City of Basketball Love

By Dylan Lutey (@dylan_lutey)
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From an injury right before the June live period to various head coach changes, Khaafiq Myers has dealt with a few obstacles throughout his process of choosing which college he ultimately wants to play for.

After going down with a MCL injury during an EYBL Session 4 game, Myers planned to announce his college commitment on June 27, his birthday. However, when he learned he would be cleared for Peach Jam, Myers announced via Twitter on June 25th that he would be pushing the date back. 

The 5-foot-10 Neumann-Goretti guard wanted to give himself an opportunity to attract more attention from coaches after missing the opportunity to play with his team at Philly Live due to his knee injury.

“I found out that I was going to be cleared, so I wanted to play at Peach Jam and see what other schools would come in and see what I could do,” Myers told City of Basketball Love over the phone on Tuesday. “I didn’t really want to put that stress on me picking my school right before Peach Jam.”

Although Myers doesn’t have a new definitive commitment date yet, he is sure that it won’t be before the 2023-24 scholastic season starts. It will most likely come during January or February of 2024. 

The 5-10 guard currently holds offers from Binghamton, La Salle, Drexel, St. Joe’s, George Washington, North Carolina A&T, and University of Massachusetts. Previous offers from Temple, NJIT, Wichita State and North Texas came off the table when those programs experienced head coaching changes. He is grateful for the fact that he still has plenty of options and knows he will be playing at the next level, despite not knowing exactly where yet.

“It's a great feeling, I definitely came a long way from when I first started,” Myers said. “I didn't choose my college yet, but I know I'll be more relaxed once I choose my college.”

Myers averaged 11.1 ppg, 4.5 apg and 2.3 spg in 22 games for Neumann-Goretti last season. He averaged 9.8 ppg, 1.8 apg and 2.4 rpg in five games at Peach Jam for the NJ Scholars, including a 23-point game against Drive Nation on 10-of-14 shooting.

Although he hasn’t narrowed down his list, Myers does have an idea of what he is looking for from a program standpoint.

“A player’s coach who is focused on player development,” Myers said when asked what he is looking for from a program. “ Say I (go) there, I pray to God it doesn’t happen, but I get hurt, or my time to be on the court just didn't come yet, and I have to sit out two years. I want to know that the player development is going to have me ready when it is my time.”

Strong culture in general as well as within the program are also important characteristics to Myers.

“A school that's big on culture. I come from a great culture at Neumann-Goretti,” Myers said. “A great culture and great coaches, like it doesn’t matter whether it is the last person on the bench or the first person on the bench, they should always be rocking with you.”

Now, as the focus shifts from the summer to the fall Myers will continue to be able to learn about the various programs that are pursuing him, talk with the staff and decide which program best aligns with what he described. 

The Saints invited college coaches to open gyms on Mondays and Wednesdays during September. Myers said staff from the Explorers and Minutemen stopped by to check out his open gym. Myers also said Florida Gulf Coast, which has “hopped in the mix”, also stopped by. 

Myers said La Salle, UMass, and North Carolina A&T have recruited him the hardest out of the schools that have offered him. Binghamton, who offered him in September of 2021 has not visited the city yet, but has been in touch via phone call.

He most recently went on an official visit to North Carolina A&T on Sept. 10, which allowed him to see the campus and learn more about the program.

“I learned more about the culture there and just the staff,” Myers said. “It's like a Philly staff. People that are closer to this area with East Coast ties. It was really good (to) learn about the culture (and) just learn about the school.”

Myers mentioned his relationship with NC A&T head coach Monte Ross, who was formerly an associate head coach for Temple’s program until he was announced as the Aggies head coach at the beginning of April. Ross recruited Myers during his time at Temple which gave the visit a familiar feel. 

“We already had a relationship from when he was recruiting me at Temple,” Myers said. “In June when I posted that I was pushing my commitment date back he just hit me up saying, ‘I want you to come visit and everything before you do anything’. We started talking in June because I knew he had to make sure he got his roster straight for this year, so I knew (the visit) was gonna come eventually. I wasn't worried about it at that moment.”

It also comforted Myers that the rest of the coaching staff was also new. Ross added associate head coach Jeff Raferty and assistant coaches Dorian Long and Ricky Moore to the staff at the end of June. 

“They are new there too, so they also (recently) learned about the culture and might still be in the process,” Myers said. “It felt like we were all learning more about the culture and the program.”

Overall Myers enjoyed the visit and feels that the characteristics of the program and school align with the characteristics he is looking for.

“Yeah, I definitely felt those things talking to the coach,” Myers said. “Like I said, we already had a relationship and some of the coaches are already well connected on the East Coast. They know the ins and the outs of having a player’s back and everything.”

The next visit he plans to take is to UMass, which will be scheduled for sometime during the next couple of weeks. Other than that, the next few months in Khaafiq Myers’ recruitment remains a mystery. 

He will have the next few months to thoroughly sort through his options, consider any new ones that may come along the way, and ultimately make a final decision while also trying to bring wins to the Neumann-Goretti basketball program. The Saints are coming off runner-up finishes in the PCL and PIAA Class 4A title games.

“Not really, I’m not really stressing over it,” Myers said when asked if the process has been overwhelming and if he expects it to get more difficult. “It's definitely a little hard because there are a lot of coaches recruiting me and I've got a great relationship with them. So it's definitely hard telling a coach or anybody that's a part of that staff that you are going to have to go in a different direction. I think that's the hardest part about this recruitment thing.”