If Chris McCullough had his wish, he would be joining his future Syracuse teammates at the Mary Kline Classic this Sunday instead of trekking across the country to play in the Pangos All-American Camp.
“It would be good if we all got the chance to play together in that game,” the 6-foot-10 McCullough, the New York City star who is headed to Syracuse in 2014, told SNY.tv Friday.
McCullough won’t be at the event, but three future Syracuse players will be competing in the Senior Game at Philadelphia University: 6-3 shooting guard Ron Patterson of Brewster (N.H.) Academy, 6-8 forward Tyler Roberson of Roselle (N.J.) Catholic and 6-7 wing B.J. Johnson of Lower Merion (Pa.).
This game will give Patterson, Roberson and Johnson a chance to bond and jell together going forward.
“The chance for Tyler and the other Syracuse recruits to play together and spend some time together at the Mary Kline Classic is a great opportunity,” said Roselle Catholic coach Dave Boff, whose team won the New Jersey Tournament of Champions title in March by beating Kentucky-bound Karl Towns Jr. and St. Joe’s-Metuchen. “Not only to build some chemistry on the court but also spend some time talking about the future and start building that friendship which all great teams have.”
All three of those players — as well as St. Benedict’s Prep point guard Tyler Ennis and Bishop Kearney center Chinonso Obokoh — will be part of Jim Boeheim’s team as the Orange make the transition to the ACC next season.
Boeheim cited his next two recruiting classes as a primary reason why he’s not planning to retire anytime soon.
“I’m excited about the future,” Boeheim said in March before the Orange’s run to the Final Four. “We’ve got one of our better recruiting classes coming. We’ve got commitments from underclassmen that I think are very, very good players.”
Syracuse is also involved with several players in the Underclassmen Game, including 6-6 Archbishop Carroll (Pa.) wing Derrick Jones; 6-4 Brooklyn Lincoln guard Isaiah Whitehead; 6-6 Roselle Catholic wing Malachi Richardson; 6-3 Cushing (Mass.) Academy point guard Kaleb Joseph; 6-3 Neumann Goretti point guard JaQuan Newton; 6-9 Pope John (N.J.) forward Moustapha Diagne; and 6-9 Our Savior New American forward Cheick Diallo.
“I’m really looking forward to playing with them,” Roberson said of Johnson and Patterson. “It should be a lot of fun. And I would want to play with Malachi again in the future. Hopefully, he does end up at Syracuse in a couple of years.”
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Tickets for the Mary Kline Classic will be on sale at Philadelphia University the day of the event for a $15 donation to charity. For more information, visit the official web site, www.MaryKlineClassic.com, or follow the MKC on Twitter @MKC2K13 or @TheRecruitScoop.
MARY KLINE CLASSIC SENIOR GAME
TEAM PERSEVERANCE (HOME)
#13 Austin Colbert PF 6-9 Gill St. Bernard’s/Team Final (Gladstone, NJ) Illinois
#2 Soma Edo SF 6-6 Richardson Berkner/Dallas Mustangs (Richardson, TX) Fresno State
#23 Kuran Iverson F 6-9 Fishburne Military/NY Lightning (Waynesboro, VA) Memphis
#10 Jon Severe SG 6-2 Christ the King/New York Lightning (Middle Village, NY) Fordham
#12 Jaren Sina PG 6-1 Gill St. Bernard’s/Team Final (Gladstone, NJ) Seton Hall
#5 B.J. Johnson SF 6-7 Lower Merion/Team Final (Ardmore, PA) Syracuse
#15 Josh Hart SF 6-5 Sidwell Friends School/Team Takeover (Silver Springs, DC) Villanova
#25 Ron Patterson SG 6-3 Brewster Academy/Indiana Elite (Wolfeboro, NH) Syracuse
#21 Tyler Roberson F 6-8 Roselle Catholic/Roadrunners (Roselle, NJ) Syracuse
Coaches: Doug Martin (Team Takeover DC), Matt Henry (Ex-NCAA Head Coach) & Chris Alesi (New Heights)
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TEAM COURAGE (AWAY)
#32 DeAndre Bembry SF 6-6 The Patrick School/Sports U (Elizabeth, NJ) St. Joseph’s
#0 Josh Brown PG 6-3 St. Anthony/Sports U (Jersey City, NJ) Temple
#3 Hallice Cooke SG 6-3 St. Anthony/Sports U (Jersey City, NJ) Oregon State
#12 Kentan Facey PF 6-9 Long Island Lutheran/New Rens (Glen Head, NY) UConn
#10 Jermaine Lawrence SF 6-9 Pope John XXIII/New Rens (Sparta, NJ) Cincinnati
#1 Brandon Austin SF 6-6 Imhotep Charter/Team Philly (Philadelphia, PA) Providence
#20 A.J. Lapray SG 6-5 Sprague/Grassroots Canada (Salem, OR) Oregon
#22 MiKyle McIntosh F 6-6 22-Feet Academy/Grassroots Canada (Jackson, KY) Illinois State
#4 Geno Thorpe PG 6-3 Shaler Area/Team Philly (Pittsburgh, PA) Penn State
#23 Rysheed Jordan G 6-4 Robert Vaux/Philly Pride (Philadelphia, PA) St. John’s
Coaches: Billy Diamond (MKC Coaching Legend) & Ryan Schmidt (22-Feet Academy)
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MARY KLINE CLASSIC UNDERCLASSMEN GAME
TEAM INSPIRATION (HOME)
#24 Ben Bentil 2014 F 6-8 St. Andrew’s School/WE-R1 (Middletown, DE) Undecided
#4 Moustapha Diagne 2015 6-9 PF Pope John XXIII (Sparta, NJ) Undecided
#13 Cheick Diallo 2015 PF 6-9 Our Savior New American/Team Scan (Centereach, NY) Undecided
#21 Tyler Kohl 2015 SF 6-5 Trenton Catholic/We-R1 (Hamilton, NJ) Undecided
#3 Justin Jenifer 2015 PG 5-11 Milford Mill/Team Takeover DC (Bel Air, MD) Undecided
#5 Dion Wiley 2014 SG 6-4 Potomac/Team Takeover DC (Oxon Hill, MD) Undecided
#14 Kaleb Joseph 2014 PG 6-3 Cushing Academy/Mass Rivals (Ashburnham, MA) Undecided
#10 Kaison Randolph 2014 G 6-2 Pennington School/WE-R1 (Pennington, NJ) Undecided
#23 Derrick Jones 2015 SF 6-6 Archbishop Carroll/WE-R1 (Radnor, PA) Undecided
#2 Jamar Ergas 2015 SG 6-4 22-Feet Academy/Grassroots Canada (Jackson, KY) Undecided
Coaches: Matt Pauls (WE-R1), Terrell Myers (St. Andrew’s) & Mike Mannix (Wilbraham & Monson)
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TEAM BRAVERY (AWAY)
#0 Abdul-Malik Abu 2014 F 6-8 Kimball Union Academy/Expressions (Meriden, NH) Undecided
#25 Alec Brennan 2014 PF 6-10 Milton Academy/Expressions (Milton, MA) Undecided
#24 Mikal Bridges 2014 SF 6-7 Great Valley/Team Final (Malvern, PA) Undecided
#20 Ja’Quan Newton 2014 PG 6-3 Neumann Goretti/Team Final (Philadelphia, PA) Undecided
#11 Jared Nickens 2014 SF 6-6 Westtown/Sports U (Westtown, PA) Undecided
#14 JoJo Anderson 2015 PG 6-3 Yates/Houston Hoops (Houston, TX) Undecided
#22 Malachi Richardson 2015 SG 6-6 Roselle Catholic/Team Final (Roselle, NJ) Undecided
#1 Jared Terrell 2014 SG 6-4 Brewster Academy/Expressions (Wolfeboro, NH) Undecided
#15 Isaiah Whitehead 2014 G 6-4 Lincoln/Juice All-Stars (Brooklyn, NY) Undecided
#44 Chris Silva 2015 PF 6-8 Roselle Catholic/New Jersey Roadrunners (Roselle, NJ) Undecided
Coaches: Jason Smith (Brewster Academy), Chad Babel (Hoop Group), Rondae Jefferson (All-American) & James Barrett (Lincoln)
Slam Dunk Contest presented by Skullcandy: Soma Edo, Jamar Ergas, Abdul-Malik Abu, Jared Terrell, Ron Patterson, Chris Silva, Derrick Jones & DeAndre Bembry
3-Point Shootout presented by Skullcandy: A.J. Lapray, Hallice Cooke, Dion Wiley, Jon Severe, Jared Nickens, Malachi Richardson, B.J. Johnson & Ron Patterson
