City of Basketball Love

By Justin Procope (@hooplove215)
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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 2022-23 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed thus far can be found here.)

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The Saint Joseph’s Prep Hawks may be young, but they are hungry.

“We’re gunning for championships. We want to win everything,” junior forward Tristen Guillouette said.

The 2021-22 season was a building one for coach Jason Harrigan and the Hawks, with only two wins inside the PCL and no playoffs to show for their efforts. 

Coming off the heels of a COVID-shortened season that produced an equally disappointing record, the young Prep team finished the regular season with a 2-11 record in league play and an 8-13 record overall. 

“We understood that there were going to be some bumps in the road when you got a bunch of young guys out there playing,” Harrigan said. “For me it was just a constant learning process. Understanding where we’re trying to get and making sure they understand as well.”

Last season certainly offered plenty of learning moments, but it’s evident the team’s performance last season was not due to a lack of talent but a lack of experience with a pair of then-freshman guards — Olin Chamberlain and Jaron McKie — leading the backcourt and then-sophomore Guillouette making up the bulk of their top five.

Chamberlain said it felt like the young Hawks were “thrown into the fire” of the PCL and with it came a lot of hard lessons. 

Those lessons often came in the form of close games that did not go the Hawks’' way, including a pair of one-point defeats to Bonner and Class 3A state champion Devon Prep, an overtime loss to Father Judge, and a nine-point loss to Neumann-Goretti. 

“We had those losses, we had those one-point heartbreaks … crying on the car ride home stuff like that,” Chamberlain said. 

Those losses will undoubtedly be on the minds of this still young Hawks team as they look to take a step forward as a group in the tough PCL. 

Armed with a bevy of talented guards, one of the best centers in the league and a great team spirit, this group is confident they know what they have to do in order to turn those narrow defeats into crucial victories this season. 

St. Joe’s will be defined by its guard play, with a deep rotation of young and talented guards starting with the 6-2 sophomore McKie, the son of Temple men’s basketball head coach and former Philadelphia 76er Aaron McKie. 

An efficient scorer from everywhere on the court, McKie (11.3ppg) was the team’s second-leading scorer last season and established himself as one of the best freshman guards in the city. Most recently, McKie was ranked third in the state for the class of 2025 and 58th overall in the country by 247Sports.

Also in the backcourt rotation are 6-3 junior Jalen Harper (6.5 ppg, 2.4 apg) and 6-1 sophomore Jordan Ellerbee, two athletic guards who will both look to capitalize on bigger roles and add some scoring punch in transition. Both players were featured heavily at the West Chester Big 64 in late September and seemed to relish the opportunity, producing several impressive plays. 

Leading the charge alongside them will be the aforementioned Chamberlain (5.2 ppg, 2.5 apg), a pure point guard and the team’s leading assist man last season. He keeps the Prep offense running smoothly with great poise and control — rare for an underclassman. 

“It starts at practice for me,” Chamberlain said. “I just try to set the tone at practice whether it's talking trash, talking on defense, just always motivating my guys.”

“They’re all really good guards, so they make my job really easy. I just have to get in the paint and they knock down the jumpers.”

While much will be made about the guard play from the Hawks, and rightfully so, the team will continue to lean heavily on Guillouette, a 6-9 junior center who Harrigan believes is one of the best big men in the area. He received his third Division I offer from St. Joe’s in June.

“With Tristan being a big staple of our team, there’s an interesting dynamic there and we want to play off of him,” Harrigan said. “He does a lot of things well as far as facilitating, scoring the ball in the post. … He’s a big asset for us” 

Guillouette was a force on the interior for Prep, leading the team in scoring (11.7), rebounding (8.8) and blocks (3.2) per game. Now as the oldest on the team, Guillouette knows he has to help the Hawks mature and come together if they are going to reach their potential on the court. 

“We’ve got to unify, all-around on and off the court we’ve got to unify,” Guillouette said. “Come together as one and all buy into the team goal. One person can’t be focused on their own stats or what happened in the classroom the day before, we’ve got to come together and play as one and stay together throughout the whole season.”

Self-awareness is a necessary component of success. Perhaps humbled by the season they endured last year, St. Joe’s Prep knows nothing will be handed to them this year simply because of their talent. 

With four starters back another year wiser and ready to take their next step, the Hawks will be serious threats to reach the postseason for the first time since 2019-20. 

“We really just want to win,” Chamberlain said. “We all want to see each other succeed. I think that’s what makes our team special.” 

Harrigan loves the hunger he has seen from his team as he encourages the young group not to be afraid to aim higher. 

“I'm not going to step away from our goals of trying to be the best team we can be and win a championship,” Harrigan said. “That’s ultimately our goal, and I don't want them to be scared of that moment.”