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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It’s been a decade since Episcopal last finished atop the Inter-Academic League.

That was when the Churchmen had a pair of seniors named Wayne Ellington and Gerald Henderson on the team. It almost wasn’t fair: both Ellington and Henderson averaged more than 21 ppg on a team that some consider the best in Inter-Ac history, one that crushed the competition en route to a 10-0 league record and eventual league championship.

Craig Conlin doesn’t have any future NBA players on this year’s roster, but what the sixth-year head coach does have is a team that could win the six-school conference for the first time since Ellington and Henderson left for the halls of North Carolina and Duke 10 years ago.

“I think this is definitely the year,” said junior forward Nick Alikakos, the defending league MVP. “I think we should win it.”

Conlin is slightly more guarded, however; a reasonable approach, considering Germantown Academy does return three starters and has won the last three Inter-Ac titles.

“The way that the coaching staff is approaching it is that we’re still the hunters,” Conlin said. “And we’re still going out there and we’re going to train hard every day and look to get better every single day--but in our minds we’re not favorites, we’re still hunting.”

If the Churchmen had a list of reasons why they should consider themselves the favorites, number one would be the presence of Alikakos. A 6-foot-7, 200-pound combo forward with a smooth face-up game and a terrific motor, Alikakos averaged 19.5 ppg and was a double-double threat every time he took the court.

The favorite to repeat as Inter-Ac MVP each of the next two years, Alikakos knows that there’s a lot resting on his shoulders, and he’s going to get heavy attention from every opponent he sees for the next two years.

“I noticed last year I would get double-teamed a lot, a lot of box-and-one and stuff,” he said. “So it’s all about finding ways to show i can produce, find ways to get it done.”

As would be expected for a team with designs on a league title, Alikakos is far from a one-man show.

While two of last year’s starting guards--Mike Jolaoso (14.2 ppg, West Chester) and Mike Hinkley (10.1 ppg, Dickinson)--are both now playing in college, the Churchmen do return senior Matt Woods, a 3-point specialist who canned 66 triples in 24 games a year ago.

When Jolaoso missed the final few games of the 2014-15 season, Woods stepped up, big-time. In the four league and playoff games that Jolaoso sat out, Woods averaged 16.8 ppg, including a career-best 26 point outing against Penn Charter.

“It definitely shows that I know I can score and I know that I definitely have a ton of confidence in my game now,” Woods said. “I’m going to be handling it a bit more this year and creating space for my own shot, coming off screens instead of just spotting up in the corner and stuff.”

Woods is hearing from several area schools interested in his services next year, mentioning Division III programs Franklin & Marshall, Gettysburg and Susquehanna as those who’ve reached out, but said he’s mostly putting his college choice on the back-burner until the season is over.

Alongside Woods in the EA backcourt will be rising junior Connor Delaney, a 6-0 guard who’s committed to Villanova for his ability as a defender on the lacrosse field. Delaney’s not too shabby on the court, either, averaging just under six points per game as a sophomore; he’ll play both on and off the ball, as will senior guard Kyle Sacchetta.

Two more juniors are expected to be key members of the rotation: 6-6 stretch-forward Jack O’Connell, a corner 3-pointer specialist who’s beginning to round out the best of his game, plus 6-2 forward Jermaine Rhoden, whom Conlin called “the most athletic player on the team.” In addition, 6-7 sophomore Collin Phillips is expected to add size to the interior.

“I think we certainly do need other guys to step up, we’re not going to be a one-man show,” Conlin said. “Obviously losing Mike and Mike from last season hurts, but we are expecting great things from Matt Woods and Connor Delaney and Jack O’Connell as well and Jermaine Rhoden.”

What this group has differently from the one that won it a decade ago is more pressure on ever single game. Unlike when Ellington and Henderson won the Inter-Ac title, there's no more league championship tournament--either finish atop the regular-season standings, or wait for one more year.

So they're aware that one slip-up, especially once the Inter-Ac round-robin begins in January, could very easily keep that streak going one more time.

“I definitely think that every game matters more this year because most people are expecting us to have our best season in the last 10 years,” Alikakos said. “So we can’t lose, especially in the Inter-Ac. Every game matters so much.”

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Update (11/24/15, 10:09 p.m.): Episcopal has added former Villanova forward JayVaughn Pinkston to its staff as an assistant coach for the 2015-16 season.

Pinkston, who averaged 11.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game in four years with the Wildcats, tore his ACL this summer during a workout with the Brooklyn Nets.

"We are very excited about adding former Villanova star JayVaughn Pinkston to our already outstanding coaching staff," head coach Craig Conlin said. "He brings a wealth of knowledge and already has an excellent rapport with out student-athletes.

"He is a tremendous influence on Nick [Alikakos] and our other bigs," Conlin continued. "We are expecting great things from JP."