Recruitment Round-Up 9/4/26

Friday, September 4th, 2026

Labor Day weekend kicks off today, and with that, open gym season is approaching, and players in the class of 2027 will continue to nail down their options as they enter their final season.

Here are some of the headlines as of late of commitments that took place in New England.

Just this morning, it was announced that Newman School & Middlesex Magic forward Philipe Ndong had finalized his decision and committed to Shaka Smart and Marquette. Ndong was a part of the Newman School team that won the National Prep Championship this past March, but really took his game and recruitment to new levels this spring/summer in grassroots play. 

The Marquette commit averaged just about 9 points per game during the UA season on 38% shooting from beyond the arc, proving his value as a high major recruit. There's plenty of time and potential for Ndong to continue to improve and develop his body, and he now joins a program that values longevity and retaining their high school talent.

Holy Cross has been all over the New England class of 2027 with three commitments already secured thus far. Spencer Booth chose the program in the midst of the summer, and over the past two weeks they've also locked in Ladanion Payne and Rowan Hoffman. 

Payne brings a throwback scoring guard game to the Patriot League, with a chance to make a real immediate impact, as there is a lot of belief in his game amongst the team. He's spent a lot of time and effort developing his point guard skills to complement his toughness and scoring prowess. 

Hoffman joins Exeter this year as a postgrad from Florida with a lot of potential to have a big season in Class A. The 6'8" commit makes his impact felt in so many different aspects of the game, from thriving as a catch-and-shoot threat from three-point range or a guy who can score off the bounce and make the right plays when needed. The Crusaders have landed three guys who had a plethora of options in hand, and surely are excited for next fall.

Speaking of Newman… reclassing up this late in the game is still possible, and we saw just that the other day when Jaylen Hunter-Coleman chose to forgo this season in Boston and joined the University of San Francisco. Hunter-Coleman was set to be a key cog for the Cardinals once again this prep season, but instead looks to make his mark at the collegiate level sooner rather than later. 

Known for his stout and hard-nosed defensive skills, Hunter-Coleman showed promising growth on the offensive end this summer playing with more freedom in grassroots play. With his commitment, he finishes in the top 10 of the Massachusetts Class of 2026 Rankings, in what was a pretty loaded class at the top.
 

Syracuse native Tavin Penix committed to college in his local area at Le Moyne, along with his Winchendon teammate Treddy Faison, who committed to Albany. The two were an exciting pairing last season in a resurgent season for the Wapiti and look to cap off their careers in style this season. 

Penix, a 6'5" scoring guard, has made a name for himself with his ability to light up the nets with the ball in his hands at his size. He's a very smooth shooting threat that makes them at multiple levels while bringing some bounce to the floor to get up and flush down dunks. 

Faison returns to Winchendon this season and is set to once again take the reins of the offense at point guard. He brings a pretty complete game at the lead guard spot as he can run the offense, snap passes to rack up assists, make open shots and gets paint touches in bunches to really open up the floor. 
 

Quick Hitters:

Antonio Pemberton is in the midst of his official visits this fall, having visited Tennessee and Kansas over the past couple of weeks. He's set to be in Nebraska visiting Creighton this weekend while he'll head to Michigan State next weekend.

Declan Griffiths picked up an offer from Vanderbilt this week ahead of his official visit scheduled for October 3rd.

Jack Millward became one of the first NESCAC commits from the region's 2027 class recently. The big 6'4" scoring guard from Winchester/Rivers has an eye for his spots and makes things happen as a scorer.

Hearing that a couple of local players have made D1 commitments and will be announcing via their socials very shortly.