PA Playaz hottest thing this summer
By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor
About the hottest thing going this summer--besides the temperature--is an area U15 boys basketball team, the PA Playaz.
This year’s AAU Mid-Atlantic Division I champion, the Playaz is a squad comprised mostly of athletes from Bucks County. Virtually all of the players hail from Council Rock North and Neshaminy High Schools including ‘Skins sophomore scoring sensation Ryan Arcidiacono and Indian forward Arron Goodman.
Last week in the Adidas Super 64 Tournament that took place in Las Vegas, the duo combined to help the Playaz eliminate Dreamvisions--an elite AAU team from San Diego that won the tourney as a U14 squad in 2008.
Among the players competing for Dreamvisions this summer are Shabazz Muhammad and Winston Shepard.
Muhammad is a 6-4 sophomore from Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman High. Muhammad is one of the most talked about names in AAU hoops; he’s drawn comparisons to James Harden, a 6-5 shooting guard recently selected by Oklahoma City with the third overall pick in the NBA Draft. One of the top prospects in the class of 2012, Muhammad has already been offered a scholarship by UNLV.
Shepard is a 6-foot, 5-inch sophomore out of Houston now playing high school hoops at Findlay Prep, a team that went 33-0 last season in varsity play, capping its campaign off in April with a win in ESPN’s first National High School Invitational. HoopScoopOnline declared Shepard “the best player in the rising sophomore division.”
When the Playaz took on Dreamvisions July 25 at Rancho High School, ESPN.com was there ready to report another big win for the California hoopsters. According to Coach Rice, college basketball coaches including Phil Martelli (St. Joe’s), Lon Kruger (UNLV), and John Thompson III (Georgetown) came from all corners of the nation to witness the defending champions’ title quest.
It never came.
The Playaz ruined the San Diego team’s party, outpacing Dreamvisions, 67-62. Arcidiacono led the boys from Bucks County with 17 points. Goodman came through for the Playaz defensively as well, limiting Shepard to just 11 points. On offense, Goodman contributed 15 points while hauling down 14 rebounds.
Neshaminy High’s Dwight Williams was next with 16 points. More importantly, he held Muhammad to 15 points.
“Dreamvisions is like a traveling all-star team; they have 10 kids from five different states,” stated Coach Rice. We have [11] kids from two schools within three miles of each other—and we beat them.”
Earlier in the day, the Playaz defeated the Bay Area Hoosiers, 72-59. Arcidiacono led the offensive effort with 15 points, Rice and Katz chipped in with 12 points each. Morgan did his part pouring in 12 points.
The team’s Adidas Super 64 win streak--a tear that totaled six games--began July 22 when it outpaced Oregon, 56-35. Arcidiacono led the Playaz with 16 points and Neshaminy High’s Tyler Katz came through with 15. Owen Rice--of CR North and Dan Brown--of CB South each poured in 11.
Goodman chipped in with 14 rebounds and Williams pitched in with six steals.
“This is an extremely talented group of players,” stated head coach Gene Rice, who doubles as an executive recruiter from Yardley when he’s not coaching hoops. “There’s never been a group of Bucks County kids playing together that are this good.”
Also suiting up for the Playaz this summer are Billy McAllister, Matt McCloskey and Dan Schmidt. All three play for the Rock during the varsity season. McCloskey and Schmidt serve as the team’s defensive leaders.
Also contributing to the effort this summer are Brown and Brendan Kilpatrick of Malvern Prep School. Both are big contributors on offense.
After capturing the division title, the Playaz went on a tear, taking first place in the Carrierdome Classic in Syracuse, winning the Coaches Versus Cancer Tournament at Temple University then taking the Team Philly Championship.
Memorial Day weekend, the team went to the Final Four in the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions held at Duke University. At the Spring Fling tourney held at Rutgers University, the team finished in the Final Four in a 32-team field. The Playaz also finished in the top four at the Providence College Jam Fest, a tournament comprised of 54 teams.
In late July, the Playaz also went to the Final Four in the West Virginia Invitational before heading to Las Vegas. Back in March, the team won Philly's Finest March Madness Invitational at Girard College, defeating Hoop Heaven, 75-67, in overtime in the championship. Arcidiacono paced the Playaz with 33 points. Tyler Katz contributed five points in overtime. Goodman blocked six shots.
“There’s never been an AAU team--boys or girls--from Bucks County that has played at this level,” stated Coach Rice. “There’s never been as many talented kids from Bucks County playing this sport-that’s what’s unique about this group.”
Back in Vegas, the team’s hot streak came to a grinding halt when it fell 71-68 to DC Assault Gold 71-68. Ahead by four points at the break and by seven in the second half, the Playaz players simply ran out of gas, said Coach Rice.
“It was our third game that day so it caught up to us by then,” stated Rice. “The Dreamvisions game was such an emotional win it was hard to get the kids up for that next game.”
***
NOTES: In May, the Playaz captured the Mid-Atlantic AAU Division I championship by defeating Chester.
Sports Editor
About the hottest thing going this summer--besides the temperature--is an area U15 boys basketball team, the PA Playaz.
This year’s AAU Mid-Atlantic Division I champion, the Playaz is a squad comprised mostly of athletes from Bucks County. Virtually all of the players hail from Council Rock North and Neshaminy High Schools including ‘Skins sophomore scoring sensation Ryan Arcidiacono and Indian forward Arron Goodman.
Last week in the Adidas Super 64 Tournament that took place in Las Vegas, the duo combined to help the Playaz eliminate Dreamvisions--an elite AAU team from San Diego that won the tourney as a U14 squad in 2008.
Among the players competing for Dreamvisions this summer are Shabazz Muhammad and Winston Shepard.
Muhammad is a 6-4 sophomore from Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman High. Muhammad is one of the most talked about names in AAU hoops; he’s drawn comparisons to James Harden, a 6-5 shooting guard recently selected by Oklahoma City with the third overall pick in the NBA Draft. One of the top prospects in the class of 2012, Muhammad has already been offered a scholarship by UNLV.
Shepard is a 6-foot, 5-inch sophomore out of Houston now playing high school hoops at Findlay Prep, a team that went 33-0 last season in varsity play, capping its campaign off in April with a win in ESPN’s first National High School Invitational. HoopScoopOnline declared Shepard “the best player in the rising sophomore division.”
When the Playaz took on Dreamvisions July 25 at Rancho High School, ESPN.com was there ready to report another big win for the California hoopsters. According to Coach Rice, college basketball coaches including Phil Martelli (St. Joe’s), Lon Kruger (UNLV), and John Thompson III (Georgetown) came from all corners of the nation to witness the defending champions’ title quest.
It never came.
The Playaz ruined the San Diego team’s party, outpacing Dreamvisions, 67-62. Arcidiacono led the boys from Bucks County with 17 points. Goodman came through for the Playaz defensively as well, limiting Shepard to just 11 points. On offense, Goodman contributed 15 points while hauling down 14 rebounds.
Neshaminy High’s Dwight Williams was next with 16 points. More importantly, he held Muhammad to 15 points.
“Dreamvisions is like a traveling all-star team; they have 10 kids from five different states,” stated Coach Rice. We have [11] kids from two schools within three miles of each other—and we beat them.”
Earlier in the day, the Playaz defeated the Bay Area Hoosiers, 72-59. Arcidiacono led the offensive effort with 15 points, Rice and Katz chipped in with 12 points each. Morgan did his part pouring in 12 points.
The team’s Adidas Super 64 win streak--a tear that totaled six games--began July 22 when it outpaced Oregon, 56-35. Arcidiacono led the Playaz with 16 points and Neshaminy High’s Tyler Katz came through with 15. Owen Rice--of CR North and Dan Brown--of CB South each poured in 11.
Goodman chipped in with 14 rebounds and Williams pitched in with six steals.
“This is an extremely talented group of players,” stated head coach Gene Rice, who doubles as an executive recruiter from Yardley when he’s not coaching hoops. “There’s never been a group of Bucks County kids playing together that are this good.”
Also suiting up for the Playaz this summer are Billy McAllister, Matt McCloskey and Dan Schmidt. All three play for the Rock during the varsity season. McCloskey and Schmidt serve as the team’s defensive leaders.
Also contributing to the effort this summer are Brown and Brendan Kilpatrick of Malvern Prep School. Both are big contributors on offense.
After capturing the division title, the Playaz went on a tear, taking first place in the Carrierdome Classic in Syracuse, winning the Coaches Versus Cancer Tournament at Temple University then taking the Team Philly Championship.
Memorial Day weekend, the team went to the Final Four in the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions held at Duke University. At the Spring Fling tourney held at Rutgers University, the team finished in the Final Four in a 32-team field. The Playaz also finished in the top four at the Providence College Jam Fest, a tournament comprised of 54 teams.
In late July, the Playaz also went to the Final Four in the West Virginia Invitational before heading to Las Vegas. Back in March, the team won Philly's Finest March Madness Invitational at Girard College, defeating Hoop Heaven, 75-67, in overtime in the championship. Arcidiacono paced the Playaz with 33 points. Tyler Katz contributed five points in overtime. Goodman blocked six shots.
“There’s never been an AAU team--boys or girls--from Bucks County that has played at this level,” stated Coach Rice. “There’s never been as many talented kids from Bucks County playing this sport-that’s what’s unique about this group.”
Back in Vegas, the team’s hot streak came to a grinding halt when it fell 71-68 to DC Assault Gold 71-68. Ahead by four points at the break and by seven in the second half, the Playaz players simply ran out of gas, said Coach Rice.
“It was our third game that day so it caught up to us by then,” stated Rice. “The Dreamvisions game was such an emotional win it was hard to get the kids up for that next game.”
***
NOTES: In May, the Playaz captured the Mid-Atlantic AAU Division I championship by defeating Chester.
***
PA Playaz Roster
No. Name--Position High School Graduation Year
1 Ryan Arcidiacono--G Neshaminy 2012
23 Matt McCloskey--G Council Rock North 2012
3 Billy McAlister--F Council Rock North 2012
32 Dan Schmidt--F Council Rock North 2012
12 Danny Brown--G Central Bucks South 2012
21 Dwight Williams--F Neshaminy 2013
30 Owen Rice--G Council Rock North 2012
22 Arron Goodman--F Council Rock North 2012
5 Aaron Morgan--G Council Rock North 2012
14 Brendan Kilpatrick--F Malvern Prep 2012
11 Tyler Katz--G Neshaminy 2012
Coaches
Gene Rice
Adam Bowen
No. Name--Position High School Graduation Year
1 Ryan Arcidiacono--G Neshaminy 2012
23 Matt McCloskey--G Council Rock North 2012
3 Billy McAlister--F Council Rock North 2012
32 Dan Schmidt--F Council Rock North 2012
12 Danny Brown--G Central Bucks South 2012
21 Dwight Williams--F Neshaminy 2013
30 Owen Rice--G Council Rock North 2012
22 Arron Goodman--F Council Rock North 2012
5 Aaron Morgan--G Council Rock North 2012
14 Brendan Kilpatrick--F Malvern Prep 2012
11 Tyler Katz--G Neshaminy 2012
Coaches
Gene Rice
Adam Bowen
23 Comments:
I have seen most of these kids play for Council Rock North, and I have to say, they players are not that good. The competition must not ber all that good, averge at best is talent level, ask North players how they did against Pennsbury last year??
I have seen them play at least 60 times this year (granted, as a parent), and they are VERY good. This year, they played the highest level competition in the country at their age level. I would expect that with Dalton Pepper leaving for WV, both Neshaminy and CR North will beat Pennsbury.
I believe only 2 maybe 3 of these kids played for Varsity this past season, so not sure what you are saying. But Arron Goodman went to Donofrio, which I think you have to be pretty good to compete at that compition. Your comparing a few kids to a whole team for Pennsbury? Seems alittle out of balance there..but whatever. The Playaz certainly have some high level talent on their team, you can read articles about them, and you can find video of this team on you tube. I would argue that maybe your perspective of their talent may be alittle biased...just saying.
You are comparing 18 year olds from a high school varsity team which includes the best player to ever come out of bucks county and a stud point guard who repeated a year (dirugeris)to a 15 year old AAU team. That is a terrible comparison and makes no sense. Now Neshaminy and CR North have the talent; and they will both dominate Pennsbury. Arch has a very strong chance to be better than Pepper and will dominate not only bucks county, but also Philadelphia, for the next 3 years. Plus Neshaminy has 2 other standout players in Williams and Katz. CR North also features a D1 prospect Goodman and a above average pg in Morgan. All these players from North/Nesh play for the Playaz. By the way, Pennsbury's best rising sophomore, got cut from this team.
By the way, 7 players on the Playaz played varsity basketball last year. Get your facts straight before making ignorant posts. Please don't insult the intelligence of the rest of Bucks County basketball fans. Thanks.
you guys are a joke pensbury dominated both cr north and neshaminy over the 4 years Pepper was there. Arch has no chance to be anywhere near as good as pepper. he already lost a league game Pepper never would even think about loosin a SOL game none of them teams will ever go as far as pennsbury did the last 2 years with one D1 player
Goodman a D1 player, come on, he plays no defesne, all he wants to do is block shots, never boxes anyone out, goes for block shots all the time, gets out of position and rarely gets a rebound, puts other teammates at a disadvantage on the court all time. Basketball 101 my man.
Morgan above average point guard, what games were you watching, another selfish player, goes for steals all the time, may get one here and there, but puts other teammates at a disadvantage when he does not make the steal, what I saw was way to many turnovers game after game as well, but Wright loves him, even though does not listen to the coach. again basketball 101 my man, maybe they could try and be better team players and North might have a better team. Too many selfish players on team.
Pepper is a great player, no doubt. Pennsbury dominated the league for 4 years, no doubt. The only thing they won were league championships. They didn't win a district championship and they didn't win a state championship. Congratualtions you had the best player to ever come out of Pennsbury and all you can show are league championships. Maybe if they had better coaching they would have won, but their assistants are terrible without much credibility. We'll see how good Pennsbury coaches are this year when the roles are reverse. Now they don't have the talent and Nesh/ North do. We'll see how they feel to coach without talent. Good luck.
Isn't it great to at least be talking about Bucks County Basketball again? Pennsbury has a tremendous program and tremendous work ethic amongst its players. For the record, I believe the rising sophomore chose not to try out for the team, he was not cut. He is a tremendous 3 point shooter and will be a force to be reckoned with. As far as comparisons between Arch and Pepper, both will be very good D1 players in my opinion. Pepper had the advantage of being a year older than everyone else. It would be as if Arch was just graduated from 8th grade - scary thought, huh? Having seen several games they have played, and a few against older high level squads, "Selfish" is the last way the Playaz team plays. It is probably the main reason they managed to beat many more "talented teams" who were selfish. Time will tell. In the meantime, go watch these guys play so that you all have your facts straight. I don't think any of the Pennsbury, Neshaminy or Council Rock games will be blowouts by either team this year, which should mean exciting games ahead.
The Playaz are not selfish but CR North is? How does that make sense? Many players are the same including 2 of their best players. Contradiction?
I think Pepper had LaVoy Allen on his team as a freshman and sophomore if I am not mistaken. At the time he ranked in the top 15 centers in the country. Maybe that could have helped with winning some of those games. I am sure Dalton would agree. As the CR freshman get more comfortable on the roles thrust upon them they will get better and as more of their Playaz teammates join the varsity you will see CR North continue to get better as will Neshaminy. Pennsbury's disciplined style and aggressive play - I think the refs could call a foul on them on every possession both offensively and defensively - could get them a split with both Neshaminy and Council Rock this year but I believe their program will have trouble for the following few years matching anything near the recent success they have enjoyed.
Its a biased opinion by the coaches and parents of the PA Playaz. They got scrub players on the team as well. How did that kid from CB South make it and the coaches son couldn't play at a D-3 school? And the rising star got cut? If your gonna go out and say stuff like that make it legit because you look like a joke as well as the playaz. He didn't get cut and he chose not to try out. Neshaminy is a joke of a program and will be sub par for the next few seasons. Ill give Archy his props, the kid can play, very skilled and has big time heart, but with no key additions except for Dwight, Neshaminy is gonna be sitting in the middle of the pack if that. CR North may be able to contend with Pennsbury however CR North kids are some of the most undisciplined and selfish kids ive had the pleasure to scout. Once again the team is pretty solid, but the parents and coaches tend to sugarcoat their successes. The coaches and the parents of this organization are living their failures through their kids.
I do agree MOST of these kids can play, but they are comparing them to future NBA Basketball Players. Come on people. Pennsbury is going to be at the top of the SOL for years to come regardless of losing Pepper.
I wish the Playaz the best of luck in the future, as you said it is great to be talking Bucks County Basketball, however, Gene Rice is going to have his hands full if he wants to keep Arch, Kilpatrick, Williams, and Goodman, from going to prized AAU teams in the Philadelphia area.
I was at the Rasul Butler classic down to CCOP and i know for a fact that AAU programs will be out to get these kids simply because the pull that some of these programs have with colleges.
Thanks for the insight Jim
all these comments are a joke. The Playas ARE talented. Arch is a great player and will be better than pepper guaranteed. Goodman is good but is undisciplined give him a few years to screw up. Then well the one draggin the Playas down from bein one of those top east coast programs are scrub players like OWEN RICE. That chubby little coaches kid is a cherry picker with no defensive skills what so ever he couldn't hack it at a community college. Lets be honest thats pathetic. Bottom line the team has four talented players arch,dwight,goodman, and katz. THE REST ARE rich kids buyin there way onto an aau team.
id bet none of you have seen the playaz play one game. they have 3 D1 prospects gauranteed and 3 players with a little work who could be looking at D1 schools also. the rest could be looking at D2 with some hard work. the playaz are a very well disciplined team with a ton of talent and a lot of heart. arch will be better then pepper and one of the best in the country at his age. just wait and see.
another great point is basketball is a second sport to some of these kids. Williams, Brown, Mcalister, and Schmidt all play football as their number one sport and will be looking at college for that.
i believe that Pennsbury SWEPT Neshaminy (3 games), and split with CR North...looks like their coaches did a pretty good job
Im pretty sure that the pennsbury kid who got cut (oh wait, did he try out?) beat all these kids on his not as talented pennsbury team. beat arch, dwight, and katz three times in one year. that is pretty crazy but I relate it all to coaching. Pennsburys coach did a better job, and I also think that this is why the playaz are so good. I think their coaching is outstanding. I mean they have such a good style of basketball get the ball and try to score as quick as possible with all the talent they have. I think the playaz coach is doing a great job keeping all his talented players happy, and helping them all improve
Do anyone have an email address or contact information for Coach Gene Rice of the PA PLAYAZ?
cell is 215 630 9656
email is gpr1956@msn.com
does anyone know if pa playaz need a player?
they need one big kid. 6'6 tough, that can rebound and give the ball to arch
Im going to be a freshman at North, and im a baller.
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