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Ryan's Christian Tomasco finds D-I spot before prep year

06/17/2021, 9:00am EDT
By Rich Flanagan

Rich Flanagan (@richflanagan33)

When Christian Tomasco initially made the decision to forgo college and do a post grad year at IMG Academy (Fla.), he had no idea it would actually improve his recruitment in the process.

On April 5, he announced on social media that he planned to play at one of the premier prep programs in the country and see where his recruitment would take him with one additional year to improve in the hope that would bring forth the opportunity he was looking for. Three weeks later, Rider offered him, then almost two weeks later Hofstra came calling.


Christian Tomasco (above) was planning on a post-grad year until two late Division I offers changed his mind. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Tomasco was astonished at how one decision drew so much attention to himself.

“[IMG] is a very renowned program and if the coach of their national team wants me to play for them, why wouldn’t a college program,” Tomasco said. “I think that definitely helped in some aspect, but it’s definitely not the full reason and I know that.”

This time, the Moorestown native made the decision to forgo his prep year and committed to new head coach Speedy Claxton and the Pride on June 2. The decision kept the Archbishop Ryan forward in the class of 2021 and allowed him to begin his collegiate career on schedule.

Feeling that college coaches were starting to take notice of his game, Tomasco made the decision with full confidence that it was the right one.

“The initial offer from Rider came in and it showed that colleges were starting to notice me later in the year,” Tomasco said. “Speedy Claxton called and, honestly, it was really all because of him and his staff. There’s no way I could pass up the opportunity to play for him.”

Claxton was hired on April 7 and he, along with assistant coach Colin Curtin, a St. Joe’s Prep grad, began inquiring with Raiders head coach Joe Zeglinski about Tomasco’s availability. First, Curtin reached out to Zeglinski then Claxton contacted Tomasco directly.

Even after seeing IMG in person, Tomasco was still on the fence about holding out for one more year. Zeglinski understood that and told Tomasco to keep an open mind.

“He visited IMG’s campus and was very excited about going there,” Zeglinski said. “Still, he wanted to keep his options open because this year was obviously different than any other with the recruiting process and the transfer portal opening up. I was preaching to him to be patient and that his time would come.”

The 6-foot-9, 200-pound forward began his career at St. Joe’s Prep under legendary coach William “Speedy” Morris but did not play as a freshman. With a roster that featured Ed Croswell (Providence), Darius Kinnel (Jefferson University), Kyle Thompson (La Salle), Trevor Wall (University of the Sciences) and Gabe Arizin (Richmond), playing time would have been hard to come by.

He transferred to Bishop Eustace (N.J.) and played two seasons there, averaging 10.2 points per game as a junior. Prior to his junior season, he played on Philly Pride’s 16U team that won the 2019 Under Armour Association National Championship. That team also featured Friends’ Central’s Ed Holland (Penn), Wilson’s Stevie Mitchell (Marquette), Malvern Prep’s Rahdir Hicks (Towson), Camden Catholic’s Zach Hicks (Temple) and Cheltenham’s Jaelen McGlone (Rider).

After the COVID-19 pandemic brought an end to postseason basketball and the AAU season across the country, he and his family made the decision to have him transfer once again, this time to Archbishop Ryan in Northeast Philadelphia.

It was there that Tomasco blossomed into a more assertive forward and dominant rim protector. Zeglinski could not have been happier with the chemistry he built with a returning group that was coming off a Philadelphia Catholic League and PIAA Class 5A quarterfinal appearance.

“Christian stepped in and may have been our best teammate because he was so unselfish and wasn’t worried about getting touches,” Zeglinski said. “As the year went on, just being able to step in and be on the same page as everyone else was really impressive.”

Tomasco avg. 12.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game in leading the Raiders (12-6) back to the PCL semifinals. His best performance of the season came in the PIAA 5A semifinals as he and fellow senior Aaron Lemon-Warren, headed to Mt. Zion Prep (Md.), combined for 62 points in a win over Chester at the Clip Joint. Tomasco posted 26 points on 12-for-13 shooting with six boards and six rejections. Even more impressive was that he put together that performance while playing with a shoulder injury. “I had a pinched nerve in my right shoulder and I had tape all over it. I was playing through that and the game before I didn’t play much because of that injury,” according to Tomasco.

The Raiders advanced to the first state title game in program history but their run ended in Hershey at the hands of Cathedral Prep. He had six points and six blocks in his final high school game.

Following his senior season, Tomasco finally had a feel for what areas of his game were strengths and where he still needed to improve.

“When I was younger, I needed a play or to be wide open to make the play to score,” Tomasco said. “Now, I can take the ball and score, especially inside. I became more dominant and aggressive, which were both things I needed to work on. I developed that mindset this year and it really helped us.”

Zeglinski has had some versatile big men in his time at Archbishop Ryan like Fred Taylor and Matiss Kulackovskis (Bowling Green). He feels Tomasco may be the most ready to play at the Division I level because of his ability to influence the game at both ends.

“When you have a 6-9 guy who can really run the floor, defend the rim and finish inside, the next thing you’re looking for is how coachable he is,” Zeglinski said. “He’s going to create driving lanes for guards just because he puts pressure on a defense with his speed and athleticism.”

Claxton takes over his alma mater where he put together a historic career. He scored 2,015 points at Hofstra and still holds the program records for assists (660) and steals (288). He was drafted No. 20 overall in the 2000 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and won an NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2003. He takes over a program that has not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2001, Jay Wright’s final season at the helm. Tomasco stressed that “as much as I would’ve loved to have gone down to IMG and played at a place like that, why do that when I have this amazing opportunity to play for an NBA champion?”

He is the third member of the Pride’s 2021 class, joining Jaquan Carlos from Thomas Jefferson (N.Y.) and Griffin Barrouk, a West Chester Rustin product who avg. 19.5 ppg this season and was named a 2020-21 Pa. All-State Class 5A Second Team selection.

This decision is final and Tomasco could not be happier with how things turned out. Claxton and Curtin wanted him in blue and gold and he is excited with where the program is headed.

“The story that they had told me was Speedy had already been watching my film and at the same time, Colin brought my name up in a meeting so they both liked me,” Tomasco said. “We got along and I really enjoyed what they were bringing to the table for me and the direction of the program in the next few years.”


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