City of Basketball Love

By Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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Ahmad Nowell weighed everything. The singular 6-foot-1, 190-pound rising Imhotep Charter senior guard is calculating like that. When he stepped out from his recruiting picture, he liked the reflection he saw —placing himself square in the middle of it.

It’s why on Friday night in a conference Zoom meeting, Nowell told defending national champion UConn coach Dan Hurley that he will be going to Storrs, Conn., to continue his basketball career next year.

On Sunday at 2 p.m., Nowell made it public.

Nowell chose the defending NCAA national champions over Tennessee, Kentucky, St. John’s, Georgia Tech and Miami.

“Everything impressed me about UConn, and specifically, their development with their guards,” Nowell said. “Coach Dan Hurley has a winning mentality like I do. We are on the same page. I was open to all the schools that were interested in me, but two weeks after I visited UConn in May, that convinced me. Winning the national championship played a big part.

“The program is about winning, and I love to win. This is a big load off my shoulders where I can focus on the senior season and one step at a time ahead. I won a state championship every year I was in high school. I won a state championship my freshman year when I was going to high school in Tennessee.   

“My senior year is going to be really enjoyable. I’m up for it, going out every game knowing it’s going to be win or lose on me leading my team.”

Nowell stressed he likes Hurley’s system. The Huskies run a lot of free play and motion, he said, and the added bonus is Hurley’s emphasis on defense.

“That’s what I’m used to,” said Nowell, who plans on majoring in business. “Coach Hurley stresses defense, and puts a reward on defense, and that’s what I like to do. Coach Hurley lets his guards play. He stresses defense first. Everyone around me is happy with this decision.”

Playing an instrumental part not only in Nowell’s recruitment but in his development on and off the court is former Saint Joseph’s Hawk Tasheed Carr, a 2009 graduate who scored 1,056 points in a combination of two years with the Hawks and two at Iowa State. Carr owns the fourth best single-season mark in St. Joe’s history with 176 assists set in 2006-07.

“I saw a lot in Ahmad at a young age, and our relationship occurred by happenstance, and I would say our relationship is more a father-son type of thing, being involved with him for the last six years,” Carr said. “This is a great fit for Ahmad going to UConn. It’s the perfect fit. I believe that coach Hurley and Ahmad is the perfect marriage. Coach Hurley has his point guard. I have all trust that Danny will get Ahmad to the next level and bring out his potential.

“I believe Ahmad will be the face of UConn basketball. We have nothing but love for everyone who was involved in this process and Tennessee was right there, but coach Hurley was the right coach and this is the right program for him. This is a great relief for Ahmad. We had a plan in place, and what I was teaching him is when you see something right for you, check all the boxes, and go for it. I know Ahmad was Danny Hurley’s top priority.”

Nowell returns his senior year as arguably the best high school player in Philadelphia, with Archbishop Wood’s talented Jalil Bethea and Archbishop Ryan’s Thomas Sorber (Georgetown).

The 2023-24 Imhotep Panthers will be Nowell’s team. He played in the considerable shadow of the nation’s No. 1 player, Kentucky-bound Justin Edwards, last season and had other stars around him like Rahmir Barno (FGCU). It didn’t stop Nowell from speaking up, and considering he’s going to be the face of the program in 2023-24, he vows to be even more vocal. The Panthers (30-3 last season) enter this season as 11-time Philadelphia Public League champions, six-time District 12 champions and nine-time state champions, looking to threepeat after Imhotep’s 78-40 route over Exeter in the Class 5A state title game last season.

“I’m ready for this,” Nowell said. “I can’t wait.”

Imhotep legendary coach Andre Noble is pleased with the decision. He stressed to Nowell to enjoy the moment.

“Ahmad is one of the hardest working kids that I’ve ever coached, he deserves this moment,” Noble said. “He’s a committed kid and Hurley likes big, physical guards who defend, and Ahmad brings a lot of that to the table. He can enjoy his senior year, and I know he will have high expectations for himself and everyone around him. It’s why Ahmad is a special player, because of his leadership.

“I’m happy for Ahmad and Tasheed, because he’s worked with Ahmad’s development for a long, long time. He’s helped Ahmad so much. This is really a good situation that Ahmad is going into. Ahmad is happy, and that makes us all happy with his choice.”

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Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter here.