City of Basketball Love

By Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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SPRING GARDEN — Khalif Meares grew up on the courts of Northeast Philly. The lithe, sharp-shooting 6-foot-3 guard out of Lincoln High School would watch the guys work on their moves and their shots, while he would devise ways to stop them.

It’s that defense-first mentality that helped him succeed in getting Lincoln to the PIAA Class 6A state finals in 2018, and furthering his basketball prowess at Harcum Junior College, where he is the No. 11 scorer in school history (817 points).

The last two years Meares has been weighing his options as he’s been playing a key role in getting 8Eye to the final four of the 18th Annual Danny Rumph Classic this weekend.

Meares dropped 11 points in 8Eye’s 70-60 victory over Rex6 on Saturday at Philadelphia Community College and the experience of playing in the Rumph is making him think of larger heights.

He has two years of college eligibility ahead.

“But I don’t if I’m going back to college, actually,” said Meares, 23. “I’m thinking about trying to go to pro. I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet, but it is something that I am thinking about it.”

Meares was a late-bloomer, not really emerging until his senior year at Lincoln. He had been playing basketball all his life. When he took Lincoln to the state finals in 2018, college interest began to percolate. His game really exploded at Harcum, where he averaged 11.4 points a game his freshman year, and finished averaging 15.1 as a sophomore for the nationally ranked Bears.

“I was talking to a few Division I schools like Temple and Rhode Island, and a lot of the coaches at Harcum were bringing them to our practices,” Meares recalled. “But I had to take a few years off and a lot of things were happening around me, so I took off school a little bit.”

Meares continued playing. It’s why he savors opportunities like playing in the Rumph. Meares said he has been talking to Rowan about the possibility of continuing his college basketball career, though he is weighing the chance of playing in Europe.

“The goal is to play professional basketball, that’s the ultimate goal and I think it’s only a matter of time before I get there,” Meares said. “I know a lot of people, but I’m in no rush. I still have a lot of time to decide what I want to do. I have options.

“The Rumph has been tremendous for me. Playing against NBA-level players and high-level guys shows me what I have to do, and I’m still young, so I get to know what I have to do to get there. My confidence level has always been high.

“I’ve always been a little cocky. I don’t care who is in front of me, who’s on the team and who this person is against me, and I don’t care about the names. I don’t like the fame, I’m just me. I stay humble, and it’s why I don’t like to talk on the court, I just play basketball.”  

He made his point Saturday against a Rex6 team that had former Neumann-Goretti and Shippensburg star Wali Hepburn, the 2021 Rumph Classic MVP.

Meares held his own against the gifted Hepburn, who finished with 14 points, though on 4-of-14 shooting. Meares, meanwhile, did a lot of the little things, finishing with 11 points in the Rumph quarterfinal game, with five rebounds, six assists and three steals.

“I always loved playing defense, it’s the way I’ve been, and I haven’t really changed that mentality,” Meares said. “This is my third year in the Rumph and I’m not sure if I’ve reached the final four before. I always like looking in the present. I know I’m in the final four this year.

“I really didn’t start scoring until my senior year in high school. I always liked playing defense and passing before I thought about shooting. It’s the way I always played the game. It’s me. I’m a different type of person. The goal now is to win the Rumph championship. My biggest priority is to win, give the fans a show and really show what I can do. I know there are NBA-level guys out there, but once they get on the court, they’re all the same to me.

“I want to come out and have fun and bring the city up.”

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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.