PHILADELPHIA – Black Cager Sports (BCS) Television today announced it will broadcast at least 20 premier scholastic basketball games during the 2022-23 season. BCS Television has agreed to broadcast games featuring several of the top high school programs in the Mid-Atlantic Region, the premier recruiting base for high major college programs.
Beginning in December, in accordance with the start of the high school basketball season in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, BCS Television’s Video-On-Demand (VOD) package will add Salesianum (DE), Constitution, Westtown, George School, Muhlenberg, Reading and Trenton Catholic boy’s basketball games to its elite schedule of Philadelphia Catholic League matchups.
“We are proud to expand upon our long-standing relationships with several Philadelphia Catholic League programs and further bolster our position as the premier place to watch ‘bigBOYbasketball’ in the Mid-Atlantic region,” said BCS Television Chief Executive Officer and Executive Producer, Delgreco Wilson.“Neumann-Goretti, Roman Catholic, Archbishop Wood, Archbishop Ryan and West Catholic are nationally respected programs. Players like Robert Wright III, Khaafiq Myers, Xzayvier Brown, Anthony Finkley, Jalil Bethea, Thomas Sorber and Zion Stanford have attracted college coaches from the Big 10, Big 12, ACC, Big East, American and Atlantic 10 Conferences. The Philadelphia Catholic League remains one of the most storied scholastic basketball leagues in the nation.”
“BCS Television is pleased to provide extensive coverage of elite high school basketball during the 2022-23 season and throughout the whole year,” said Wilson. “From sports talk shows, livestreams and video-on-demand, we’re focused on opening new doors for high school basketball players and coaches to share their stories and to shine a light on our unique regional cultural experience. BCS Television is the ultimate destination for free, quality ‘bigBOYbasketball’ content.”
BCS TV is a leading sports media provider that embraces and represents the voice of high school, grassroots and college basketball in the Mid-Atlantic region. Every day of the year, we use our platform to capture captures the rich history and continud excellence of basketball in Philadelphia, New Jersey and Maryland. The network also provides a platform for emerging creatives in sports media production, branding, and broadcasting. We offer our viewers the best in live sports, sports talk shows and video-on-demand. Launched in 2013, BCS TV is headquartered in Camden, with offices in Baltimore and New York.
The basketball scholarship market is defined as the sum total of all the buyers (college D1, D2, JUCO and NAIA coaches) and sellers (Basketball student-athletes seeking scholarships) in the United States and the rest of the world.
Massive NCAA rule changes and the coronavirus pandemic have severely impacted the basketball scholarship market.
#1. The NCAA has made the decision to approve an extra year of eligibility for all student-athletes. This is a ‘free year’ for college students at every level. This rule change results in a decrease the number of available scholarships. Even if the NCAA allows more than 13 D1 scholarships, there may not be an appetite to absorb the financial hit resulting from extra scholarships in many cash strapped athletic departments. For every senior that stays an additional year, that is one fewer scholarship that hits the market.
#2. NCAA is set to implement legislation that will grant first-time transfers Immediate Eligibility. Athletes can soon transfer schools and play immediately. … An athlete’s previous school would not have any ability to object to the transfer. This rule change will alter the behavior of the college coaches in the recruitment process. A 20 year old with 2 years of college experience and 3 seasons of NCAA eligibility is more desirable than the typical high school recruit. Many college programs are not actively recruiting high school players.
#3. Students who initially enroll full time during the 2021-22 academic year and intend to play NCAA Division I or II athletics will not be required to take a standardized test to meet NCAA initial-eligibility requirements. As a result, students that would have been ineligible because of low test scores are now eligible if the have at least a 2.3 gpa.
Considered individually, each of the rule changes put pressure on the basketball scholarship market. Emerging simultaneously, they have flooded the basketball scholarship market.
High School seniors are competing against the current crop of NCAA seniors, current NCAA players that could immediately play upon transferring and players that would not have met the minimum test score requirement.
This market is flooded…
On top of all that, college coaches have not been able to evaluate high school players live since March.
Good players, even really good players need to be connected to college coaches… Recent video performance in highly competitive settings is the very best a student-athlete could do right now…
Coaches are evaluating prospects via video…
Below is a brief clip with Aaron Lemon-Warren and Christian Tomasco highlights. There is also a link for the complete game against #6 St. Frances Academy (MD).
Lemon-Warren are Division 1 basketball prospects with solid academic profiles. America East, NEC, CAA, MAAC, MEAC, Patriot League and perhaps even A10 programs should evaluate these guys closely.
Twenty year Division 1 coach and former NBA player leverage Black Cager TV’s mass reach to bring insightful and timely conversations to college basketball fans nationwide
November 3, 2020, 3:10 PM Eastern Daylight Time CAMDEN, NJ — BlackCagerTV.com, the premier original college and high school basketball content producer in the mid-Atlantic region, today announced the official launch of “Bass & Wayns on College Basketball,” a Black Cager TV Original Podcast hosted by Mark Bass and Maalik Wayns. Bass is former longtime assistant coach at St. Joseph’s University and Wayns is a former McDonald’s All-American and NBA player. The show will join the Black Cager TV Network and will explore some of the most important issues and transformative trends through insightful and engaging conversations that span recruiting, player evaluations, NCAA rule changes and other pressing topics. The premiere episode will be available mid-November on BlackCagerTV.com and YouTube.com.
Known as one of the best recruiters and teachers in the business, Bass will help parents and prospective student-athletes know which tough questions to ask and how not to take “nonsensical responses” or “no comment” for an answer. Wayns just completed a wonderful playing career that took him to the NBA and across the globe. “Bass & Wayns on College Basketball” is yet another example of Black Cager TV’s commitment to providing practical, useful and entertaining original basketball related content to viewers across the country.
”I’m finally done playing… I am proud of what I have been able to accomplish at the grassroots, scholastic, collegiate and professional levels. Now that I am no longer focused on my own playing career, I am able to devote my energies to helping young people navigate the basketball landscape. I am insatiably curious about the basketball world and at this moment in time, things are changing at breakneck speed. In the face of seismic NCAA rule changes and the coronavirus pandemic, I will try to connect the dots for kids and their families and I’m excited to take listeners along for the ride,” Wayns said. “With the help of an incredible line-up of guests and the unmatched reach of Black Cager TV, I’m excited to have listeners across the nation examine these fascinating and urgent topics so they can come to a better understanding of what’s happening and where we’re going.”
Bass notes, “I have coached several NBA players such as Delonte West, Jameer Nelson, Dwayne Jones, Deandre Bembry, Langston Galloway and Charlie Brown. Each journey to that league was unique. There are no shortcuts. What each of them did possess was an incredible work ethic. More than anything else, that allowed them to shape their skill set into a package that added value to an NBA team. Along with Maalik, who I coached against, I want help kids and their families gain a better understanding of what to expect at the collegiate level. Black Cager TV is highly regarded among college coaches and parents and it’s the perfect platform for us to share our thoughts and ideas.”
In addition to digital availability, full episodes and vignettes of “Bass & Wayns on College Basketball” will air on BlackCagerTV.com and YouTube.com, bringing their important voice to the more 100,000 Black Cager monthly viewers.
“Black Cager TV is committed to growing its vast original content library with culturally relevant content every day,” said Delgreco Wilson, Founder of the Black Cager TV Network. “With the addition of ‘Bass & Wayns on Callege Basketball,’ we aim to give viewers nuanced and expert perspectives on basketball topics affecting players and their families from two of Philadelphia Big 5’s best players. At this point in history, and amidst the nonstop daily news cycle, we need experienced and incisive perspectives on the issues that matter – and that’s Bass & Wayns.”
Black Cager TV content is available on instagram, facebook, twitter, YouTube and BlackCagerTV.com. It can be accessed through many different connected devices — including smart speakers, digital auto dashes, tablets, wearables, smartphones, virtual assistants, televisions and gaming consoles.
About Black Cager Sports Media Black Cager Sports is a premier minority owned online network dedicated to covering elite High School, College and Grassroots programs in the mid-Atlantic region. The network is the ultimate destination for hoop heads and alumni throughout the mid-Atlantic region, allowing them to see their favorite teams, regardless of where they live. Reaching over 100,000 viewers and hundreds of college coaches per month, Black Cager has a greater reach among college coaches than most other media companies in the U.S. The company’s leadership position extends across multiple platforms including live streaming games and on demand via its Black Cager TV pay-per-view service. Visit BlackCagerTV.com for more company information.
About Mark Bass Mark Bass, one of the most prolific shooters in Saint Joseph’s history, coached 20 seasons at his alma mater and was the longest tenured assistant coach in SJU men’s basketball history. Bass joined the Hawks’ staff in 1999-2000 and during his tenure, he helped coach teams that have made six consecutive post-season appearances, won five Atlantic 10 regular-season titles and captured the 2016 and 2014 A-10 titles. Nine years after he led the Hawks to the NIT Final as a player in 1996, Bass again helped SJU reach New York City and the NIT Final as a coach in 2005.
A fiery leader on the court, and two-year team captain, Bass led the Hawks to the NIT Finals in his senior season, 1995-96, and ranked second on the team with his average of 14.3 points per game. He connected for school records of 91 3-pointers and 268 attempts, season marks which were later eclipsed by Pat Carroll in 2005. A Second Team All-Big 5 selection in 1996, Bass made 225 three-pointers during his career from 1992-96, a total that now ranks sixth on the Hawks’ all-time list. As a freshman, the guard led the Atlantic 10 Conference in free throw percentage with a school-record 86.9 percent, a mark which was broken by Langston Galloway in 2011-12 (88.7). Bass also led the A-10 in three-point percentage as a junior (.423), making him just the second Saint Joseph’s player to lead the league in two different categories. In 2001, Bass became the first member of the 1996 NIT Finalist team to be inducted into the Saint Joseph’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
About Maalik Wayns Wayns played high school basketball for Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia. As a Junior, he averaged 22.4 points, 5.1 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.1 steals. Wayns was also a two-time MVP in the Philadelphia Catholic League and also first team all-city and all-state in Pennsylvania. As a Senior, Wayns averaged 19.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists. He was named a Parade All-American and McDonald’s All-American and at the end of the year.
Wayns chose to attend Villanova. He was named Big East All-Rookie Team and won the Big East Rookie of the Week three times. Wayns finished with 6.8 points and 1.3 assists. As a junior in 2011–12, Wayns earned second-team All-Big East honors after averaging 17.6 points per game. He played in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Clippers. He also professionally in Italy, Russia, Israel, Spain and Belarus.
So I’m running a lil’ late… I have program that works with incarcerated teenage males in Vineland, New Jersey. These are my guys… They love to read, watch and talk about sports. We were finishing up a discussion on whether or not they could work for Temple University and convince vocal opponents of the proposed Football Stadium to accept it’s placement square in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
They understood the issue of gentrification, they understood displacement and empathized with the position of the long-time residents. They wouldn’t want the traffic, the tailgating, the partying in their neighborhood. The fully grasped the ethical and moral dimensions of the debate.
But, unanimously… For the right amount of money, they indicated that they would work relentlessly to help Temple change the minds of the stadium opponents…
Love my guys… They keep that shit REAL!
So, they tell me to hit the road, they want me to go cover the Public League Semifinals and it’s a 45-50 minute drive from Vineland to South Philly.
Off I go…
I get there a little after 6:00… Late but not too bad… I’ll only miss a couple of minutes of action. So I thought…
Amazingly, I see a car pulling out of the lot as I pull in… PERFECT! A parking spot in the school lot… Cool…
You can feel the energy in the air… Nisine Poplar (Wooga) is playing… as I approach the door, it becomes apparent that it’s gonna take a while to get in… The line is LONG… Well over 100 patrons waiting to catch the action.
So I settle in and inch toward the door… The line is moving slowly but steadily…
The familiar aroma of “loud” lingers in the air… It smells rather enticing I might add… Tempted to ask the youngins where they purchased that particular brand of cologne, I demur…
Not the right time or place…
Finally, my group of ten is prepped for passage through the metal detectors… I hand the school officer my keys and iPhone… I let the young woman with 5 kids go before me, then I walk through the machine… No beep! I’m good… I feel just a lil’ bit safer…
As I enter the gym, it’s PACKED!
It’s also beautiful… The School District of Philadelphia has polished the playing surface. The hardwood is glistening… You can hear the shoes squeaking as the players stop, cut and change directions… The lights are ALL functioning, (almost) no missing bulbs… The stands are fully extended and every available seat is occupied!
The PUB!
As it should be… It feels as though the School District actually cares about athletics… I’m impressed.
Stacey Dandridge from Darby Township and Chillyock from South Philly
Then I look at the scoreboard… Imohtep is up 15 in the middle of the second quarter… I see my man Stacey Dandridge (Sta-Dan) from Darby Township… Like a lot of Darby Township guys, Sta-Dan has developed an affinity for South Philly and South Philly Basketball. It makes sense to see him sitting in the front row. He tells me that Imhotep has employed a gimmick “Box and 1” defense against MCS. Wooga and his teammates were having some difficulty adjusting.
To my left, I see my Southside homies… Sam Wylie, Sr., Shon Minnis, Butter and Bunky… I settle in amongst them to watch this thing play out.
Sam, Sr. is watching Sam, Jr. play a GREAT game so we kinda leave him alone… He’s in a zone…
The rest of us watch MCS, claw, scrap and fight their way back into the game.
Truth be told… It was the “other” guys that got MCS back into the game… Tvon Jones used his incredible athleticism and explosiveness to attack the rim, Naadhir Wood consistently caught the ball and finished when the team needed buckets, Zakee Fleming exhibited and very good understanding of basic basketball principles as he repeatedly got the better of bigger, faster and more athletic Imhotep front court players.
It was a real rumble…
Imhotep star, Elijah Taylor fouled out with Imhotep clinging to a 4 point lead with 1:20 remaining in the contest. Seemed like the Panthers would survive…
After all, Wooga had struggled throughout the game… The game plan was clear from the start… Imhotep Head Coach Andre Noble was going to make someone other that Wooga beat him. The Panthers face guarded Wooga anytime he was not in the locker room or on the bench… Relentlessly…
Still…
With Imhotep clinging to a 3 point lead, MCS had the ball and called timeout with about 11 seconds left in the game…
Everyone in the gym knew who was gonna take the shot… Mayor Kenney knew who was gonna take the shot… President Trump knew who was gonna take the shot… Marcus Garvey knew who was gonna take the shot… Harriet Tubman knew who was gonna take the shot…
Clark Kent had been mild-mannered for 31 minutes and 38 seconds…
If MCS was gonna pull this one out, they needed Superman to find a phone booth and put on his cape…
Well… Look up in the sky MUTHAFUCKA!
It’s a bird, it’s a plane…
On cue, Wooga ran his man off a Naadhir Wood screen, Marcus Middleton got him the ball… the Imhotep defenders were there… They challenged the shot… It wasn’t a good shot… I was a tough well-defended off balance 3-point attempt…
SPLASH bitches!
Superman is in the building…
Tie game… The overtime was a mere formality after Wooga’s heroics. With that, MCS finally vanquished the mighty Imhotep Panthers.
MCS Coaching Staff after win over Imhotep
Congratulations to Head Coach Lonnie Diggs and his hardworking staff. Can’t wait til Saturday… The defending PIAA AA State Champions will have their hands full with a well-coached Simon Gratz Bulldog squad.
It’s January 2013 and across the nation there are some great scholastic basketball players performing in packed houses and with college coaches salivating all over their Nike, Adidas and Under Armour golf shirts. The athletic departments’ private jets were burning an ungodly amount of fuel that winter. Some of the best known prospects at the time were Andrew Wiggins (Huntington Prep, Huntington, West Virginia), Jabari Parker (Simeon HS, Chicago, Illinois), Julius Randle (Prestonwood Christian Academy, MicKinney, Texas), Aaron Gordon (Archbishop Mitty High School, San Jose, California) and some big kid named Joel Embid (The Rock School, Gainesville, Florida).
Duke, Kansas, Arizona, Kentucky and the other college basketball blue bloods were like sharks in the water. This was truly a great year for high school basketball and Philly was well represented. Steve Vasturia (St. Joseph’s Prep), Brandon Austin (Imhotep) and JaQuan Newton (Neumann-Goretti) were skilfully plying their trade.
Rysheed Jordan, Camden Monarchs
But for the common folk, there can be no doubt, the Prince of ‘Norf’ Philly reigned supreme… UCLA, St. John’s and Temple basketball coaches were regular visitors to neighborhood of North Philadelphia known as Sharswood. They were stalking Rysheed Jordan… Members of college basketball’s royalty were frequently roaming on and about the grounds of the Norman Blumberg Apartments. Middle-aged wealthy white millionaires didn’t make their way though Sharswood too often. The poverty and crime rates at Blumberg were double the rest of the city’s. At the time, Blumberg was considered PHA’s “most distressed” public housing complex. So much so that three years later, they hit the detonation button and blew it up, reducing it to pile of rubble.
But in 2013, Sharswood was the place to be… Especially if you were a hoophead seeking out the very best action or a high major college basketball coach looking for a player with the potential to lead you to a Final Four or even a National Championship.
Rysheed Jordan and Robert Vaux High School were vying for Philadelphia basketball supremacy. Keep in mind, Vaux had never been a factor before the Phoenix-like rise of Jordan. Indeed, Vaux was literally on it’s last legs. In March, 2013, The School District of Philadelphia voted to close Vaux and 22 other district-run schools at the end of the school year.
Rasheed Jordan, unlike most of the other high profile prospects of his era, played with his childhood friends at an under-performing neighborhood public high school.
What? This just doesn’t happen… The lure of “national” schedules and ESPN games typically overrides any commitment to family and friends at the neighborhood school…
But, Jordan was different… Very different!
Ranked #17 in the nation by ESPN, Jordan could have easily fled to one of the national basketball academies like Huntington Prep, IMG, Montverde or Findlay Prep… He didn’t…
He could have chosen to suit up for one of the Catholic League powerhouse programs like Roman Catholic, Neumann-Goretti of Archbishop Caroll… He didn’t…
He resisted the lure of prominent Charter programs like Imhotep, Math, Civics and Sciences (MCS), and Boy’s Latin…
Sheed stayed ‘round da way… He rose to national prominence playing for his neighborhood high school… He played basketball with the same guys he ate free lunches with in 3rd grade… He played in front of passionate and frenzied crowds with the scent of ‘loud’ wafting through the air…
Undying loyalty to his friends, his teammates, his coaches and his ‘hood’ made Sheed’s journey special… The love and affection was returned 100-fold!
His friends, his teammates, his coaches and his ‘hood’ supported the Prince in a manner impossible to explain to people from outside of Philadelphia.
These muthafuckas rode unbelievably HARD for Sheed!
As a result, he didn’t need the basketball academies… He didn’t need the Catholic or Independent schools… He didn’t need the Charters… He didn’t need the EYBL…
Sharswood, Vaux and Philly Pride stood behind and beside Jordan as he embarked on one of the greatest scholastic careers Philadelphia has witnessed over the past 2 decades. The fact that he did it with the same dudes that he cut that hard ass government cheese with made it sooooooo special.
It’s worth detailing some of the important moments for the uninitiated…
Seven years ago, in January 2013, the boys from Norf Philly went Uptown and spanked Imhotep Charter and Brandon Austin in one the toughest gyms in the State of Pennsylvania. Led by Jordan, Vaux went on a 21-2 fourth-quarter run to hand Imhotep its worst ever home loss.
Vaux and Imhotep would finish the regular season tied for second behind a loaded MCS squad. In the first round of the the playoffs, Jordan dropped 21 to lead Vaux to an easy 24 point victory over GAMP. In the round of 16, he scored 21 points to support Sammy Foreman’s 24 as Vaux rolled over Sankofa by 22 points, 87-65.
Then… Shit got real interesting in the Quarterfinals… Vaux faced the #1 team in the City, regular season Division A Champions MCS. MCS entered the game with a gaudy 23-1 record. In front of a packed house, Jordan put on his cape and poured in 29 points to go along with seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. With 10.7 seconds remaining in the game, after a 5-minute delay to control the ‘hood’ that was spilling onto the court, Jordan calmly sank two free throws to tie the game 61-61. Then Jordan knocked down the second of two free throws with one-tenth of a second remaining after he was fouled attempting to finish a full court sprint with the ball that began with 4.7 on the clock.
Legendary shit… The Prince of Norf, playing against the top ranked team, for the hood school in an overfilled South Philly high school gym with everything on the line…
Next up, a rematch with mighty Imhotep and their star Brandon Austin at the Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University. This time, Vaux fell short… Imhotep won (67-66) their fourth Public League Championship in five years and avenged the 22-point, home-court spanking Vaux laid on them in January. However, legendary status of Jordan was cemented in the loss. Jordan exploded for 45 points, breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s record (40) for the most ever scored in any version of a High School Championship game.
Rysheed Jordan (center), following state championship victory
A couple weeks later, Jordan score 32 points to lead Vaux to the PIAA Class A State Championship with a 20 point 83-63 victory over Johnsonburg HS at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. Take a step back… Let’s think about this… Sheed Jordan led his troubled neighborhood high school to its first and only state title about 12 weeks before the City would shut it down.
Legendary shit…
Three weeks later, the Prince of Norf would commit to Steve Lavin and St. John’s University of the Big East Conference. Eschewing offers from UCLA and hometown Temple University, Sheed chose the bright lights of New York City and Madison Square Garden.
Rysheed Jordan, St. John’s University
As a freshman, Jordan lived up to expectations… He averaged 10 ppg, 3.1 rpg and 3.0 apg and was named to the All-Rookie team in the Big East. He upped his scoring to 14.1 ppg as a sophomore while grabbing 3.7 rpg and dishing 3.1 apg.
At the conclusion of his sophomore campaign, St. John’s fired Steve Lavin and hired Chris Mullin as head coach. Jordan would never play for Mullin…
The Prince of Norf had a nice 2-year run at Madison Square Garden… Then it ended abruptly…
In the first week of June 2015… the divorce was finalized.
“Playing professional basketball has always been a goal of mine,” Jordan said in a statement released by St. John’s. “I believe I am ready to take the next step in my basketball career and plan to work hard to achieve my dream of playing in the NBA . . . This decision was made with my family’s best interests in mind.”
Chris Mullin said “We support Rysheed and wish him well in his professional endeavors.”
The timing of the divorce, however, was very problematic… Jordan was ineligible for the 2015 NBA draft because he missed the early-entry deadline. His college career over, Jordan could not play in the NBA until 2016 at the earliest.
Fuck!
This would prove to be a very costly paperwork snafu… A really, really bad fumble… Things never really got on track from there.
Rysheed Jordan, Delaware 87ers
Jordan would play in the D-League for the Delaware 87ers in 2015-16, averaging just over eight points per contest in 11 games. Eventually, he kinda just disappeared from the basketball scene altogether and retreated to his beloved ‘hood.’
Then… on June 1, 2016, almost exactly one year after separating from St. John’s University, Jordan was arrested and charged with multiple offenses stemming from two separate incidents over the preceding week.
Both incidents, per information provided by the Philadelphia Police Department, occurred in North Philadelphia. Jordan was charged with attempted murder, robbery, criminal conspiracy and simple assault.
Police alleged that Jordan shot a man in the arm.
According to police, the 23-year-old victim of the shooting and his companion, the witness, had gone to the area around 1400 North 26th street to purchase marijuana. They left their vehicle and approached a gold sedan, but the meet went sideways. Jordan’s group got out of the car with guns, and one of them ordered, “Give us your money and your phones.”
The victim and witness ran back to their vehicle, but Jordan’s group allegedly fired. The victim was hit in the right arm but managed to make it in the car. The witness began to back up, and the two were able to escape despite the fact that one of the offenders tried to reach inside the car window and turn off the ignition in addition to firing several shots.
The victim and witness found a policeman at 33rd and Girard and were brought to Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where the victim underwent surgery.
Jordan was captured by Temple police early Wednesday morning after an unrelated incident. At 2:03 a.m., police tracked a green Jaguar that had run a red light. After the vehicle allegedly tried to evade police, Jordan got out and fled. He was pursued by officers on foot and threw away his gun before being captured and placed into custody. Recovered by police, the gun had five live rounds and an obliterated serial number.
A little over a month later, on June 16 defense lawyer Brad V. Shuttleworth asked Municipal Court Judge Marvin L. Williams to lower bail to $100,000, so Jordan could post the usual 10 percent (i.e., $10,000) and walk free pending trial, wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet. Judge Williams refused, however, saying that Jordan has proved he will run from the law and that he’s a danger to the community.
Jordan would remain in custody until December 1, 2019. He a did a 3.5 year bid. He emerged remorseful and eager to make a difference in the lives of the young men finding their way through his ‘hood’.
As soon as he was released, Jordan made his way to local gyms… Not to play…
He had to share what he learned the hard way… He had to talk to young Black men about his poor choices…
It’s his calling. Jordan is at peace with himself, he has paid a heavy toll for his actions. A spiritual man, he seeks to uplift those willing to listen and learn.
Fully cognizant of the heavy sway he still holds over the City of Philadelphia, especially young men on the Norf side, Jordan tells cautionary tales these days. He is man that has done everything society has asked of him.
Young enough to fully relate to what young impressionable inner-city Black males experience on a daily basis, he is able to capture their undivided attention.
His fame and status hasn’t waned… He’s still the Prince of Norf… Older, wiser and thankful for an opportunity to make a difference.
Jordan is repentant… He lost his beloved mother while he was away… He is determined to fulfill his responsibilities as the head of his family…
While working out with his younger brother and the team at MCS, the urge to play competitively began to slowly creep back in…
Jordan had a basketball itch he needed to scratch.
Enter the Reverend, Stan Laws and the Camden Monarchs.
Reverend Stan Laws, Camden Monarchs Head Coach
Laws is a stalwart in the Philadelphia Basketball community and long-time Norfside resident. He’s also the Head Coach of the Camden Monarchs. Laws and his boss, General Manager Joseph Richmond have given Jordan an opportunity to compete at the professional level without uprooting him from his family and the supports he has in place.
Joseph Richmond (left), Camden Monarchs General Manager
The Monarchs fittingly play their home games in the Salvation Army’s Kroc Center. This is the prefect location for the resurrection of Jordan’s playing career. Laws and Richmond are spiritual men committed to using basketball as a tool for deliverance from sin and its consequences.
Every day, they try to live their life in accordance with the word of God. Ephesians 4:31-32 – Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.
So on January 11, three and half years removed from the date he went away, Rasheed Jordan played basketball in front of a crowd with the lights on. Now… it wasn’t the 19,738 capacity crowd he entertained at Madison Square Garden. But the 400+ people that shoehorned themselves into the Kroc Center came with one goal in mind, to lift up the Prince of Norf.
The level of competition on this night was probably somewhere between NCAA Division 2 and Division 3. Laws did not start Jordan… Upon entering the game, one could sense that Jordan just wanted to be a teammate… He wanted to play the right way… He was playing very conservatively and unselfishly…
His timing was off… He would beat his man and the floater would fall short… Way short… He would blow by the initial defender, see the help defender coming but his reflexes just aren’t there yet… They were able to get their hands on the ball and prevent him from finishing…
“Just play Sheed… Just play…”
His supporters could feel him working his way into the game… He was supportive of his teammates and trying to find ways to make winning plays…
Forced to gauge him against at his very best… Jordan was about 50%… He was visibly winded at times and he was a half second slow…
He’e been away 3 and half years…
That said, Jordan at 50% finished the game with 28 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. His team went into the locker room down at the half… Laws started Jordan in the second half… Camden ended up winning 116-82.
It’s all still there… The bounce… The sweet pull-up… The handle… The will to win…
Like a musician that had to put his saxophone away for 40 months, it’s gonna take a little time to get it all back… But he can still play music you want to hear.
Lewis Leonard and family
Supportive Philly hoop heads came out to see the first show… Lewis Leonard, Mookie Laws, Randy Miller, Mike Terry, Rodney Veney, Maurice Watson, Sr. and Dallas Comegys were just a few Philadelphia hoopheads that made their way across the bridge.
Rysheed Jordan, after his first game with the Camden Monarchs
There will be many more… The Prince of Norf is playing in East Camden… I’ll see you at the next Camden Monarchs home game.
The Cahillites traveled about 20 minutes from Center City Philadelphia to meet the upstart Camden Panthers in a contest played in the supposedly neutral Cherry Hill East Gymnasium. Camden came into the game with a HEAVY reputation. Their main piece is, Lance Ware, a versatile 6’9” senior power forward headed to play for John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats. Alongside Ware is the incredibly strong and determined, TaQuan Woodley, a junior 6’8” 230 lb power forward that relentlessly rebounds and protects the rim. Woodley is a high major prospect with South Carolina, Temple, Saint Joseph’s and Penn State in hot pursuit. On the wing, the Panthers feature Jerome Brewer an athletic 6’7” wing with a sweet shooting stroke from 3 point range.
DJ Wagner, Camden’s Freshman Guard
In the backcourt, DJ Wagner has arrived. Heir to the throne of Camden basketball, Wagner is the son of DuJaun Wagner and Grandson of Milt Wagner. He has already been anointed the messiah for the proud Camden High basketball program. Rounding out the rotation are 4 or 5 highly talented freshmen that display skill and athleticism that will one day result in college basketball scholarships at some level.
This group of uber-talented scholastic players is led by a former McDonald’s All-American and 9 year NBA Veteran point guard. Rick Brunson is a disciple of Temple’s legendary John Chaney and this matchup with mighty Roman Catholic was his first BIG game at the helm of the Camden High basketball program.
Rick Brunson, Camden Head Coach
In preparation for this matchup, the Panthers have been plundering and pillaging small communities in New Jersey. They had piled up 4 victories with final margins ranging from 20 to 37.
But this would be different… This was HIGH MAJOR HS basketball... Coaches from Auburn, Temple, Penn State and several other high major programs were present. Saint Joseph’s brought their entire staff out to see the match up. Several former NBA players were present. Well over 2,000 spectators crammed into the hot gym designed to hold about 1,500. There were fans in every nook and cranny of the space not used for the actual contest itself. Jeremy Treatman, once again, put together a Play-by-Play Classics event that hoop heads could not resist.
Pat Chambers, Penn State Head Coach & Hansel Canon, Black Cager Sports
Roman Catholic, on the other hand, is trying to find an identity. The Cahillites suffered massive losses of key warriors… Seth Lundy and Hakim Hart have moved on the the Big 10 playing for nationally ranked Penn State and Maryland, respectively. Louis Wild a key member of Roman’s last two Catholic League Championship squads is prepping at Olympus.
Throughout the summer and fall, the Cahillites have struggled to find a new way to win big games. The road has been filled with potholes. They have looked really bad in several performances against elite competition.
Not the last two games…
Facing the very best the Public League and South Jersey has to offer, Roman Catholic has found a new path to victory… They have convincingly vanquished two of the strongest teams (Imhotep Charter and Camden High) in the region.
How are they getting it done?
Of course, there’s the fact that they have the most athletic, most explosive, most powerful big man in the nation. Jalen Duren’s game really defies adequate description. Some shit you just have to see first hand to grasp. But… I will try…
Jalen Duren
He dunks ON you! He dunks OVER you! He dunks THROUGH you! He dunks AROUND you!
On this night he had no fewer than 9 or 10 dunks… while these plays only resulted in 2 points each on the scoreboard, everyone in the gym will attest to the fact that they were worth at least 4 points each!
Jalen Duren
His dunks are like the body shot that Bernard Hopkins landed to end his fight with Oscar De La Hoya. The contest literally STOPS for a standing 8 count after each dunk. These are not regular high school dunks… These are FUCK YOU… FUCK your family dunks…. These are FUCK YOU give me your lunch dunks…
Rysheed Jordan, PUB Legend and Stan Laws, Head Coach of Camden Monarchs
Yeah… Yeah… His offensive repertoire is limited… He continues to take ill-advised jump shots… He really hasn’t developed a picture perfect turnaround jumper like former Cahillite Marc Jackson… He doesn’t have a feathery touch like Roman legend Eddie Griffin… So what?
That’s like complaining that a prime Mike Tyson lacked Ali’s lateral movement… Right now, he don’t need none of that shit. Why? Because…
Jalen Duren
He dunks ON you! He dunks OVER you! He dunks THROUGH you! He dunks AROUND you!
But… we all knew that… and on many nights, we all know that will be enough for the Cahillites to eek out victories… But what about when they face the big boys? Will the other guys show up?
Well… For the second BIG GAME in a row Lynn Greer, III has displayed the leadership, poise, judgement and selflessness that one would expect from a HIGH MAJOR point guard prospect. His handle is beyond tight… LG3 has the ball on a string… He puts in front of defenders and yanks it back with precision… He’s able to go wherever he wants with the ball… He is big enough and strong enough to challenge BIGS at the rim… He finishes through contact… Most importantly, he has become very, very good at choosing the right time to impose himself of the game.
While Jalen Duren is an NBA athlete playing high school basketball, there is no doubt that this is Lynn Greer’s team. He has become an exceptional leader… Greer’s play is allowing the incredibly gifted Justice Williams to show his ASS this year. Lynn sets up the offense and gets guys in position. He gives it to Williams on the wing and Williams is doing things that other 10th graders simply cannot do. He was deep in his bag tonight. His in and out moves… His crossovers… His hesitations were simply majestic.
Camden was right there… They played solid defense, and on many occasions Justice’s offense was just better… If you want to know what a HIGH MAJOR wing looks like, watch the soon to be released Raw Sports video of this contest and focus on Justice Williams offensive performance tonight.
But… as noted in Isaiah 11:6 “a little child shall lead them.”
When Woodley was able to wrestle, bump and push Duren away from the rim… When Brewer’s and Ware’s length was giving Greer problems… When the Roman offense was stalling… It was the pubescent Xzayvier Brown that made big shot after big shot. Brown is very slight in stature… One can easily envision him sitting at middle school lunch table just a few short months ago… Then… The game begins and he is ALWAYS among the calmest, coolest and most collected players on the court. This kid has BIG BALLS!
Brown never gets sped up… He has a profound understanding of floor spacing… He makes himself available to Greer and Williams for skip passes… He gives them a clear target… And, when the pass is made, he is ready to squeeze! A freshman… A FUCKIN freshman is already one of the most reliable knock-down jump shooters in the Greater Philadelphia region. If his feet are set and he catches and shoots in rhythm… Count that shit! Put three on the board for Roman.
Brown is going to be a problem for four years down at Broad and Vine.
Another key piece for Roman is Nasir Lett. Like Brown, Lett understands floor spacing and he understands his role. If he is open, “Lett it fly!” Rarely does Lett catch rim… far more often than not… splash!
Impressive… Very impressive… It took a while for these guys to identify and GROW into their respective roles. One has to credit Head Coach Matt Griffin for switching defenses at key moments and constantly instilling a high level of confidence in this version of the Cahillites.
Justice Williams, Roman Catholic, defends an inbounds pass
Yes… They have the BEST big man in the land… But they are much more than that… Greer has evolved into a maestro on the court. His tendency to play solos at inopportune moments is gone. He has clearly grasped the fact that he as to CONDUCT the orchestra. He’s allowing his young virtuosos to shine at precisely the right moments. Greer is a leader…
After finishing a tough layup, Brown took an ugly and violent spill. He thought he was hurt… I thought he was hurt… Everyone in the gym thought he was hurt… Greer knew he wasn’t injured! He made sure that Brown knew he wasn’t injured. After sitting one series, Brown immediately returned to the lineup and the Cahillites finished off the Panthers in front of about 2,000 despondent Camden fans.
This is Lynn Greer’s team… They will go as far as he takes them… The car fully loaded with all the options… The tank is full of 93 octane and the GPS is set for the Palestra…
Can they be stopped?
The Roman Empire is seeking to capture their 5th Catholic League title in 6 years and 33rd overall… The Cahillites ended Neumann-Goretti’s string of six straight in 2015. Their recent run was interrupted by only Sir Colin Gillespie of Warminster’s incredible romp through the Catholic League in 2017. Other than that… It’s been all Roman for 5 years…
Well… I gotta go for now gotta get to work… I owe Boo Farmer another Chicken Cheesesteak from Iskabibble’s!
I am a trained political scientist. I try to structure my thoughts on social behavior using analytical frameworks borrowed from social science. One of the most powerful, and therefore most useful, is rational choice theory. Rational choice is a framework for understanding and often formally modeling social and economic behavior.
Here we apply the basic premises of rational choice theory to the conundrum that is local college basketball recruiting. Basically, I’m trying develop an explanatory model make sense of shit that makes no sense at all…
Let me give a quick and dirty explanation of how I apply rational choice theory in this instance. I assume that aggregate social behavior (who gets and does not get D1 offers) results from the behavior of individual D1 coaches, each of whom is making their individual decisions. Rational choice theory then assumes that D1 coaches have preferences among the available high school/JUCO and transfer prospects that allow them to state which option they prefer. These preferences are assumed to be complete (the D1 coach can always say which of two prospects they consider preferable or that neither is preferred to the other) and transitive (if player A is preferred over player B and player B is preferred over player C, then A is preferred over C). In my rational choice model, D1 coaches are assumed to take account of available information, probabilities of events, and potential costs and benefits in determining preferences, and to act consistently in choosing the self-determined best choice of action.
Basically, a rational choice model assumes D1 coaches get out and actually watch the prospects first hand, have an understanding of the options each kid has, realize what the prospect can add to his program and work in good faith to win games and improve his program.
The challenge then becomes explaining recruiting outcomes that don’t make no muthafuckin sense.
In the Philadelphia region, there have been some truly befuddling recruiting outcomes in recent years. Sam Sessoms, Ryan Daly and Jhamir Brickus are examples that force me to call the explanatory power of rational choice theory into question.
Sam Sessoms, Binghamton University
Sessoms was one of the best guards to come out of Philadelphia’s fiercely competitive schoolboy scene in recent years. Academics was not an issue for Sesssoms. He attended and did well at one of the elite private Main Line high schools. Moreover, he played on the prestigious Nike EYBL summer circuit. He played for the Team Final program that has consistently produced NBA players. During the winter, Sessoms absolutely scorched opponents during a dominant senior season that saw him easily eclipse the 2,000 point mark. Yet, he had exactly one (1) D1 scholarship offer from Binghamton University which plays in the low-major America East Conference.
Ryan Daly, St. Joseph’s University
Ryan Daly was named the MVP in the Philadelphia Catholic League as a senior. Daly was the MOST VALUABLE PLAYER in one of the top 3-4 HS leagues in the nation. He is a fearless and fierce competitor capable of scoring in bunches from all three levels and rebounding like a power forward. Like Sessoms, his academic profile was beyond reproach. Indeed, he would have been accepted at Ivy or Patriot League schools. Then there is his DNA… his father and grandfather were Philadelphia Catholic League stalwarts and played college ball for St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia’s vaunted Big 5. Yet, very late into his senior season, he was struggling find an adequate suitor for his considerable skills. Fortunately, Delaware’s Martin Inglesby swooped minutes after being given his first head coaching opportunity and gave Daly an opportunity to play in the mid-major Colonial Athletic Conference.
Jhamir Brickus, Coatesville High School
Fast forward to today… Jhamir Brickus has just exceeded the 2,000 point mark with about 20 or so games left in his scholastic career. He has Rip Hamilton in his rear view mirror and will soon lap John Allen to become Coatesville’s all-time leading scorer. He regularly gives highly respected opponents 40 or even 50 points in big games. See for example, the 52 piece family pack… with biscuits and extra gravy he dropped off on Chester in the PIAA playoffs last year. Brickus consistently dominates games from the backcourt with exceptional ball-handling and an uncanny knack for finishing at the rim through contact. Possessing exceptional vision, he is an elite passer. He has played a couple summers on the highly competitive Under Armour UAA circuit where he averaged double figures in points, 5 assists and less than 1 turnover per game… Please note… He averaged LESS than one turnover per game against some of the best competition available. Simply stated, Brickus is a bad, bad man… Yet, his has yet to reel in D1 offers commensurate with his exceptional abilities.
What da fuck? How do we make sense of these outcomes? In my search for answers, I’m leaning hard on the my understanding of rational choice theory… Truth be told… I’m really struggling to make this shit make sense…
The premise of rational choice theory is that the aggregate behavior (the total sum of D1 offers) reflects the sum of the choices made by individual D1 coaches. Each D1 coach, in turn, makes their choice based on their own preferences and the constraints (or choice set) they face.
The logic of the model holds that D1 coaches choose the action (or outcome) they most prefer. In the case where offers (or recruiting outcomes) can be evaluated in terms of costs and benefits, a rational coach chooses the prospect (or recruiting outcome) that provides the maximum net benefit, i.e., the maximum benefit minus cost.
The local D1 coaches (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia) would experience very little costs recruiting these kids. Some gas, a few tolls and a couple Popeye’s chicken sandwiches on top of letters, phone calls, texts and DMs. Viewed in the context of their respective recruiting budgets, pursuing these guys costs nada, zilch, nothing…
The potential rewards? Daly exceeded 1000 points in two years and Sessoms may exceed 1,200 by the end of his sophomore campaign. Beyond that, these guys are Philly guards… They bring a level of toughness to programs that add a value that can’t be quantified. It’s apparent and easy to see now.
Indeed, if Sessoms or Daly were to enter the transfer portal today, each would likely receive 40-50 scholarship offers within a week. Think about that shit… The same D1 coaches that passed on them as high school seniors would relentlessly call, text, DM and visit them begging for their services today.
This begs the obvious question: How did they miss? Why couldn’t they see this 24-36 months ago?
We have to continue to assume that D1 coaches want to win… We must assume they want to add very good players. Indeed, the fact Zane Martin (New Mexico) receive offers from coaches at high major programs like Clemson, Seton Hall, Gonzaga and New Mexico 24 months after they were completely ignored by the same guys means something is seriously askew.
These fuckin’ coaches ain’t behaving rationally… The model doesn’t explain this shit…
Some really smart social scientists have introduced the useful concept of bounded rationality to account for situations precisely like this. Bounded rationality is the idea that rationality is limited, when individuals make decisions, by the tractability of the decision problem, the cognitive limitations of the mind, and the time available to make the decision. Decision-makers, in this view, act as satisficers, seeking a satisfactory solution rather than an optimal one.
In other words, coaches are limited by factors beyond their control. Plainly stated, some just are not that smart. In the words of my good friend, Amauro Austin, “some D1 coaches just don’t know what the hell they are looking at.” This was clearly the case in the recruitment of Ryan Daly. Coach after coach lamented that he was not an “explosive athlete.” They openly cited his lack of foot speed and the fact that he played “below the rim” as factors explaining their lack of a scholarship offer.
I would openly question if I had contacted the right office. I had to remind these guys, I was not trying to reach the track coach. I was not arguing that Ryan should run the 100 or 200 meter dash… Nor, was I suggesting that he be recruited as a high jumper…
“Sorry, coach… my bad… I thought you were looking for good fuckin’ BASKETBALL players.”
Same with Sessoms… He was too small… Incredibly, some even wondered if he could play at the D1 level at all. This as he was punishing opponent after opponent, it seemed like they were all reading from the same script. He can’t really shoot from distance… He’s not a true point guard… blah… blah… blah…
Huh?
Well… We seem to be headed down the same road with Brickus.
Here’s script on Jig… He doesn’t really play hard… He’s more of a small shooting guard… He doesn’t like to play defense… He’s too cool… He doesn’t play against anyone…
Once again, I find myself dealing with the “cognitive limitations” of a lot of D1 coaches.
I just want these guys to be actual rational actors… Unfortunately, more often than we care to admit, Amauro Austin’s assessment is dead on…
“Some D1 coaches just don’t know what the hell they are looking at.”
Donta Scott, Dahmir Bishop, Chereef Knox, Jamil Riggins and Faddie Wesley absolutely dominated Public League basketball the last two seasons. Before that Scott was also a key starter on teams featuring Jaekwon Carlyle, Fatts Russell and David Beatty. Indeed, over the past four seasons Imhotep Charter School’s basketball team was the equivalent of Gladys Knight and the rest of the Public League were the Pips.
Imhotep was the clear headliner. They featured no fewer that 5 or 6 Division 1 prospects in the lineup at all times. When they boarded the bus and headed to Public League games, the outcome of the game was, more or less, a foregone conclusion. By the end of the night, Imhotep would have another notch on their belt.
The lone exception over a 48 month period was a playoff loss to Jason Harrigan’s Del Val Charter led by then super sophomore point guard Antwaun Butler. Other than that, Imhotep whupped everybody.
Del Val Charter Public League Champions
Donta Scott, a 4-year starter for Andre Noble’s Panthers NEVER lost a Public League regular season game over the course of his entire high school career.
That’s some Wilt, Gene Banks, Rasheed Wallace type shit…
Well… It’s a new day in the Pub…
Donta Scott is a key member of the rotation for the 7th ranked Maryland Terrapins. Dahmir Bishop plays a similar role for the Xavier in the Big East. Chereef Knox is adjusting to life in the Atlantic 10 as a member of Billy Lange’s first team at St. Joseph’s. Jamil Riggins is rounding into form after missing much of the early season with a nagging elbow injury at Quinnipiac. Faddie Wesley shares point guard duties with the mercurial Khalif Meares at Harcum a D1 JUCO nestled against the Villanova campus on Philly’s Main Line.
The page has turned at Imhotep…
The cast of characters remains incredibly talented. There’s an incredibly strong, experienced and fundamentally sound big man. Elijah Taylor is everything one would want in a student-athlete. He is a true scholar with exceptional grades and strong test scores. He fielded dozens of offers from some of the finest basketball programs and top universities in the nation before committing to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Running alongside Taylor is Kamrohn Roundtree, a super-athletic 6-7 power forward. Roundtree is an exceptional leaper, rebounder and shot blocker. While his offensive skills are still rounding into shape, he able to finish in transition better than most high school players in Philadelphia. Plainly stated, Kam will bang that shit on you.
Sammy Wylie is another experienced senior. A 5-10 combo guard, Wylie has participated in games at the very highest level across the country the past few years. The southpaw is a very capable playmaker and scorer.
When combined with supremely gifted youngins like Naji Reid, Rahmir Barno and Justin Edwards, Imhotep once again fields an impressive and formidable varsity basketball team.
But… Unlike last year’s version they are not invincible in the Public League.
The Black Cager entered the historic Simon Gratz gymnasium this afternoon and watched Lynard Stewart’s Bulldogs soundly defeat the Panthers. Gratz was more composed, more efficient, more aggressive and, dare I say it, BETTER…
Duane Satchel matched up extremely well with Elijah Taylor. Coming in at 6’9” and tipping the scales in the 240 range, Satchel was the BIG man on the court today. He played an intelligent and fundamentally sound floor game. Stewart’s experienced guards and wings consistently looked to keep Satchel involved on the offensive end. These guys actually looked like they practice post entry passes. If the pass was a little misguided, Satchel did an excellent job of catching it, regrouping and making good old fashioned low-post, back to the basket post moves. He reciprocated their generosity at the offensive end by corralling a multitude of defensive rebounds and quickly finding his guards for outlet passes to initiate an effective transition offensive attack.
When Imhotep was able to setup their vaunted full court press, the Gratz guards displayed a keen understanding of basic basketball principles. They would flash someone to the middle or throw skip passes diagonally which resulted in 3 on 2 and/or 2 on 1 situations. Led by the sharpshooting Yassir Stover (17 points), the Bulldogs played sound, smart and tough basketball.
The Bulldogs won the game 71-60, after leading by as many as 19 early in the first half. The wire to wire victory was impressive. Lynard Stewart is a DAMN GOOD coach.
With Satchel in the middle, he’s able to matchup with Imhotep’s athletic bigs. His senior guards were unfazed by the full court pressure. Something tells me that game film has already made its’ way around to all the Division A laptops… Any coach that doesn’t already have it is lunching… Big time…
Inevitably, in any conversation worth having about basketball you end up making comparisons. What I find extremely interesting is size and weight of the “thumb” that is invariably put on the scale. It’s one of those things that’s always there but it rarely made explicit.
In a recent social media “debate” with my good friend Charles Jones from Born Leader Family, he asserts that Samir Doughty (Auburn/R-Senior) is “easily best college guard [from] our area offensively & defensively.”
Samir Doughty, Auburn/R-Senior
That’s a STRONG fuckin’ statement… Indeed, Jones refuses to consider alternative assessments. While I love the energy and analytical rigor he brings to the discussion, I am not ready to concede that his conclusion is accurate.
Jones did make me realize this topic warrants a more serious evaluation. We need to make some things VERY EXPLICIT so we won’t continue the long-standing Philadelphia tradition of talking right past one another.
Toward that end, I want to perform a comparative analysis of some current Philly guards playing NCAA Division 1 basketball. The Below chart is a listing some Philly guards and their “per game” statistics in Division 1 competition.
We chose per game averages instead of career totals for a reason. While interesting and in some ways informative, total stats are really not useful in the present comparative analysis because of the extreme variation in the number of games played. Some have only played as few as 41 and 51 games while others have played in as many as 102 and 107. This wide variation renders a comparison of totals almost meaningless. The per game averages, however, shed some useful light.
Ryan Daly, St. Joseph’s/R-Junior
An objective comparison of the actual NCAA Division 1 game performance is fairly straightforward. More points, rebounds, assists and steals per game is better than fewer. As far as scoring is concerned, Sam Sessoms is the most prolific scorer over the course of his career which is also the shortest at 43 games.
But… We all know the game is much more than simply scoring points. Other important factors have to be taken into consideration. Keep in mind the objective here is not to identify the “perfect” way of framing the argument and measuring performance. Rather. the goal is to identify “better” ways of framing the argument. We are trying to lay the foundation for future debates and discussions. Most importantly, we want to help the hundreds of new consumers of Black Cager content understand what is often left unsaid.
Sam Sessoms, Binghamton/Sophomore
We take it seriously and do it a little differently at Black Cager Sports Media.
My man Jones leaves very little unsaid… It was a heated dialogue with him that prompted this essay. He rather forcefully put forth the following assertion, “In meaningless basketball(knowing you gonna lose going into games makes it a lot easier to play. No real pressure). As a ranked team coming off a final 4 you getting teams best punch. Big differentiating factor when u expected to win at the highest level and your expected to lose at a Lower level.”
Fair points… Jones has pushed the argument forward on an analytical level. You cannot just look at D1 stats and compare across the board.
Stevie Jordan, Rider/Senior
At it’s core, his essential point is that when comparing player performance across conferences to determine which is “better” you have to put the “thumb” on the scale…
SEC points > American East points SEC rebounds > American East rebounds SEC assists > American East assists SEC steals > American East steals
Again, fair points…
After establishing this point, Jones can argue that Doughty with NCAA Division 1 performance stats significantly lower than those of Samuel Sessoms, Ryan Daly, Stevie Jordan (Rider) and several other Philly guards is the “BEST” player. In a very straightforward manner, Jones is arguing that 18.4 ppg in the America East is not equal to nor is it a reasonable predictor for scoring in the Big East, ACC, Big 12, PAC 12, Big 10 or SEC.
Basically… He making it very clear that it’s levels to this shit!
Josh Sharkey, Samford/Senior
And… If you don’t put your “thumb” on the scale for the Big East/ACC/Big 12/PAC 12, Big 10/SEC player… The comparison is unfair to the high major players and more or less useless.
Jones is right..
With aforementioned data one can compare and contrast any two guards. If we limit ourselves to a “simple” compare-and-contrast analysis, in which the data is weighed equally, we make a HUGE assumption that needs to be made explicit.
Tommy Funk, Army/Senior
We assume that all D1 games are equal. That is simply not the case. In this regard, I agree with Jones.
However, the far more interesting and difficult question becomes: Exactly, how heavy should the thumb be?
Let’s walk through two examples. For illustrative purposes, we can conceptualize and measure “impact” per game by simply add the average number of points, rebound, assists and steals per game. This will result is a score for each player we call the Division 1 game “impact” number.
The results are different than our earlier comparison of scoring averages alone. If one compares the resulting impact numbers, Ryan Daley overtakes Sam Sessoms as the leader and Josh Sharkey (Samford) overtakes Tommy Funk (Army). Taking overall performance into account, Daly’s ability to rebound at a significantly higher rate than the others explains his jump in the rankings. Same thing with Sharkey’s ability to steal the ball. Stevie Jordan’s strong overall performance across categories throughout his career at Rider keeps him near the top of the list.
With this data one can compare and contrast any two guards in terms of their performance in NCAA Division 1 games. However, as noted earlier, if we limit ourselves to such a “simple” compare-and-contrast analysis, in which you weigh the data equally, we make a HUGE assumption that needs to be made explicit.
Quade Green, Washington/Junior
We assume that all D1 games are equal. I agree with Jones, that is simply not the case.As a result, the rankings of Doughty, Quade Green (Kentucky/Washington) and Collin Gillespie (Villanova) suffer.
This brings us back to the question at hand: Exactly, how heavy should the thumb be?
Here we make explicit exactly how much the “thumb” weighs in two different examples. Varying weights assigned to the “thumb” result in significant variations in the rankings. In the first example, we use following multipliers to account for the effect of playing in more competitive leagues/conferences:
We multiply the Impact score times 1 for Low Division 1 leagues.
We multiply the impact score times 1.25 for Mid-major Division 1 leagues.
We multiple the impact score times 1.50 for High-Major Division 1 leagues.
Fresh Kimble, Louisville/Graduate Student
In this way we recognize that it is tougher to be a productive player in the A10 Conference than in the America East Conference. This way of accounting for “League Competitiveness” also recognizes that the SEC Conference is tougher than the A10.
When the strength of the conferences is taken into account in this assessment, Doughty makes the biggest jump in the rankings. He goes from 8th to 3rd. Fatts Russell (Rhode Island) moves from 6th to 4th.
Fatts Russell, Rhode Island/Junior
But, this still would be insufficient for some observers. Consider this argument Jones unflinchingly adheres to, “no matter what context you put it in [Doughty] is a better player as a role player and as a primary. More efficient, better defender, better athlete, and is a center piece of winning. I been said the context matters. Meaningful basketball is different. You put it into stats I told u… That [Doughty] is better. You talked about situations and I still told u why. And if you was starting a team and u took any of them players before him you’d prolly [sic] get fired.”
But how does one convincingly substantiate the position that Doughty “no matter what context you put it in [Doughty] is a better player”? You simply cannot discard performance in games.
Dave Beatty, La Salle Junior
You have to assume that Doughty has a harder row to hoe…
Statistically, what you have to do is assigned double the weight to every high major point, rebound, assist and steal while holding low to mid-major stats steady. If your rubric assumes that “high major” leagues are twice as difficult as low and mid major leagues, Doughty becomes the clear cut “best” player. See the chart below with such revised Weighted Impact scores.
High major conference impact #s have multiplier of 2. All others have a multiplier of 1. Even when such disparate weight is applied, Daly remains second in the ranking. Passed only by Doughty. Quade Green and Collin Gillespie also surpass all of the low to mid major players on the list.
I’ll be the first to admit that the Big East, ACC, Big 12, Big 10, PAC 12 and SEC conferences are tougher that the low to mid-major conferences. But I’m not willing to assign a weight to the high majors that is twice that assigned to the A10, Mountain West and American.
Jones is right… “It’s levels to this shit!”
However, the differences between the levels are not as large he would have us believe… Doughty may very well be the best Philly Guard in college basketball, but the discussion is definitely unsettled and ongoing.
Black Cager Sports Media thanks him for introducing some much needed nuance and subtlety into discussion usually driven by personal bias and animosity.
Philadelphia, PA:Triple Threat is led by Donta Scott, Hakim Hart, Jamil Riggins and Jameer Nelson Jr. Scott is the do it on both ends of the floor franchise player from Imhotep. Hart is one of the most prolific scorers in the area and is due for a huge game. Riggins has been Triple Threats best offense player in the tournament… He hit 8 treys and grabbed 14 boards in the quarters win..
Jamil Riggins attacks the basket
Nelson Jr is a super athletic and the point guard… He dunked with different hands on 2 straight possessions in the quarters. The 5th starter is Shipley freshman, Khalil Farmer who had 10 points and a couple huge buckets in the quarters. The only sub I remember is Gettysburg commit, Shane Scott who put up 8 in the quarters
Hunting Park is the team I’ve called “The Pub” throughout the tournament… The Pub is led by 2 Mastery North seniors, Jamir Reed and Lakeem Mcailey and 2 MCS kids Nisine Poplar and Jihad Squid Watson. Reed is a big, physical and tough Philly guard who can score and defend on the other end of the court. McAiley is a lefty who put on a show in the first half in the quarters. He was dominant offensively.
Lakeem McAliley
Poplar is the sophomore who is getting better every game and sky is the limit the next 2 years. Watson is the veteran guard who scored big buckets in the 2nd half as Raw sports tried to rally .Watson either scored the bucket or got the assist to put the game away. The 5th starter is Dahmir Fowlkes. I dont know a lot about Fowlkes other than he showed great energy and the ability to finish on the break. He’s only a sophomore like Poplar. The bench of Hunting Park has been among the best in the tournament. The headliner has been Tyrone Williams. Williams had 13 7 5 in the quarters and was all over the court. The 2 remaining players I remember were Taj Campbell and Aaron Harrison. Both players had 6 points in quarters and showed great energy on both ends of floor.
The Black Cager 