Three AAU teammates see plenty of recruiting interest

Kamal Yard conceded Monday that perhaps he is a bit biased. After all, he is the director of Philly Pride, one of the area's premier AAU boys' basketball program.

But Yard said he would put Chris Clover, Samir Doughty and Sammy Foreman, the core trio of his 17-and-under team, up against anyone in the country.

"I don't care if the game is being played on the moon," Yard said.

The three players, some of the area's most recruited juniors, will play together next month when Philly Pride kicks off its season.

Clover, a 6-foot-3 guard, led St. Joseph's Prep with 21.86 points per game this season. He has scholarship offers from every Big Five team and attended St. Joseph's game on Sunday against La Salle.

George Mason's coaches are expected to attend Doughty's game on Tuesday night when he leads Math, Civics & Sciences into the second round of the PIAA Class A playoffs. The 6-foot-3 guard also recently received interest from Virginia Commonwealth, along with earlier offers from La Salle, St. Joe's, Temple, James Madison and Rhode Island.

Foreman, a 6-1 guard from Martin Luther King, has seen interest from Fairfield, Hofstra, Murray State, North Texas and Wagner.

The trio will be joined by Washington's 6-5 Charles Brown, who Yard said is one of the area's biggest sleepers. He averaged 10 points a game this season.

The program's 16-and-under team will be led by sophomores Jabri McCall (Martin Luther King), DeAndre Hunter (Friends' Central) and Jaekwon Carlyle (Imhotep Charter). Hunter missed this season with a broken left tibia but began rehabbing last week. He hopes to be ready in late April for an event in Pittsburgh.

Eric Worley, the director of Philly Triple Threat, is anticipating that several of his girls' basketball players will "open some eyes" during the spring exposure period. His 17-and-under team, which includes some of the area's top juniors, will play in front of college coaches on April 25 at North Carolina's Deep South Classic.

Deja Rawls, a 5-8 guard from Abington, has interest from Hofstra. Reggie Robinson, a 5-10 forward from Upper Merion, is starting to receive Division 1 interest. Imhotep Charter guard Deja Reynolds has orally committed to Temple. They will be joined by Kalista Walters, a 6-1 forward from Bethlehem Central Catholic, who has interest from Penn State and West Virginia.

Moore attention. Imhotep wide receiver D.J. Moore continues to see his recruitment heat up. He recently received a scholarship offer from Pittsburgh. The 6-foot, 190-pound junior has offers from Buffalo, Duke, Massachusetts, Penn State, Rutgers, Temple and Western Michigan. Nebraska and West Virginia have inquired about him as well.

He showed great speed this season for the Panthers and has the ability to leap over defenders for jump balls. He runs the 40-yard dash in 4.49 seconds.

"He's very smooth, he's athletic, he's strong, he's very, very good," Imhotep coach Albie Crosby said.

McIlwain's stock rises. Council Rock North quarterback Brandon McIlwain received a scholarship offer from Miami last week. The sophomore also has offers from Penn State, Temple, Auburn, Boston College, Clemson, Florida, Ohio State and others.

Odds and ends. Temple's football team offered scholarships last week to Florida defensive end Reuben Jones and Delaware athlete Ray "Buck" Jones. . . . Demetrius Jackson of Miami said Villanova's basketball team offered him a scholarship, but he signed a scholarship last month to play football at Miami. . . . Penn State offered a scholarship to four-star cornerback Tyrek Cole. The junior from Florida has orally committed to Florida State.