By Sam Federman
I'll be attending the first two days of the Jordan Holiday Classic, and possibly providing some coverage for a few different sites. Once the two days are over, I'm going to compile my notes and put together a notebook for this site.
But before the games start, here are a few names that I'm going into the weekend with my eyes on.
First of all, three teams from the ESPN SCNext Boys Top 25 are competing over the first two days. No. 1 Columbus (FL), No. 6 Dynamic Prep (TX), and No. 23 Long Island Lutheran (NY). I've already seen LuHi in person, against Sierra Canyon back on Dec. 13.
Names to watch
I remember watching Hudson Catholic (NJ) last year at the Battle, and thinking that they had too many guards to defer to Tahaad Pettiford as much as they did. One of those guards is 2025 Manhattan commit Omari Moore. Hudson Catholic also has 2025 Quinnipiac commit Keith McKnight. So I'll be locked in on those two future MAAC hoopers when HC takes on Nazareth (NY) at 11:15 a.m. on Friday.
In the next game, there are a few Philadelphia area players to keep an eye on. Phelps School boasts three Division I commits in the 2025 class, including 7 foot Penn State-bound Justin Houser and Lafayette commit Beckett Currie. But the player I'm most excited to see for that team based on my minimal research is Arkansas State commit Onyx Nnani.
Their opponent at 1 p.m. on Friday is the George School, another Philly area school. I'm very interested to see 6 foot 10 Lafayette commit Luca Bevilacqua, who had some high-major interest before injuries took away much of his junior season.
After that, Friendship Tech (DC) takes on Lawrence Woodmere (NY). Friendship Tech has 6 foot 9 senior Aidan Haskins, who is committed to Hampton. They also have David Bumpass, a 6 foot 5 wing who has plenty of mid-major Division I interest. Woodmere doesn't have a single senior on the roster, but sophomore Anderson Diaz is the player to watch there.
Penn Charter (PA) features three high-major commits in the senior class. Northwestern signee Jake West and Minnesota-bound Kai Shinholster run in the backcourt while LSU commit Matthew Gilhool anchors the post. They take on The Patrick School (NJ) at 4:30 p.m. The Celtics are led by Illinois commit Brandon Lee, who led them in scoring last year as a junior despite the team sending four seniors to the Division I level.
The game everybody is looking forward to on Friday is between Bullis (MD) and Columbus (FL), as each team has multiple high-major commits. UConn commit Eric Reibe and Marquette commit Adrian Stevens lead a Bullis team that also has two other Division I bound seniors. Jeremiah Johnson (Hampton) and Darren Moore (Stonehill) will play D1 ball next year, while junior Angelo Dickerson has taken visits to a bunch of mid-major schools as well.
Columbus is the top team in the country, led by twins Cam Boozer and Cayden Boozer, both headed to Duke next year. Cam is one of the top 3 prospects in the class of 2025, while Cayden is commonly ranked somewhere in the top 20. 2026 5-star Caleb Gaskins joined them this year after playing for Montverde last year. There are a few other Division I prospects on the Columbus team, including 2026's Cello Jackson, Keeper Jackson, and 4-star Jaxon Richardson.
The night-cap on Friday features Christ The King (NY) and Paul VI (VA). PVI is in a rebuilding year after losing a stacked senior class, but still has a few names to keep an eye on. 2026 5-star Jordan Smith chief among them, as he will have his pick of some of the top programs to play in college. There are a few 2025 Division I commits too, Towson bound Jaquan Womack and Utah State signee Adlan Elamin.
CTK doesn't have quite as much Division I hype right now, but 2027 guard Johnny Magna is a name to watch long-term, as he has picked up a few high-major offers.
On Saturday, Cardinal Hayes and South Shore open up the slate. Hayes has 2026 guard Malik Fields, who has some Division I interest.
Then, Phelps takes on Blair Academy (NJ), which has a talented roster. 2026 top-20 recruit Deron Rippey Jr. is the star for Blair, but he's not the only name to know. Jack Bailey is a 6 foot 10 Boston College commit, while 6 foot 11 senior Ramon Sayoye just picked up an offer from Xavier last week. Ian Archbold is ranked as one of the top freshmen in the country as well. 2026's Kenny Thompson Jr. and Jaen Chatman each have a few Division I offers as well.
Following them on the court, St. Frances (MD) takes on St. Rose (NJ). St. Rose is led by Jayden Hodge, a 4-star 2026 recruit and the brother of Villanova's Matt Hodge. St. Frances has a couple of 2026's with Division I offers as well, in Jasiah Cannady and Kamauri Lawson.
The only girls game in the Jordan Holiday Classic features a plethora of top players. Westtown (PA) and Bishop McNamara (MD) are two of the top 5 teams in the country per ESPN's rankings. Westtown has 2027 five-star Jordyn Palmer, 2027 4-star Jessie Moses, two high-major commits in 2025 (Kennedy Hall, Boston College, and Kennedy Henry, Villanova), along with two mid-major commits in 2025 (Olivia Jones, Harvard, and Aidan Langley, Towson). Bishop McNamara features Zhen Craft, a 4-star Georgia commit, along Mary Amoateng (George Mason), Vanessa Harris (Rhode Island), Princess-Alexandria Moody (Providence), and Maisie Crowley (UMBC) in the class of 2025. Sophomore Qandace Samuels is one of the top players in the class of 2027.
The Bishop McNamara boys team will take the floor after that, taking on Dynamic Prep (TX). McNamara is led by five-star junior Qayden Samuels along with four-star junior Prince-Alexander Moody. They also have a trio of 2027 recruits to know in Kirby Duran, Brandon Woodard, and Jayden Mills. Dynamic Prep is one of the top teams in the country, with nearly everybody on the team being a Division I prospect. Jaden Toombs and Jermaine O'Neal Jr. will play together at SMU next year. Leroy Kelly IV is headed to Oral Roberts, and Cobe Coleman is headed to Sam Houston State. Another senior, Carlsheon Young, has some high-major interest, but decommitted from Oklahoma State this summer. They also have a few top underclassmen, including Ryan Hampton, one of the best players in the class of 2027.
Then, Columbus takes on LuHi, in the only matchup of ranked teams over the first two days. We've already gone over Columbus, but LuHi is stacked as well. Five-star junior Dylan Mingo and his brother, 2025 Penn State commit Kayden Mingo run in the backcourt with Marquette commit Nigel James and Syracuse commit Kiyan Anthony. Anthony hasn't played in a while though, but it was reported that he was targeting this week for a return to the floor. Additionally, 7 foot 1 Florida State commit Nico Onyekwere patrols the paint, and 4-star junior MJ Madison plays on the wing.
The final game of the first two days features Bullis against Stepinac (NY). Stepinac's only senior is UMass point guard commit Danny Carbuccia, but there is a strong junior class filled wth Division I prospects. 6 foot 9 Adonis Ratliff is ranked as a four-star, while Hassan Koureissi, Jasiah Jervis, Dylan Perry, and Darius Ratliff all have notable offers in the class of 2026. 2027 wing Josh Rivera also has some notable offers. Stepinac is a younger team.
These are the main names that I'm looking out for over the next two days, but I'll make sure to note anybody that catches my eye.