City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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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 2017-18 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed so far can be found here.)
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Keenan Rand wanted to bring back a tradition when he took over the Overbrook basketball program last season.

Rand didn't go to Overbrook. He played at City Center Academy before a college career at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Penn State-Abington

Still, as a West Philly native, Rand saw some great teams and players, like two-time Public League scoring champ Nurideen Lindsey, come through the program when he was growing up in the area.

“I’m from the area, I grew up playing basketball, so I know some of the greats that played here,” Rand said.

Rand started his tenure well at Overbrook last season. The Panthers finished 11-12 in 2016-17, including an 8-5 mark in the Public League ‘C’ Division.

In his first season as head coach, Rand led Overbrook to the Public League playoffs for the first time in more than a decade. The team’s season ended in the first round, losing to Simon Gratz, 56-40.

“Making it to the playoffs, knowing this school hasn’t been to the playoffs in a long time, it was a great feeling,” junior guard Khalif Washington said. “A great feeling to lead the team in the playoffs, all of us came together. I feel like we’re going to be able to make a big run this year.”

“The loss fueled us to go get everything this year,” he added.

Washington and junior guard Zyeef Cannon return as probable starters for this year’s squad. Both were playing varsity for the first time last season.

Cannon is a scrappy defender who moves well off the ball. Washington, the team’s point guard, led Overbrook and the Public League in scoring last season. He was also named the ‘C’ Division MVP.

“He’s a shooter, cash,” Cannon said. “He's the leader of this team. He’s the point guard of this team, we’ve got to follow his structure and rules.”

Also returning from last year’s team are juniors Khyleem Cornitcher and Joe Carroll and sophomores Nasir Burch-Gaffney and James Cook.

However, several newcomers are likely to join Washington and Cannon in the Panthers’ starting lineup.

Transferring from Boys' Latin is senior guard Tyhee Taylor. Coming from West Philadelphia is senior Cyrie Coates, a 6-foot-6 wing who can shoot from outside. Senior guard Raquon West transferred in from Constitution and Rashea Daniel is another newcomer to watch.

Taylor said he could see from afar last year that things were different at Overbrook.

“I could tell the environment at Overbrook had changed,” he said. “Everybody had a positive attitude, everybody was on a focused route.”

For a team full of transfers, there is a lot of familiarity on the Overbrook roster.

Taylor and Washington have known each other since they were 12 years old. They both played AAU together with Coates on the Philly Hurricanes.  Another AAU teammate, Yazid Powell, was set to play with the team, but the 6-4 guard was ruled ineligible after transferring from Boys' Latin and West Philadelphia.

West played with Washington and Coates for the Hunting Park II team in the Donofrio Hoops Classic last spring.

Building chemistry with the rest of the team will be one of the keys for Overbrook if it wants to make a deeper run in the postseason.

“Some of the players, we already have that,” Coates said. “But now we have to get the whole team. Everybody’s gotta have the same mentality.”

There is one thing in particular the team can bond over.

The Panthers plan on playing with a fast tempo this season. To prepare, they do conditioning workouts with the track team.

“Those workouts make you not want to get up, they make you want to go to sleep,” Washington said.

After being the team’s primary scorer last season, Washington would like to develop his other skills as a point guard. That includes making sure teammates are in the right position on both sides of the floor and taking time to run sets on offense.

With a few more talented pieces around him who he is already familiar with, Washington is ready to spread the ball around as the Panthers' lead guard.

“More assists, getting my teammates more involved,” he said of his objectives for this season. “The points are going to come. “I know I got a lot of talent around me, make them look better, get my seniors to college.”

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