City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The third month of the 2021-22 Division I basketball season is in the books. It was a crucial month of January for all 12 of the City 6 programs, with a number of teams rising to the top of their leagues while others struggled to generate momentum. And as always, there were quite a few impressive individual efforts over the course of the month, some of the city’s stars playing their best ball of the season at the most important time yet.

Here’s our picks for the City 6 Players and Rookies of the Month for January 2022:

Men’s Co-Players of the Month
Damian Dunn (R-Fr./Temple)
Collin Gillespie (Sr./Villanova)

Dunn and Gillespie both put up strong numbers this month, and as they were both integrally important to their team’s successful stretches, they share the award this month. Their numbers were awfully similar: Dunn averaged 19.0 ppg and 3.7 rpg, Gillespie 18.6 ppg and 3.7 rpg. Gillespie shot better both overall (49.5% to 41.5%) and from 3-point range (48.4% to 34.5%), but Dunn is the one with a game-winner, in a 78-75 win over East Carolina on Jan. 8. 

Gillespie also has a more experienced veteran group around him; it’s not as though Dunn was singularly responsible for Temple’s 4-2 January, but there’s no way they’d be over .500 in league play without him. With multiple big game-winning or game-tying shots this year already, it seems the Owls have found another clutch scorer with Khalif Battle out for the year. Gillespie, meanwhile, is putting up career-best scoring (17.1 ppg) numbers, making more than half of his 2-pointers (52.2%) and more than 43% of his 3-pointers (69-of-160), also the best mark of his career.

Honorable Mention
Jack Clark (R-Jr./La Salle)
Jordan Dingle (Soph./Penn)
Nick Jourdain (Fr./Temple)
Clifton Moore (R-Sr./La Salle)
Justin Moore (Jr./Villanova)
Camren Wynter (Sr./Drexel)

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Women’s Player of the Month
Maddy Siegrist (Jr./Villanova)

This was a month of some truly impressive performances. Temple’s Mia Davis, now just six points from the program’s all-time scoring record, averaged 21.7 ppg and 7.1 rpg, while Drexel’s Keishana Washington averaged 22.1 ppg as her team went a perfect 8-0 for January. Amongst a strong field of standouts, those two and Siegrist were head and shoulders above the pack. But as good as Davis and Washington’s months were, Siegrist earned the right to have this honor to herself for the second month in a row
Villanova’s star junior from Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) has been on an absolute tear since her December return from a wrist injury, doing everything she can to pull the Wildcats (13-6, 7-3) up the Big East standings after an 0-2 start in league play while she was sidelined. Her January numbers were once again outstanding: 26.7 ppg and 9.6 rpg, shooting 51.9% from the floor and 41.9% (18-of-43) from 3-point range as the Wildcats went 6-1 last month. There were a trio of outings with 30+ points, three double-doubles, and just eight turnovers in 247 total minutes on the court. There’s no doubt that without her, Villanova wouldn’t be anywhere in contention for a postseason berth instead of in the top five of the conference.   

Honorable Mention
Talya Brugler (Fr./St. Joe’s)
Tessa Brugler (Gr./Drexel)
Gabby Crawford (Jr./La Salle)
Mia Davis (Sr./Temple)
Lior Garzon (Soph./Villanova)
Hannah Nihill (Sr./Drexel)
Jordan Obi (Soph./Penn)
Kayla Padilla (Jr./Penn)
Kayla Spruill (Jr./La Salle)
Keishana Washington (Sr./Drexel)

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Men’s Rookie of the Month
Jahlil White (Temple)

White’s career held a lot of promise when he arrived at Temple from Wildwood Catholic (N.J.), but an offseason injury cost him the 2020-21 season, making this his collegiate debut. It took White a little bit to get going: in his first nine games of action, he averaged 3.4 ppg and 3.7 rpg, playing a complementary and defensive role. But injuries meant his role needed to expand, and White’s stepped up to the challenge.

In January, White started all six games for Temple, which went 4-2 in the month, all in American Athletic Conference play. The 6-7 wing averaged 9.3 ppg and a team-high 7.2 rpg while shooting 44% from the floor, playing more than 32 minutes per contest. He also hit his first four 3-pointers of the season (on 14 attempts), and picked up his first collegiate double-double, an 11-point, 10-rebound effort against Tulsa. It wouldn’t be crazy to see him flirt with a triple-double eventually in his college career.

Honorable Mention
Khalil Brantley (La Salle)
Zach Hicks (Temple)
Clark Slajchert (Penn)
George Smith (Penn)

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