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Prepping for Preps '16-17: Archbishop Wood

11/21/2016, 9:00am EST
By Josh Verlin

Collin Gillespie (above) and Archbishop Wood have high expectations in John Mosco's fourth season. (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 John Mosco took over at Archbishop Wood in 2013, his mission was simple: take the program to the next level.

And Year Four looks better than any other for the Vikings to make that jump.

It’s not that Wood had been an afterthought in the Catholic League before Mosco’s arrival, but they weren’t a powerhouse, either -- stuck somewhere in the middle, never quite able to make that push into a group that usually includes Neumann-Goretti, Roman Catholic and one or two others, depending on the year. Those teams that are regularly playing in the Catholic League semifinals and championships, both of which are held at the legendary Palestra on Penn’s campus.

Bringing in Mosco, who had spent the previous 17 seasons as an assistant at Neumann-Goretti, was a clear sign that the school wanted to be in that group.

It only took until his second season for the Vikings to send the first loud signal that they were on their way. A young Wood squad pulled off maybe the shocker of the year in coming from behind to beat Roman, dealing the eventual league, district and state champions one of just two losses -- and the only one on its home court.

“I think it showed people that there’s another team in the league that’s going to be competing for playoffs, competing for the Catholic League (championship),” Mosco said. “And people are looking at us differently each year.”

Wood finished 18-6 that season, including an 8-5 mark in the Catholic League, before losing to Roman in a rematch in the PCL quarterfinals. Last year, with several key players dealing with injuries midway through the season, the Vikings dropped five league games in a row before rallying to finish 14-10 (6-7); this time, it was Archbishop Carroll who ended their season in the league playoff quarterfinal round.

This year, outside expectations are indeed as high as they’ve been for Wood in quite a long time, as Mosco has a roster that’s more experienced, talented and deep than his previous three, and it’s not really close. Outside of Neumann-Goretti, which features top-20 point guard and Kentucky commit Quade Green plus Villanova-bound big man Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree on its usually-loaded lineup, nobody else returns more than Wood.

Roman Catholic graduated its senior core of Penn State freshmen Tony Carr, Nazeer Bostick and Lamar Stevens; Archbishop Carroll is without Ryan Daly (Delaware) and Josh Sharkey (Samford); Conwell-Egan, La Salle, St. Joe’s Prep and Archbishop Ryan all lost big senior classes as well, though they all will be dangerous foes yet again.

With six of their top seven scorers back and a few much-improved sophomores and juniors ready to slide into bigger roles, the pieces are in place for Wood to make a big leap up the standings.

“Right now everyone thinks we’re one of the better teams but we really haven’t done anything yet,” senior point guard Collin Gillespie said. “So we just have to play it one game at a time, focus on each team, and try to win every game.”

The Vikings do have one key piece to replace in point guard Tommy Funk, who’s currently starting in that capacity as a freshman at Army. As a senior, the 5-11 guard averaged 14.5 ppg, second on the team, while serving as its primary ball-handler and offense-runner as well as its leader on and off the court.

Stepping up to replace him is Gillespie, a 6-1 guard who averaged 13.1 ppg a year ago. A terrific 3-point shooter, Gillespie has steadily increased his ability to play on the ball over the last two years, and showed this summer both with Wood and his Team Final Black travel team that he’s capable of being a vocal leader and running a team; he pulled in Division I offers this summer from Albany, Maine and Fairleigh Dickinson, and still has area D-IIs hard on his tail.

“I remember his first year as a freshman, he was a quiet kid, and now he’s talking more, leading more, leads a lot by example,” Mosco said. “But it’s just not him, Matt Cerruti and Keith Otto, the other seniors, have stepped up; they’ve realized it’s their last chance, they have 22 games and then they’re done.”

Cerruti, a 6-3 shooting guard, transferred in from Lower Moreland last year and averaged 9.6 ppg in his first year in the Catholic League; Otto, a 6-2 combo guard, averaged around four points per game as a key reserve last year, and will slide into the starting lineup this season.


Tyree Pickron (above) is a third-year starter for the Vikings, and was the team's leading scorer last year. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Joining those three will be two juniors and Division I prospects, 6-3 wing Tyree Pickron and 6-10 center Seth Pinkney. Pickron, who hit several clutch 3-pointers in that Roman win two years ago, was the team’s leading scorer a year ago (14.7 ppg), and picked up his first D-I offers this summer from Drexel and Stony Brook despite spending most of April/May and August/September in a boot with an ankle injury.

Pinkney had a strong summer as well, using his long, athletic frame to become one of the area’s best rim protectors, pulling in offers from Saint Joseph’s, UMass and several others as he starts to turn his potential into production.

“In the summertime I think he realized he could play with a lot of the big names and the big players, and he proved that he was able to compete and he’s starting to compete at a higher level,” Mosco said.

Also in Wood’s eight-man rotation are Karrington Wallace, a 6-6 junior wing who’s making the transition from a ‘5’ to combo forward; Andrew Funk, Tommy’s younger brother, a lengthy 6-3 combo guard with a smooth outside stroke; and Julius Phillips, a 6-4 attacking wing who does a good job of crashing the glass and playing tough on the defensive end. The Vikings staff is also high on the potential of freshman point guard Zahree Harrison, though he’s likely a year away from being a significant contributor on the varsity level due to the depth above him.

Wood will get tested right from the get-go, with the season opener at the D.C. Classic, taking on one of the powerhouse programs from the nation’s capital, Gonzaga College HS, on its home court. Led by senior guard Chris Lykes, a Miami (Fl.) commit, plus four-star 2018 guard Prentiss Hubb, the Eagles will be one of the favorites in the loaded WCAC.

In the second round of that event, Wood might have to face Archbishop Molloy (N.Y.); they’re also playing Temple commit Nate Pierre-Louis and Roselle Catholic (N.J.)

“I really challenged us this year by playing three, possibly four teams that are starting out in the (national prep) Top 25,” Mosco said. “If we’re going to get there, I think you have to have a good non-league schedule and it’s got to be challenging, it doesn’t matter if you go 9-0 or 5-4 as long as you’re getting something out of it, and the competition’s worth it.”

It’ll be worth it if they’re one of those last four teams remaining in the Catholic League, setting a new standard for a program that wants these sorts of accomplishments to be expected every single year.

“We’re just trying to get to the Palestra,” Gillespie said. “That’s our main goal.”


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