City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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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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It was in middle school that Jackson Hicke, Cooper Mueller, Danny Rosenblum and Charlie Thornton created a group chat, just the four of them. It’s one they used frequently as 7th graders, the first time the four teamed up on the hardwood, and in all the years since.

Its title was simple, and hasn’t changed: “State Champs.” 

At the time, aiming for a PIAA championship was a bold declaration for the group of adolescents, still two years away from attending a high school not quite known for its hardwood success, at least not to that level. But it was no joke.

“We were pretty serious,” Rosenblum said. “We’ve always known that’s been our goal for at some point in high school, that’s basically what we’ve been working towards together since middle school.”

Had they mentioned it to folks a little older and wiser at the time, they might have been reminded of the sheer improbability of the goal, that they’d have to compete with Catholic League powerhouses, not to mention the rest of District 1, and the rest of the state. 

It was when they got to high school, Hicke admitted, that they realized that a run to a state championship maybe wasn’t quite as easy as they thought, realized that it would take all the pieces to fall into place, realized that the cards might be stacked against them — and realized they didn’t care.

Six years after the group chat was born, “State Champs” is no longer a pipe dream. Coming off the best season the program’s seen since the 1960s, finishing 23-5 and in the second round of the state playoffs, Radnor has what should be its most impressive team ever, the goal of winning it all far from an outrageous suggestion.

“We named (the group chat) like that with the idea that we would [win a state title], but we didn’t take it really seriously,” Hicke said. “But now we definitely can win it. It’s funny (the chat) was named that however long ago…it’s not ironic, but we think we could kind of speak it into existence.”

The fortunes of Radnor basketball’s 2022-23 season changed drastically 10 years prior, in the summer of 2012. That’s when the Hicke family moved from London to the Main Line, right around the same time the Thorntons moved in from Cleveland. Jackson Hicke and Charlie Thornton both went to Radnor Elementary, not in the same class but on a couple youth sports teams together; Rosenblum and Mueller were at Ithan Elementary.

The four came together as classmates in sixth grade — the same year that Jamie Chadwin took over the Radnor program after four years at Springside-Chestnut Hill — and became teammates for Radnor Middle School the following year, gaining some confidence with a win over current Penn commit Sam Brown and Bala Cynwyd as seventh-graders.

Fast-forward a few years, and they’ve all come a long way.

Hicke, now a 6-foot-5 wing, committed to play hoops at Princeton after a junior year in which he averaged 17 points, 8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. A strong outside shooter, he’s now equally adept attacking the basket, where he can finish at or above the rim with either hand, and he’s a physical defender and rebounder as well.

Thornton, now 6-4, averaged 10 points and 6 rebounds, and now has a couple Division II offers under his belt. The athletic wing guard is also good from beyond the arc and while he doesn’t have as many tricks with the ball in his hands as Hicke, he’s also great off the rip when attacking the bucket.

Rosenblum, who committed to D-III Rochester (N.Y.) last month, averaged 7 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds per contest as a junior. The 5-11 point guard can be a one-man press break, get the Raptors into their offense and hit open shots when called upon; he also played for Team USA’s U18 squad in the Maccabi Games this summer.

While those three focused on basketball, Mueller became a lacrosse standout, also heading to Princeton next year; the 6-3 wing is still plenty good at his winter sport, averaging 9 ppg as the team’s third offensive option a year ago.

It became apparent to Chadwin during the COVID pandemic that his 2023 class had something interesting brewing, and apparent to just about everyone else over the last year. Radnor started to open some eyes during the 2021 summer and fall events, Hicke and Thornton seemingly getting better and better every time they took the court, Rosenblum steady as ever on the ball.

“Coming into the fall last year, once these guys [...] had hit that little bit of a growth spurt, transformed their bodies more and then physically matured, and we kind of saw that come together with the skill development that we know they had, we said ‘okay, this could now be the time,’” Chadwin said. “We said we could be here now; we didn’t know if we would be.”

The Raptors made it clear they weren’t messing around by winning the first 13 games of the 2021-22 season, finishing the regular season 20-2, tied with Lower Merion atop the Central League thanks to a 14-2 league record. They fell short in both the league and District 1 5A playoffs, however, losing to Lower Merion (59-49) in the league championship and to Chester by just a point in overtime in the district title game, a buzzer-beating Kyree Womack 3-pointer at the end of regulation still giving the Raptors nightmares.

“That game’s definitely still brought up a lot,” Thornton said. “Everything about that game, we want to go differently. It definitely still stings — it still hurts a lot.”

Radnor won’t run into Chester in the district championship this year, as the Clippers are now up in the 6A classification. It’s the same with Imhotep Charter, which won the 2022 PIAA 5A title a year after winning the 4A title, and will now compete for the state’s biggest crown. Lower Merion, led by Brown, will once again be a competitor in the Central League, as will Garnet Valley and several others.

“We would be kidding ourselves if we didn’t say that the goal would be to advance to a state championship game and have a chance at that title, that’s something that’s definitely on everyone’s mind,” Chadwin said. “There’s also certainly the district title game and championship as well, and the Central League one. 

”Those are the three goals that our guys left the 2022 season saying ‘these are the goals we wanted to achieve, and let’s go do it.’”

This year’s group might have a big boost joining them in 6-7 forward Jackson Gaffney, who previously played at St. Joe’s Prep and began his high school career at the Haverford School, but that’ll depend on whether or not he gets a waiver from the PIAA. 

No matter what, the Raptors will also utilize senior guards Michael Savadove (6-2), a Harvard lacrosse commit, and 6-1 junior Henry Pierce, a three-sport athlete whose brother Grant plays lacrosse at North Carolina. A few of the players also mentioned senior guard Matt Wolfington as another who could give them a boost.

There’s no doubt, though, that it’ll come down to the performance of Radnor’s top four, those who’ve been planning for this for years. Play up to potential, and the sky’s the limit.

“I feel like it’s awesome, but at the same time the pressure’s there,” Hicke said. “Last year people [...] knew we were going to be good, but people didn’t expect us to be that good. 

“This year we’re going to have a target on our back every game. [...] I know all of us are ready for the challenge.”

And that “State Champs” group chat? Doesn’t seem so crazy anymore.

“We’ve always had the belief in ourselves that we can do it,” Rosenblum. “And it’s definitely getting stronger.”