City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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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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For the last three seasons, Archbishop Carroll was the Derrick Jones show.

The high-flying 6-foot-6 wing was the most electric player to come out of the Philadelphia area in some time, with his above-the-rim play on both ends of the court. The best dunker arguably in all of amateur basketball across the country, Jones was also a tenacious shot blocker and rebounder who made ridiculous plays look easy. He put together a highlight-reel senior season, averaging 19.2 ppg as the Patriots made it to the PIAA Class AAA championship game before falling to Catholic League rival Neumann-Goretti.

Now Jones is preparing for his freshman season at UNLV. Also gone is big man Ernest Aflakpui (16.0 ppg) to Temple, though Aflakpui missed the majority of his senior season with a knee injury. And junior guard David Beatty (11.8 ppg), a starter last year with several high-major offers of his own, transferred to St. Benedict’s (N.J.)

Life moves on at Carroll, where head coach Paul Romanczuk has to figure out how to make a run at Catholic League powers Neumann-Goretti and Roman Catholic yet again.

“I don’t think anyone’s shedding any tears for Archbishop Carroll basketball,” Romanczuk said.

There’s no doubt that the Patriots will still have talent, led by a pair of Division I-committed seniors in Josh Sharkey (Samford) and Ryan Daly (Hartford).

Sharkey, a 5-10 point guard, averaged 12.8 ppg last year, his first as a full-time starter and second at the school. A defensive pest, Sharkey is a solid outside shooter who's a crafty passer and scorer once he gets into the lane.

While Sharkey’s role isn’t likely to change much as a senior, his classmate could be the biggest beneficiary of Jones’ and Beatty’s departure. A 6-4 guard whose father, Brian Daly, played at Saint Joseph’s and coached at the high-major level, Ryan Daly averaged 12.4 ppg a year ago but should better that by a few ticks this season.

“I still don’t think he quite--I don’t know if you’d call it underrated or what--I think he’s still a little below the radar than he should be,” Romanczuk said. “I do think that he’s ready to take that next step and I’ve appreciated his game all along but I think he’s really going to take another leap into the public’s mind as to how really special and gifted this guy is.”

But despite those two players, there’s a different tone around the Carroll program. The last few years, Neumann and Roman were often joined by Carroll when brought up in discussions about who occupied the top spots in the Catholic League. That’s not happening anymore.

While  Patriots might not bring it up every day in practice, they’re certainly aware of the reduced expectations from outside of the program.

“We like that nobody’s talking about us,” Sharkey said. “We can just go out and play our game without the pressure and just compete with everybody, and I think we have the team this year to come out and surprise people.”

Daly and Sharkey are two of three seniors penciled into the starting lineup, along with John Rigsby, a versatile 6-4 wing.

To help replace some of the size lost on the interior, Romanczuk adds a 6-9, 225-pound Latvia native, Miks Antoms, to the roster. Antoms, who’s staying with the Daly family, arrived in the United States for the first time in early September.

After a few weeks of adjustment, Antoms is by all accounts coming around quickly to the American style of the game.

“When he first got here he was finesse and stuff, but lately he’s been dominating open gyms, dunking, he’s been one of our best players every gym consistently,” Daly said. “When he first got here, I think he thought he could out-skill everybody, but now his toughness is starting to pick up and he’s starting to look like probably a Division I player.”

Antoms and 6-6 junior forward Jesse McPhearson will both see minutes in the post, though Romanczuk said he wasn’t sure yet which would be starting to open the season.

Also in the mix for starting roles are Daly’s young brother, junior sharpshooter Colin Daly, who after a summer growth spurt stands the same 6-4 as his brother. Kairi Williams, a 6-2 junior transfer from Norristown, is in the mix, as is 6-6 senior forward Alex House.

A trio of sophomores--point guard Zaheem Garrett (5-11), forward Keyon Butler (6-3) and forward Devin Ferrero (6-4)--are also pushing for playing time, though Romanczuk knows he won’t have minutes for everybody.

“We’ve got, I think, about 10 guys (who can play),” he said. “Whether all 10 will play or not, I generally go seven or eight deep, but at least we have that where I have faith in about 10 guys this year right now.”

It will have to be a complete effort from top to bottom if the Patriots are to compete with the likes of Neumann and Roman in the Catholic League, much less with the top PIAA Class AAA teams in the state should they get that far.

With the high-major players gone, Carroll's been forgotten a little bit. And they're more than happy to play the underdog.

“I think this year it’s going to be more balance,” Ryan Daly said. “I’ll get a chance to do more, Josh will get a chance to do more, John Rigsby who’s been playing really well is going to have a chance to do more. I think we’re going to show everyone that we’re pretty good, still.”