NEW ROCHELLE – Who’s got next?
Even at the high school level, there is so much player movement these days it’s becoming increasingly difficult to predict the future. Iona Prep and Stepinac are both dealing with roster turnover and the mix-and-match lineups that were a part of this weekend’s NYC CHSAA June Team Camp are likely to be revised before the 2026-27 basketball season tips off.
While there are whispers of high impact transfers and CHSAA ready freshmen, a lot can happen between now and the first day of classes.
The showcase is an opportunity for top returning players to impress college coaches in attendance while getting acquainted with teammates vying for additional minutes or moving up from the junior varsity before rejoining their AAU squads.
Here are four takeaways from Saturday’s games:
Josh Rivera is the area’s top returning player
He is the lone senior on the Stepinac roster and has graduated from trusty sidekick to marquee player. Rivera appears to be grown in recent months and has weaponized a mobile 6-foot-7 frame. The four-star guard was a highly-confident perimiter scorer last season but spent more time here attacking the rim than launching 3s, with a fair amount of success.
The Crusaders are going to need strong leadership and Rivera isn’t shy around teammates.
“Being the only senior on this team, I feel like I gotta lead some of the younger guys,” said Rivera, who is the top returning scorer at 8.1 points per game. “I definitely think I can fill those shoes and bring Stepinac to another championship. … We have to stay locked in, stay level-headed and stay in the gym. That’s really the key to basketball, work and focus.”
St. John’s, Fordham, Manhattan, Bryant, Northwestern, Mississippi State, Illinois, Seton Hall, Rhode Island, Hampton, St. Bonaventure and Boston College have already offered the Yonkers resident.
“I’m going to visit some colleges this summer but I haven’t set any dates yet,” Rivera said. “I’m going to get that figured out soon.”
Tommy Wolf isn’t far behind
It’s already been a productive offseason for the Iona Prep senior who’s a shooting guard with a linebacker mentality. Defenders have a hard time dealing with his physicality and when he’s making the right decisions, the 3s rain down. Wolf led the Gaels in scoring last season. He and classmate Mike Kmetz are the returning core for this team.
Three rising seniors have transferred, so touches will be plentiful.
“You have to go with the players you have,” Wolf said. “I mean, people make decisions and people leave. We just have to stay ready, stay prepared. Other guys will step up.”
The compete level of this team is always high.
Iona Prep expects to add size ahead of the season and will have to find complimentary scorers to keep defenses from cheating a step toward Wolf. If the Gaels find a way to close out more games against the AA contenders, they will have a chance to make some noise.
With all of the comings and goings across the CHSAA, parity is about to reign.
“I think we can compete with anyone in the league,” said Wolf, a resident of Rye. “No doubt. Especially right now. I think there are so many teams neck and neck. There is nobody that’s way above us. I feel like it’s going to be a battle every game, kind of like it was last year. Stepinac, obviously, had a bunch of talent, but there were so many close games.”
Help is on the way
When attendance is taken on Day 1 of the new school year, the likelihood of three or four new players sitting in homerooms at Iona Prep and Stepinac is high. It’s becoming harder to stay relevant in the CHSAA without a recruiting effort that includes upperclassmen looking for a change of address.
That plan of action can have consequences, though.
Stepinac has won an unprecedented four straight CHSAA AA Intersectional Championships and is a destination school now, but coach Pat Massaroni has to be selective. Impact freshmen might look elsewhere if a program continually adds experienced varsity players.
Minutes will always be part of the evaluation process when a player is picking a program.
“We pride ourselves on development,” Massaroni said. “We had more transfers at the beginning of my time here. … Is there some interest in our school and the level we’ve gotten to? Absolutely. That makes it really hard balancing the four teams we have at Stepinac while adding potential transfers and incoming freshmen in order to put the best roster together going forward. A lot can be fluid until November.”
The Crusaders will not lack depth
After sitting behind Division I talents last season, players like Jourdan Archevald, Larry Jenkins, Elijah Novotny, Tristan Robinson and Ethan Riullano will be asked to step into much larger roles. The chemistry will not begin to develop until they get in the gym in September, but there were moments Saturday where they provided a reason to believe the progam will not be losing all the momentum built over the previous four seasons.
The backcourt looks solid. Jenkins in the last week has picked up offers from Wagner, Florida A&M, Arkansas Little Rock and Brown. Another perimeter threat would be helpful along with a little additional muscle in the mold of Ben Lyttle or Dylan Perry.
Mike Dougherty covers high school basketball for The Journal News/lohud.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Four takeaways from Iona Prep & Stepinac at CHSAA basketball team camp
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