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Prepping for Preps '16-17: Shipley School

10/31/2016, 12:45am EDT
By Josh Verlin

Junior guard Sam Sessoms (above) has learned how to turn his competitiveness into a positive force for Shipley. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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(Ed. Note: This story is part of CoBL’s “Prepping for Preps” series, which will take a look at many of the top high school programs in the region as part of our 2016-17 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed so far can be found here.)

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When Sam Sessoms first came to the Shipley School as a freshman, the rest of his teammates weren’t quite sure what to think of the diminutive point guard with the flashy game and an outspoken, gregarious personality.

Perhaps the most thrown was then-sophomore Kiyon Hardy, one of the program’s other talented guards and a young man who personality-wise is the antithesis of Sessoms, quiet and reserved.

Both have the ability to run the offense and score the basketball, but the M.O. is totally different: Hardy hardly saying a word as he knocks down triple after triple, Sessoms the type to let you know exactly how he’s going to break you down right before he does it.

“We are total opposites,” Hardy said. “Sam’s more aggressive, I guess you could say he’s more go-go-go, I’m more calm.”

At first, Sessoms ruffled feathers, clashing with teammates at practices and in games when he would offer a few choice words of critique. After all, who was this freshman ordering people around, pointing out their errors and demanding more and more of them?

“It was hard for me to adjust, to come into a school like this, especially being as vocal as I am and reacting the way I react,” he said. “I had to learn to adjust not just to (Hardy), but the whole team and the way everybody was.”

Two years later, Sessoms and Hardy have figured each other out.

And it’s just in time, as the the two form the starting backcourt for Phil D’Ambrosio on what should be the fifth-year head coach’s best team yet.

Now a 5-foot-11 junior, Sessoms is very much the outspoken leader of the team, and he’s learning to channel his energy in a positive light. With Division I programs like Drexel, Saint Joseph’s and George Washington among others tracking his progress, he knows that becoming a force for positivity is a must to land that coveted first scholarship offer.

Though he admits it’s been a difficult process, Sessoms reflects upon a question D’Ambrosio has asked him numerous times over the last two-plus years: does he want to be feared, or respected?

“When I talk to colleges now, the main thing they say is the body expression, the way you lead the team, the things you say and how teammates react towards you,” Sessoms said. “It’s all about being a leader and making the team respect you.

“The way I say stuff, I mean good intentions, but the way I come off so aggressively, other people might shut down and not react the way I want,” he continued. “I just have to pull them to the side, make sure they’re alright.”

After struggling to single-digit win totals in each of his first two seasons at the Shipley School, D’Ambrosio had the Gators headed in a positive direction for years three and four, going

Sessoms and Hardy -- a 5-10 guard with an offer from D-II Felician and interest from several other schools -- are two big reasons why he’s optimistic about 2016-17, and the two will certainly be amongst the top scorers in the entire Friends’ Schools League. Hardy is a terrific 3-point shooter who’s much-improved off the bounce, while Sessoms is as shifty as they come, with a great shoulder-fake and change-of-pace ability to get into the lane, where he excels at the pull-up jumper.


Reclassified sophomore Ray Somerville (above) has been making big strides this offseason. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

But what really has D’Ambrosio and the rest of the Gators staff excited is the newest piece to the puzzle. At 6-9 and 225 pounds, Ray Somerville gives Shipley some size in the middle the program hasn’t seen since current Monmouth senior Zach Tillman last patrolled the paint in a Gators uniform in 2012-13.

A transfer from Penncrest, Somerville seldom saw the court as a sophomore for the Lions, but should rarely hit the bench as he repeats his sophomore year at Shipley.

“I think he has become significantly better over the last four or five months, that he wasn’t the player that he was last year,” D’Ambrosio said. “As of right now, expectations for him: rebound, run, defend -- granted, if he progresses like how he is right now, come December, two months from now, there’s no reason in my mind he’s not scoring 10-15 points per game this year for us.”

Sessoms, who practiced with Somerville all summer in the Team Final travel program, saw the improvement coming from his teammate’s work ethic alone.

“Before (Ray) even got into the school, he started coming (to workouts) on a consistent basis,” Sessoms said. “We were going to work out with a guy, lift weights twice a week, he ended up going more days than me and Kiyon. He’s just committed to getting better.”

D’Ambrosio will lean heavily on that big three, but this is also a deeper Shipley squad than he’s had. Two other juniors will round out the starting lineup: Tommy Sobelman (6-3), who will be the team’s requisite gunner, and Eli Gorrell (6-2), a wiry wing who will draw the top defensive assignment and can attack the basket off the dribble.

Two freshmen might also crack the rotation: Randall Brown, a 6-1 small forward, and Khai Champion, a 5-9 sharpshooter and the younger brother of Friends’ Central grad/Loyola (Md.) freshman Chuck Champion.

“Our big thing is going to be making sure we don’t fall into a lapse and the ball isn’t sticking in anybody’s hands,” D’Ambrosio said. “You already know where the bulk of our scoring is going to come from, it’s no secret, but we need to make sure that Eli can get his hustle points, Tommy can get his three or four 3s in a game.

“In my mind, we’re a team that should be putting up 60 points per game, but if we’re flat and the ball’s not moving, we’re going to score 40-something.”

Winning the Friends’ School League won’t be easy, with powerhouse Westtown and its numerous high-major Division I prospects likely to sweep through the remainder of the independent school league. But Shipley could very well be the second-best squad, and that’s a distinction that wouldn’t be taken lightly around the program.

“We won 15 games two years ago, we won 17 games last year, so I think we’re heading in the right direction,” D’Ambrosio said. “The guys are talking about they want 20 this year, so we’ll see how that goes.”


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