NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Before they headed out on Thanksgiving break, some of the top boys prep teams and players from New England had a chance to test themselves against some of the best from outside the region at the National Prep Showcase.
The three-day event, held at Albertus Magnus College and hosted by New England Recruiting Report, included 21 games and featured 12 schools from New England – 11 from NEPSAC Class AAA and AA in addition to Putnam Science. College coaches from around the country were in attendance for the marquee event, getting another look at some of the best unsigned seniors as well as future prospects.
I was excited to get a look at some of the teams I hadn’t seen yet this season, including Darrow, Northfield Mount Hermon and Worcester Academy. I drove out to New Haven early on Saturday morning to catch the final two days of the event, which included 13 games featuring New England squads. It’s certainly still very early in the season, but I left on Sunday night with several thoughts on what I saw.
I’ll get into specific player standouts in other stories from the weekend. For this story, I dove into a handful of the New England teams I watched. From statement victories to unfortunate injury news for one team, here are 10 takeaways and notes I came away with from the National Prep Showcase.
1. There was some uncertainty at South Kent when longtime head coach Raphael Chillious suddenly left in early September to take a job with the Memphis Grizzlies, then star guard Kelvin Odih (Providence, R.I.) departed for SoCal Academy soon after. But led by first-time head coach Craig Carter, the Cardinals have stuck together – and they’re seeing results.
South Kent suffered a frustrating four-point loss to Massanutten Military Academy on Saturday in which it had chances to win. But a day later, Carter’s group notched one of the best wins of the weekend, an 88-81 triumph over IMG Academy's second team behind some late-game heroics from 2025 guard Tim Walker. It was a gratifying early-season win for the Cardinals, one that showed me they’ll be a tough out in Class AAA this season, but more importantly, that the program is in good hands with Carter.
When Carter walked into the locker room after Sunday’s victory, the celebration inside could be heard from the hallways.
“I always tell the guys, it’s not what happens to you, it’s how you respond,” Carter said. “And they responded. They did everything we asked them to do today. Of course, it’s not going to be perfect, but we have perfect energy and effort, which I always ask them for. I told them this win was going to happen if we had toughness and togetherness, and I couldn’t ask for more. …
“I got good character guys. They come from great families, they respond, they respond to our coaching, they do everything I ask them to do. It’s my job not to mess it up. I tell the guys all the time, I’m going to be the first one to tell you when I’m not up to my job, and I just ask them to trust me and if I make a mistake, I’ll be the first one to tell them, but these dudes really believe, so I couldn’t ask for anything more in my first time out.”
2. South Kent star Badara Diakite returned this weekend after missing some time, but only played sparingly off the bench – 16 minutes in Saturday’s loss, then five minutes in Sunday’s win. There was certainly some rust to shake off, but Carter is looking forward to the 6-foot-10 forward being back to himself after the Thanksgiving break and adding to a promising group.
3. Darrow had to wait a little longer to play its game on Saturday night. The Ducks were scheduled to play at 8:30 p.m. in the final game of the day but because of some long games, including one that went to overtime, they didn’t tip off until after 9 p,m. There was no issue.
Darrow was one team I was especially excited to see this weekend, and head coach Antonio Anderson’s group didn’t disappoint. The Ducks jumped out to a big early lead and never looked back in a dominant 71-41 victory over Fork Union. Even with the late tip, they brought high intensity on both ends of the floor, fed off the energy they were getting from their coaching staff and teammates on the bench and just swarmed Fork Union with their pressing and fast-paced style. Hunter Te Retana, their stud 2026 guard, was really impressive (more on him in my standouts).
I may have underrated Darrow, which is in its first season in Class AAA, coming into the year, but the Ducks – who already gave New Hampton a tough game – are going to be a very tough out this winter. They have size, dynamic guards and a great spirit and togetherness about them. I like what Anderson, in his third year on the job, and assistant Brandon West are building.
4. Northfield Mount Hermon can’t catch a break. Will Higgs, their 6-foot-11 junior big man, is out for the season with a torn ACL, according to head coach Mike Shelton. Higgs was expected to be a significant contributor for the Hoggers this season, but now they’ll be noticeably thinner. It’s possible that Higgs, who recently received an offer from Texas A&M, reclassifies, but that decision won’t be made until later.
NMH still put up a good fight in its 88-86 loss to Phelps, with Fairfield commit Nasir Rodriguez going off for 29 points and Lehigh commit Andrew Urosevic scoring 26. They did so without star forward Vincent Chaudhri, who was out with a minor ankle injury, and star guard Greg Brooks had just six points (though he had eight assists) on 2-for-11 shooting. The Hoggers certainly could have used some paint touches from Higgs down the stretch, but without him, they’ll have to rely more on their dynamic guard play going forward. Maxxwell Thorpe (North Andover, Mass.), their promising 6-foot-9 freshman forward, will have a good opportunity to step in.
Shelton has caught some bad injury luck over his three years with the program, which included missing Brooks for the majority of last season. But I still like NMH. Higgs is a tough loss, but they still have the talent to make a lot of noise in Class AA this winter.
5. The weekend served as further proof that there’s no better trio than what New Hampton boasts in Keyshuan Tillery, Mason Blackwood and Naz Meyer. On any given night, each of them can take over. Tillery had 28 points and six assists in Friday’s win over IMG Academy, and Meyer had 20 and 22 points, respectively, in the two wins, including timely shots.
But the Huskies also showed that they can win in different ways. For long stretches on Saturday, head coach Andrew Gale went to a small lineup with the 6-foot-7 Blackwood and 6-foot-6 Meyer because the matchup gave them an opportunity to switch defensively 1-5. There were more good moments for their complementary pieces, too. 2026 guard Jayden Harrington had 15 points and three triples in Friday’s win, Gus Fried, a 2025 guard, was impactful, and 2026 guard Ty Tabales (Worcester, Mass.) hit the biggest shot of Saturday’s win, a 3-pointer late to ward off a late rally as he trusted himself after missing his first five attempts from deep.
6. Vermont Academy has some big-time players in the 2025 class, including Jakye Rainey and Daye Kaba, but I was really impressed with 2027 guard Kamari Whyte. He had a team-high 20 points in the Wildcats’ tight loss to Link Year Prep. He was exceptional in the second half, and hit some huge 3-pointers late. It looks like head coach John Zall has a special building block in Whyte.
7. Newman showed some impressive resilience this weekend. The Cardinals were punched in the mouth early in its first game on Saturday, falling behind by as many as 19 to Sunrise Christian Academy before storming back to force overtime. They didn’t have enough in the tank to complete the victory, but I loved the fight – especially from guards Jalen Harper, Timmy Bollin (Brockton, Mass.) and Lucas Morillo, who were each instrumental in an epic late comeback. Harper hit a buzzer-beating layup to force overtime.
Newman capped the weekend with a 93-79 win over Massanutten Military Academy after trailing by double digits in the first half. It certainly wasn’t perfect, but I think those games will pay dividends for head coach Jackson Johnson’s group in the long run.
8. St. Thomas More went 1-1 this weekend, with star London Jemison (Bloomfield, Conn.) leading the way with 25 and 23 points, respectively. The Chancellors couldn’t hold a second-half double-digit lead on Saturday against Mount Zion Prep, and looked a little out of sorts in late-game situations. But head coach Jere Quinn thinks that experience will help in the grand scheme of the season, especially as a roster that’s still fairly new to each other continues to gel.
9. Putnam Science put a tough NEBL opening weekend in its rearview mirror with convincing victories over Sunrise Christian and Hargrave Military Academy, with Ben Ahmed and Tony “Butta” Williams (Norwich, Conn.) enjoying good weekends. The Mustangs’ losses to New Hampton and Newman last weekend were a valuable early-season wake-up call, and head coach Tom Espinosa likes where they are heading into the break. He’s still trying to figure out who his best 10 players are; Parrish Edmond and Nico Pena made some strong cases this weekend.
10. Overall, it was a good showing this weekend for New England teams, who all played against teams from outside the region. New England squads went 12-7 with an average margin of victory of 15.6 points. The seven losses were by an average of just 5.7 points.
