City of Basketball Love

Mitchell Gladstone (@mpgladstone13)
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BRYN MAWR — ­In early July 2019, Dom London made the trip to South Florida, knowing full well what was at stake.

London, a soon-to-be sophomore at Harcum College, had been invited to participate in the JA45 showcase, a multi-day event featuring 45 of the nation’s best junior college players.

Want a Division I opportunity? Go earn it on the hardwood.

“We knew that this was his shot,” said Gene Lambert, who coached London during his high school years at Octorara. “You get one chance to prove to people that you can play. If you don’t prove it now, you’re never going to fit.”

Within a few hours, London had at least 10 offers. By the end of the weekend, he’d doubled that number.

And in November, London inked his National Letter of Intent to join Florida Gulf Coast next fall, something that — despite all of the 6-foot, 170-pound guard’s basketball talent — neither he nor Lambert could’ve truly foreseen just a few years ago.

“I can’t wait for it,” London said. “Hopefully the world can know what I can do, and not just a little area.”

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Harcum coach Drew Kelly didn’t need to watch long to know what he was getting back when London was still a senior at Octorara.

Taking in one of the early games at the 2018 Donofrio Classic, the fearlessness that London still plays with to this very day caught Kelly’s eye.

“I just loved his demeanor and personality on the court,” Kelly said. “He’s going at 6-10 guys at the rim and he’s hitting threes. … He was one of those guys I watched him for two minutes and I was like, ‘I really like this guy.’”

If finding London was the easy part, getting him to come to Harcum was much harder.

Although London had the ability, his academics weren’t at the same level. If a Division I or II program had wanted London, he would’ve had to sit out his entire first season in order to be eligible.

Instead, it was Division III programs like Alvernia and Gwynedd Mercy that were interested, but those schools weren’t going to be able to offer full scholarships.

That’s when Harcum came along. As a Division I junior college, Kelly could give London the opportunity to go to school for free for two years and play basketball for a program that made the NJCAA Final Four earlier this decade.

But even though Lambert knew right away it was the best spot, Kelly still had some work to do.

“A lot of people aren’t really sure what we’re all about,” Kelly said. “We’re a little bit of a hidden gem. But once you get them on campus, get the letter of intent, see how much money we can offer, then it starts to make a lot more sense.”

From Day 1, though, Harcum got all that London was about.

In his first regular-season game, the then-freshman dropped 17 points in 18 minutes against Manor. Five days later, he shot 6-of-12 and scored 18 points in 19 minutes against CCBC Catonsville.

London failed to reach double-figure points in just four of Harcum’s 30 games last season, and he comfortably led the team with 14.8 points per game while shooting a team-best 41.6 percent from the field.

It’s a credit to London’s work that he’s here.

“My first day here I was the underdog,” London said. “I was the smallest one. Everyone was athletic and strong. … So I knew then I just had to go get in the gym and just figure out something I could do very well.

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Against Monroe last Thursday, London played perhaps his worst offensive game in a month. He shot 4-of-15 from the field and scored only 15 points — below his season average of 19.3 per game.

But the same attitude that London brings to the floor each night was still there. Being one of the smallest guys on the floor, London often chirps with his opponents and each time he knocked down a 3-pointer, he glared right at his defender.

London admits he loves to get under people’s skin and says that intensity comes from his parents.

“They had that edge to them,” London said. “They don’t want to lose, and they want to get in people’s heads.”

It’s also that mindset that allows London to put a poor performance behind him.

When London returned to the court two days later for a game against Essex County, the sophomore scored a school-record 41 points, knocking down 10 3-pointers — the most in Harcum history.

Just Monday, the Bears hopped into the NJCAA rankings for the first time this season. And at 20-2, they are tied for No. 24 in Division I and the only ranked junior college team in Pennsylvania.

Kelly would comfortably tell you that Harcum wouldn’t be in this spot without London.

“Dom is a skilled player, and that’s where basketball has gone,” Kelly said. “He’s not a freak leaping athlete who is going to go down and dunk on you. But the dude makes shots.

“When you play Division I basketball, you don’t get to dunk all the time. People are playing defense. You need a guy that can make that shot, you need a guy that can make free throws, and that’s what he does.”

There are still areas in which London knows he can still grow.

At Harcum, he’s played primarily as an off-ball shooter, especially with Lincoln alum Khalif Meares running point for the Bears.

London wants to eventually transition back into more of a lead guard role, but acknowledges that it would take some work to improve there.

Regardless, it’s all special for London. And even more so for Lambert, who’s watched London play since fifth grade.

“I was so proud of him and so happy for him,” Lambert said of the moment when London called him from Florida to tell him about the Division I offers. “When dreams come true for people, that’s what it’s all about when you work it. And I know he worked for it.”