City of Basketball Love

Rich Flanagan (@richflanagan33)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of CoBL's "Prepping for Preps," our series of articles previewing area high school teams for the 2015-16 season. For the complete list of schools previewed so far, click here)

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When the Archbishop Ryan Raiders’ season ended following a 66-56 loss at the hands of Archbishop Wood in the first round of the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs, many members of the team expected it to be just another offseason of individual work and open gyms. Little did they know things were about to change.

In May, former head coach Bernie Rogers left Ryan for the same position at the Haverford School. Rogers had coached his alma mater for 15 years, winning 212 games and leading the Raiders to a PCL championship appearance in 2008.

Rogers was replaced by 2006 Ryan alum and former University of Hartford standout Joe Zeglinski, the school’s all-time leading scorer and a three-time All-Catholic selection. Last season, Zeglinski was an assistant coach at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Conn.; now, he’s coaching his alma mater.

“It was a surreal experience. I’m following in footsteps of coach (Rogers) who showed me so much,” the new Raiders coach said. “Being at Choate, I really learned aspects of recruiting.”

Zeglinski said the feedback from around the community has been tremendous. He said people are “excited” and has heard from numerous ex-players and alumni.

From the moment he was hired, Zeglinski and his assistants immediately began to get acclimated with his new team during summer workouts and open gyms.

As the new head coach, Zeglinski inherits a team that finished 10-13, 4-9 in the PCL but did make the playoffs. And he has a bit of talent to work with in a league chock full of it.

Combo guard Izaiah Brockington is their rising star, returning for his junior year after leading the Raiders with 14.8 points per game. The 6-foot-4, 170-pound lefty has been getting looked at by a number of Division I schools, and should carry a lot of the scoring load this season.

Brockington spoke highly of Zeglinski, saying he “demands excellence” and sees this team really progressing this year.

“I expect a whole different team. We have a new coach and a new system,” Brockington said. “Everything’s different in how we lift, practice, prepare, etc.”

Returning in the starting lineup with Brockington will be seniors Austin Chabot, Austin Slawter and Freddie Killian.

Chabot is a 6-6 wing who averaged 13.5 ppg last season. Slawter (7.6 ppg) will be the starting point guard and Zeglinski said he “can really handle the ball.” At 6-5, Killian is the “most developed big guy” and “strongest guy on the team,” according to Zeglinski.

Throw in junior Chris Kuhar, who started a number of games for the Raiders a season ago, and Zeglinski likes what he has.

Zeglinski has not yet officially named a starting lineup, but he does like the depth of his new team which he attributed to how many players are coming from outside of the surrounding community.

“We’re really deep this year. We can play 10-12 guys and we’ll have seven or eight guys coming off of the bench,” Zeglinski sai. “We have kids from all over the city. It’s no longer just neighborhood kids. It’s good for guys with more diversity.”

That depth starts with junior Matsis Kulackovskis, a 6-7 wing who came over from Latvia and can really shoot. Kulackovskis is currently living with Chabot and his family. Another player to watch is 6-8 junior forward Fred Taylor, a transfer from Boys Latin who plays with Brockington with Team Philly on the AAU circuit. According to Zeglinski, Taylor has been pushing Killian down low and will be competing for minutes this season.

Other players to watch are senior Chris Getz, junior Chris Palantion and 6-3 freshman Amin Bryant, who Zeglinski said is ‘very talented.”

During Rogers’ tenure at Ryan, the Princeton offense was a staple of the Raiders’ offense, but Zeglinski has installed a “read and react” offense with very few set plays; he is hoping to “push the ball more” and increase their pace on offense.

Athletic guys like Chabot and Brockington like what they’ve seen from Zeglinski, and have really bought into the culture their new coach is trying to develop.

“[My] early impressions of [Joe] are that he's a winner. He hates to lose and that's exactly what Archbishop Ryan needs,” Chabot said.  “I could go on and brag about how great of a coach he is but our record this year will speak for him.”

“He’s younger [and] more relatable. He came from where some of us aspire to be,” Brockington said. “He’s a great mentor to have around.”

The Raiders schedule certainly does not do them any favors, and Zeglinski knows the challenge a first-year coach faces in the PCL. Ryan opens its season on December 5 at home against Bensalem. Then, they will turn around and take on PIAA Class A state champion Constitution on December 8 at Benjamin Franklin High School.

In league play, the Raiders will also play the other three PIAA state champions this season: Conwell-Egan (Class AA), Neumann-Goretti (Class AAA) and Roman Catholic (Class AAAA).

Some other notable games include December 15 at home against Penn Charter, where Zeglinski played for one season under head coach Jim Phillips, January 10 in a rematch with Wood, and January 29 against archrival Father Judge.

With Zeglinski at the helm, the Raiders will look to take that next step as a team and hope to compete with the three state champions from their league.

The players believe this team has what it takes to accomplish that goal.

“It’s got to start with our mindset. There would be times [last year] where guys were thinking, ‘how are we going to win,’” Brockington said. “We need to work on defense and how each guy can find their niche.”

“That next step is already being taken. We're in the weight room getting stronger every week. We're getting better on the basketball court,” Chabot said. “All I can really think to say the next step is to just work hard every day and the results will show.

“Everybody in and around the league is sleeping on us but we are a whole new team. We have a clean slate and we'll be ready.”