By Brian Crownover
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The Greater Philadelphia League pits some of the top high school teams against each other every spring and early summer.  As the league winds down, the action was heating up.  Recruit Recon was on hand for two days last week.  Strawberry Mansion won a pair of games and a talented Plymouth Whitemarsh team won another game.

Keith Coleman

Cheltenham 75 Engineering & Science 50 (Tuesday)
Strawberry Mansion 87 Paul VI 69 (Tuesday)
Plymouth-Whitemarsh 86 Cheltenham 55 (Thursday)
Strawberry Mansion 110 Martin Luther King 84 (Thursday)

Strawberry Mansion

DJ Newbill (2010, 6-3 PG/SG)
DJ first caught our eye at the Sonny Hill Future Stars Tournament at the end of last summer.  We had heard that he'd made good progress over the winter and had established himself as one of the best players in Philadelphia's Public League.  Unfortunately, the few times we caught him this spring, DJ had rather pedestrian performances.

That wasn't that case though this past week.  We finally got to see what all the hype was about.  DJ played two terrific all around games while leading Mansion to a pair victories.  His game doesn't contain a lot of flair to it.  Instead, he has a refreshing old school style.  The combo guard plays with a high IQ on the floor and takes whatever the defense gives him.  He is very good at using fakes to freeze the defenders.

Although he won't break many ankles with killer moves, DJ is still a very good ball handler who knows how to navigate through traffic.  If he is stopped, he'll often stop and pop with a smooth pull up jumper.  He's just as capable of finding an open teammate though.

DJ made great plays, whether scoring or passing, in both the halfcourt game or transition.  He really struggled with his jumper in the few games we caught earlier this spring, but his shot was very good during both games this past week.  He can shoot off the dribble out to three point range.

Because he possesses good size for a guard, DJ also can rebound on both ends of the floor.  He scored on a number of putbacks during the second game of the week.  He is also able to use his length to finish very well in traffic.  He's a talented prospect who looks poised for a breakout July.  DJ will be taking his game to the Reebok All American Camp early in the live period.  

Eric Jefferson (2011, 6-5 SF)
Eric really caught our attention in Mansion's first game of the week.  The fast paced up and down the court game became a high flying affair for this athletic wing player.  He's certainly at his best on the break and in those types of contests.  Eric makes some plays around the rim too.  He scored on several putbacks and rebounded on the defensive end as well.  He hit a three pointer in the first game of the week, but didn't shoot much otherwise.  Eric also didn't show a lot off the dribble.  He struggled with foul trouble for most of the second game of the week (he eventually fouled out).  He had a fine week though  Eric has good size and terrific athletic ability to boot.  

Kyree Wooten (2012, 6-3 SG/SF)
Kyree is a super athletic young guard.  He has no problem making plays above the rim.  Where he does tend to struggle is finishing amongst bigger player.  During those times, his size hinders him.  Kyree needs to add strength to become more effective in that area.  The lefty is capable of attacking off the dribble and is very quick.  He also runs the floor well.  His jumper really needs some work.  Because of his athletic ability and quickness, Kyree pulls down a lot of rebounds and picks off quite a few passes.  He'll block a shot from time to time too.  He has some work to do, but he's an outstanding prospect.    

Cheltenham

Keith Coleman (2011, 6-8 PF/C)
Keith grabbed our attention with a few powerful dunks in the Rasual Butler All-City Classic.  That was just the tip of the iceberg though as he put on a pair of impressive shows this past week in the Greater Philadelphia League.  First up was a game against an undersized Engineering and Science team.  Keith made quick work in disposing of them whenever he got the ball in the post.  He possesses incredible size, strength and athleticism.  He threw down a number of dunks, but also had several fine short drives and conversions.

Keith has outstanding hands, plays with quick and short bursts in the low block and displays soft touch around the rim.  He used the glass to his advantage throughout the week as well.  He's monster on the boards at both ends.  Keith can even handle the ball a little too as he showed on a coast to coast drive during the first outing.  It's not something you want him doing a lot of, but he can be effective doing it.

Thursday night was the real challenge for Keith as he went up against future St. Joe's Hawk CJ Aiken.  He had his way with the much thinner Aiken whenever he got the ball in the low block (which unfortunately wasn't enough).  He was able to use his power and quickness to blow by CJ and throw down a pair of dunks.  He displayed an impressive hook shot on the interior, which gives his game a nice balance of power and finesse.  Keith did a standout job of establishing position in the low block all week and he's developed a good feel around the hoop.  

Where he got into trouble on Thursday was when he tried to do too much from the wing.  He can hit on the occasional jumper, but shouldn't be taking three pointers (he did so twice in the contest).  He also tried to handle the ball too much and attack from deep.  Once he went inside and his teammates started finding him, he was able to control the paint.  By then it was too late though.

Keith is already equipped with a college body and he boasts and ever improving game to go along with it.  He's among Philly's best kept secrets right now. The scary thing is that he has the potential to add even more muscle to his bulky frame.  Look for his stock to continue to rise over the summer.  He is quickly becoming one of the best big men around.

Rob Mansell (2010, 6-0 SG)
Rob showed himself to be a very explosive and athletic guard.  He's hard to keep in front of you because of his quickness.  However, he had two rough outings last week.  In the first game, he struggled with his jumper and had difficulty converting when attacking the hoop off the dribble or in transition.  In the second game, Rob exploded early on from the perimeter as he buried three shots from beyond the arc.  After those first few minutes though, his game reverted back towards that of his performance earlier in the week.  He again struggled with his shot and often failed to convert.  Rob also struggled with quite a few turnovers.  He showed flashes throughout the week, but couldn't put it together consistently for Cheltenham.

Plymouth-Whitemarsh

CJ Aiken (2010, 6-9 PF/C) committed to St. Joe's
Earlier in the week, CJ committed to play at St. Joe's following the conclusion of his high school career.  Although he didn't put forth a dominant outing, all his skills were on display Thursday night.  The freakishly long big man excels because of his ability score or drive from the perimeter as well as throw down dunks on the inside.  He scored quite a few times in the form of athletic jams.  

CJ possesses a great set of hands and used them to clear quite a few rebounds.  He had a nice drive and finish as well as a transition assist.  His back to the basket game needs work and it sure wouldn't hurt this rail thin forward to find his way to the buffet line and weight room.  

CJ had a rough outing on the defensive end.  Usually he's a shot blocking machine, but those were absent on this night.  Budding star, Keith Coleman was able to overpower him in the post several times too.  CJ  has a smooth stroke and can hit out three point land, but he was unable to successfully pull the trigger from deep on this evening.   He is a productive player now, but his best days still lie ahead of him.

Jaylen Bond (2011, 6-7 SF/PF)
Jaylen put together a solid game, but the talented wing player didn't dominate.  The longer strider is explosive off the dribble and has terrific size for his position.  He showed his athletic ability on a transition dunk.  Jaylen had a few drives to the hoop in the halfcourt game too.  His jumper was solid as he hit a pair of three pointer and a pull up shot from deep.  He pulled down a few rebounds too.  

Whis Grant (2010, 5-11 PG/SG)
Whis put together a nice game.  He has a quick handle and the ability to change directions.  He finished with a bank shot several times and also drew a number of fouls.  He was an abysmal 1 of 8 from the charity stripe though.  Whis appears to be improving from the lead guard spot as he was able to attack and find open teammates several times throughout the contest.  He struggled from the outside in this one though.  

Sam Pygatt (2011, 6-1 SG)
Sam provided some more steady play in the backcourt for this deep squad.  He's also very adept at getting to the goal by using the dribble drive.  He showed much better shooting ability than Whis though as he buried several jumpers (including a three pointer and a fall away shot).  Sam had a fine drive and dish play too.

Paul VI

Rob Poole (2011, 6-4 SG)
It was our first viewing of this youngster and Rob was very impressive.  He came into Philly and played against one of the Pub's best teams and players and didn't back down.  The guard has an array of skills.  Shooting is probably the strength of his game as he can put it in from all over the court with a smooth stroke.  Rob can pull up or catch it and shoot.  When he's not killing you from the outside, he proved he can get it done going at the hoop as well.  The crafty ball handler can change directions well and adjust on the fly depending on what the defense shows him.  

Rob converted once when initially going left and then finishing back to his right for an old fashioned three point play.  Even if you manage to stop those plays, the big guard showed he's fully capable of posting up and scoring inside too.  Rob had a dominant first half in which he scored over 20 points while going toe to toe with DJ Newbill.  Paul VI only had a one man bench and that eventually wore down Rob and his teammates.  He struggled to finish or hit jumpers in the second half.  This talented combo guard is without a doubt one to watch though.

Nick Moore (2010, 6-6 SF/PF)
Tough, powerful and athletic are three words that can certainly be used to describe this undersized forward.  Nick is very physical around the hoop and proved to be a good finisher, even when he takes on contact.  Among his most impressive plays was a spin left and bank off the glass down in the low block.  He possesses great hands and clears rebounds with ease.  He put up a monster game on the glass.  Nick can handle the rock some too.  After one rebound, he went coast to coast and threw down a dunk.  Defensively, he controlled the paint as he blocked several shots.  Nick is a very productive forward that is worth tracking if you are a coach of a lower level D1 program.  

Martin Luther King

Mike Wilson (2010, 6-1 PG/SG)
This speedy lefty showed some nice skills.  Mike doesn't waste dribbles and can really get to the cup.  He had a few nice finishes in traffic, but was inconsistent.