinger (2025 | Caveman 17U HGSL)

The 6-3 lefty combo guard from Greater Johnstown ended his HGSL career with Caveman doing what he does best: score.

Tisinger dropped 34 points in a high-scoring 84-77 loss to BCRI in Caveman’s final game of the AAU season Sunday. 

Johnstown’s flamethrower broke his school’s scoring record in December with a 54-point performance and made second-team All-State after averaging 23.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game. He enters his senior season with 1,362 points.

Johnstown narrowly lost to Hampton in the PIAA Class 4A playoffs second round and Tisinger wants to make it further this upcoming season.

“My goal is to win the state championship,” he said. 

He picked up an offer from Boston University Monday following the Summer Finale and already has offers from Loyola (Md.), Cornell, NC A&T, and Saint Francis, plus Richard Bland College, a JUCO in Virginia. He’s visited Cornell and Loyola and said he will start scheduling visits to other schools soon.

While the scoring comes naturally, Tisinger wants to show he can do more than just that as schools are mainly recruiting him as a ball handler.

“I’ve been trying to work on facilitating more because I’m being recruited as a point guard,” he said. “That’s pretty much the main thing I’m working on along with shooting off the dribble.” — Sean McBryan