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Malvern Prep's Deuce Turner stands alone atop Inter-Ac scorers

01/15/2020, 3:00pm EST
By Matt Chandik


Kieves "Deuce" Turner (above, during a 48-point game in 2018) became the Inter-Ac's all-time leading scorer on Monday evening. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Matt Chandik (@MChandik26)
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This wasn’t a surprise to Deuce Turner, Jhamir Brickus, John Harmatuk or really, anyone who knew anything about Turner in middle school. 

Some players come into high school optimistic about their chances of eventually being mentioned among the best players in school, league and state history, but the amount of players who can transcend everything are few and far between. 

Turner, though, never had a doubt in his mind, even back when he was deciding whether to stay home at Coatesville or make the jump to Malvern Prep. 

“I kind of expected to produce like this,” Turner said. “When I was in middle school, I was a top player in my class, and seeing the talented players that came from my city helped push me. [Coatesville ‘05 grad and Seton Hall alum] John Allen had over 2,300 points, and I saw that and thought, ‘I’m going to beat that some day.’ Jhamir Brickus is one of my best friends and he’s a great talent, and we both knew that we would lead whatever program we went to, scoring-wise. Going over 2,000 points was what I expected, but I didn’t know how soon or whenever I’d end up with it.” 

He’s tortured defenses for the past three-and-a-half years, and Monday, Turner broke his biggest record to date. Like any good performer does at his best, he went off-script on a play designed to free him up for a 3-pointer. Instead, he split a double team off the wing, hit another defender with a smooth spin move and laid the ball off the glass and into the hoop to break the all-time Inter-Ac League scoring record with 2,070 points. 

It was his first basket of the game, so he knew that he had to focus on helping the Friars secure an 85-79 win over Cheltenham, but afterwards, he started to appreciate his standing in the Inter-Ac’s storied history. 

“There have been a lot of great, talented players, including some NBA players like (Episcopal Academy duo) Gerald Henderson and Wayne Ellington, so to be No. 1 is a great feeling,” said Turner, who broke a record previously held by EA ‘98 grad John Phillips. “When I went home at night, I just thought, ‘wow, I’m No. 1,’ and now, I’ve got to set it up for somebody else to break. I’m just trying to push it way out at this point.” 

Turner’s maturation as a player over the course of his career has played a significant role in getting him to the top spot of the record books. He labeled his freshman year, “tough,” despite the fact that he averaged north of 19 points per game. Understanding everything that Harmatuk’s offense involved, in addition to fitting in the flow of the team, took some time. 

“It was kind of special what I was able to do my freshman year in terms of asserting my dominance right away. I wasn’t as guard as much as I was just, ‘get the ball and iso,’” Turner said. “As I got older, I transformed more into a point guard and a team leader. As you grow up, that’s what you have to do as the best player on the team, in terms of asserting that leadership role and becoming a great playmaker.” 

It didn’t take long for Harmatuk to make Turner a recruiting priority when he got the Friars’ gig. He paid a ton of attention to a stacked Rip City team that included the likes of Turner, Brickus, Downingtown East standout Andrew King and former Archbishop Carroll and current Huntington Prep (W.V.) star AJ Hoggard, and it was no surprise to him to see things play out the way they have. 

“You could just tell right away. That Rip City team is pretty special, it’s got two 2000-[point] career scorers and three more 1000-[point] career scorers on it, so you could tell how good that team was,” Harmatuk said. “I knew that if Deuce came to Malvern, bought into the culture and bought into what we were doing, I knew he could do it, especially how we like to play basketball.”

“The impact he’s had on our basketball program is great, but I think the bigger impact he’s had is how much he’s embraced Malvern Prep’s culture and how he’s added a level of diversity that you don’t see very much there, and how kids if they get a chance can be successful, and I think that’s probably his biggest legacy,” the seventh-year head coach continued. “I see kids come to our games that want to take pictures with him before the games and his accomplishments are a big deal, and I think he’s telling them ‘hey, you put the work in and do what’s necessary to have your mark in the world, then you can do whatever you want.’”

With the individual scoring records out of the way, Turner has his sights set on closing out his career with championships - plural - and he knows that it’s the only way to truly cement his legacy at Malvern. The Friars are now 14-4 (3-0), the only unbeaten team left in the Inter-Ac and the favorites to capture the six-team league’s round-robin title.

“I don’t expect us to lose another game, especially in the Inter-Ac, and that’s how much faith I have in my guys,” Turner said. “It would bring full closure to be able to win a title. I want to be able to have full closure for all of the seniors, and I couldn’t be happier if we’re able to win some titles.”


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