Summer Recap - Rise Above Basketball

Friday, August 30th, 2019

Rise Above Basketball founder Brendan Carter had both played and coached at the division III level before working in the finance industry. 
 
Anxious to get back into basketball, Carter founded RAB in 2012, initially as a skill development program in the town of South Boston, MA where he grew his love for the game. 
 
The following year, the program’s first AAU team was born with a group of third graders that are now in the Class of 2022.  
 
Most recently Rise Above Basketball graduated their first class, Class of 2019, sending a total of 13 players off to play at the collegiate level. This team has been a microcosm for a program that has grown rapidly in recent years and quickly established itself as one of the region’s most up-and-coming programs for potential college prospects. 
 
What was your team’s biggest collective accomplishment this summer?
 
“I think having the chance to showcase our ability on the Hoop Group circuit, and then beating some of the teams within the HGSL, like District Basketball Club, going into the Summer Jam Fest.”
 
“One of our best moments was early in the year when we had the ability to play Rens at the Northeast Hoops Festival with the likes of Jonathan Kuminga, Lance Ware, R.J. Davis. Holding them to a 5-point game until the last few minutes and then keeping a well respected program like Rivals to a single-digit game later in the year, those stand out too.” 

“Overall though, the fact that we had two varsity teams with 20 kids and that 17 of them are currently being recruited to play in college is definitely the thing that we’re most proud of.” 
 
Who was the individual prospect who helped themselves the most? 
 
Spencer Aronson, 6’1”, Catholic Memorial, 2020 – “Spencer performed at an elite level this year. He’s one of the most premier off-the-bounce shooters I’ve seen at this age group. He’s six-foot-one and can play both on and off the ball. He has a couple division two offers with a lot more interest and, in my opinion, has the potential to be a thousand-point scorer wherever he goes.” 
 
Aronson currently has offers from Dominican and College of Staten Island with strong interest from numerous Northeast 10 schools. He was also followed by a couple of division I schools this July. 
 
Who is one prospect who is still a little under-the-radar? 
 
Bryant Ciccio, 5’10”, Attleboro, 2020 – “I still think it’s Bryant Ciccio. He’s gotten a lot of praise but he’s an undersized guard so that raises eyebrows. He doesn’t pass the look test but he always impresses and consistently impacts the game against guys with more prototypical size for the scholarship level. I’m going to sound biased but he’s one of the most pure PG’s you’re going to find in New England” 
 
Who was the most improved player in the program? 

Sam Stevens, 6’5”, Mansfield, 2020 – “He was the most improved but I think he also has the highest ceiling. He’s only 16 years old and he’s six-five with massive hands and a pure standstill jumper. He could grow to six-six or six-seven. He’s a high academic division III priority right now and is looking into doing a potential PG year after graduation.” 
 
What are you most excited about heading into next year?
 
“We’ve got a great group of guys in our 2021 class and almost everyone is returning. They have a lot of promise and were just a lot of fun to coach every day.”

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