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Gorman playing a big role in Prep's resurgence; Hawks beat La Salle

01/29/2023, 6:00pm EST
By Josh Verlin

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)

WYNDMOOR — Matt Gorman knows he isn’t the main attraction for the St. Joseph’s Prep squad. Not on the same team with multiple players with Division I offers, with multiple teammates coming from some of the most famous hoops families in the city, with all this talent around him. 

Talk to anybody about the main reasons why the Hawks are right in line for a top-four seed in the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs despite not having a senior in the rotation, and the same names pop up: Tristen Guillouette, the burly 6-foot-9 center enjoying a strong junior year. Jaron McKie, the sophomore son of Temple coach Aaron McKie, the team’s leading scorer and an emerging high-level talent. Jalen Harper, the baby-faced junior guard, who picked up his first two D-I offers last week.


Matt Gorman (above) has played a key role for a resurgent St. Joe's Prep squad. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Gorman knows, and he doesn’t care. 

“I don’t mind it at all,” he said. “To be honest, I just want to win. It’s great to have those big names on our team, but I’m really just focused on our growth and winning a championship.”

Watch Prep play though, and it’s clear that Gorman’s every bit as responsible to the team’s turnaround after finishing down near the bottom of the PCL the first two years of Jason Harrigan’s tenure. The young Hawks, without a senior in the starting lineup, are perhaps a year ahead of schedule, now 13-4 (7-2 PCL) after a 62-48 road win over rival La Salle College HS on Sunday afternoon.

A 6-foot-1, 170-pound junior, Gorman fits right in with his heralded teammates, a poised and confident shooter who can finish at the rim, defends at a high level, makes the extra pass and limits his mistakes while playing as hard as he can for the big minutes he plays.

“We just need him to play with confidence and play smart,” Hawks coach Jason Harrigan said. “He knows what’s going on, he’s been here three years, since we’ve been here. So he understands expectations, how we do things.

“He can play, he can do a lot,” Harrigan added. “He can pass, dribble, shoot. He understands the offense, he’s a good athlete; we knew he’d be a big part of (the team).”

A starter for the first time after playing JV ball each of the last two years, Gorman is one of four guards in the Prep starting lineup along with McKie, Harper and sophomore Olin Chamberlain Jr., whose great-uncle Wilt is one of the most famous ballplayers in the city’s history.

Gorman’s family does have its own history, even if it’s not as well-known. His great-grandfather John Delaney started the path that he’s now treading down, graduating from St. Joe’s Prep in 1925. Skipping a generation, Matt’s father Mike Gorman and his two brothers both went to the Prep, Mike voted the best athlete in his class as a senior (1992-93), though track and soccer were his sports.

Matt Gorman got into basketball in elementary school but didn’t see his first Prep basketball games until middle school, his family friendly with others who had connections to the program. When it came time to pick a high school, Gorman — who lives in Media — had one obvious choice to make.


Gorman (above, in December) is a third-generation Prep student, though it stretches over four generations. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Now he’s not only in his third year at the Prep, he’s putting on a Hawks uniform and playing a major role for a team that’s very much expecting to play in the Palestra and the PIAA Class 6A state tournament come February and March.

“It’s surreal. Going back to the legacy thing, a lot of people have worn — not necessarily a basketball jersey, but a Prep jersey,” he said. “Representing them is important to me, so I just try to give my hardest every game.”

Gorman saw some spot varsity minutes a year ago, though his sophomore year was shut down midway through with back problems, which were brought upon by “too much time on crutches” after ankle injuries as a freshman and earlier his sophomore year. 

He finally got healthy over the summer, playing his grassroots ball with GBA Elite on the Zero Gravity circuit, then rolled into fall workouts his junior year ready to take a big step forward, from deep on the bench to right into the starting lineup.

“I knew I could compete from the start,” he said. “Coach (Harrigan) instilled more confidence in me, started getting reps with the starters, and then from there I was just like, well, I can hang, so that’s when I started really just trying to take it to the next level.”

Gorman’s contributions in the Prep’s win over the Explorers were a typical effort: seven points, three rebounds, four assists and a steal, making three of the four shots he took, including one of his two 3-pointers. 


Jaron McKie (above) was 9-of-12 from the floor for a game-high 22 points. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

McKie, as he’s done much of the season, led the way with 22 points, adding six rebounds and three assists; Harper (10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists), Guillouette (8 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks), Jordan Ellerbee (9 points) and Chamberlain (4 points, 3 assists) all chipped in in significant ways. 

That group of six, three sophomores and three juniors, will form the core of the Hawks again next year, along with 6-4 junior Jackson Maguire, who sees solid reserve minutes. It’s not a group one that has a true leader, the sophomores every bit as experienced as the juniors and even more talented, all of them playing like upperclassmen.

“It goes both ways,” Gorman said. “Mostly I think we’re a really good group together, we kinda instill confidence in each other, we don’t really rely on one to be the alpha, you could say. But when kids are goofing off and stuff, we all have our moments where we’ll check each other to make sure everyone gets on the same page.”

La Salle (9-8, 2-7) got 15 points, seven rebounds and two assists from senior Horace Simmons, while sophomore Kasey Fleming added 14 and six boards.

The win over La Salle was a bounce-back one for the Prep, which got smacked 69-54 by Neumann-Goretti on Friday, which had snapped a six-game win streak in the league. Their closing stretch is not easy: home games against Judge (4-4) on Feb. 3, Wood (5-3) on Feb. 6 and Roman (8-0) on Feb. 10, with a trip to O’Hara (4-4) on Feb. 12 to close out the regular season. The games against Wood and Roman, the only other two 6A teams in the PCL, are of extra importance towards making the state tournament.

They’ll need to win at least three to be in good shape for a top-four bid, which guarantees that first-round bye and a home game in the quarterfinals; any less and it depends how the rest of the league shakes out.

“They’re gaining more confidence, they believe they should win every game,” Harrigan said. “We’ve got four games [left], we’re going to make sure we prepare, stay locked in and hopefully we can finish off the right way.”

By Quarter
St. Joe’s: 17  |  19  |  13  |  13  ||  62
La Salle:  13  |   6   |  10  |  19  ||  48

Shooting
St. Joe’s: 24-45 FG (6-16 3PT), 8-8 FT
La Salle: 18-45 FG (6-18 3PT), 6-8 FT

Scoring
St. Joe’s: Jaron McKie 22, Jalen Harper 10, Jordan Ellerbee 9, Tristen Guillouette 8, Matt Gorman 7, Olin Chamberlain 4, JP Hayden 2

La Salle: Horace Simmons 15, Kasey Fleming 14, Nick Parisi 6, James Bartchak 3, Ryan Sorge 3, Hayes Altomare 3, Tim Jennings 2, Luke Hudock 2


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