City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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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 2023-24 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed thus far can be found here.)

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Roman Catholic has another tough act to follow this season.

A Philadelphia Catholic League championship and a run to the PIAA title game in 2022-23 added onto the program’s storied history.

Point guard Xzayvier Brown (17.0 ppg, 4.6 apg) is at St. Joe’s along with forward Anthony Finkley (8.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg). Jermai Stewart-Herring (13.2 ppg) and Erik Oliver-Bush (8.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg) are gone as well, both going the prep school route.

That leaves junior forward Shareef Jackson to lead the charge as a mostly new-look Cahillites squad attempts to repeat last year’s feats and add its own story to the Roman tradition.

“First of all, Xzayvier Brown made it look pretty easy. I’m not gonna lie, it’s pretty tough,” Jackson said of taking over a leadership role. “But I feel like with new and younger guys coming onto the team, it’s a complete wipe so we can start to build our own team a little bit.”

Jackson, a 6-foot-8 forward, is readying for his third year at the varsity level. He averaged 10.9 ppg, 8.8 rpg and 1.8 bpg in 2022-23 to earn second team All-Philadelphia Catholic League honors as Roman went 27-4 overall and 11-2 in the PCL.

The team will run through him both on and off the court.

“He’s excited for it,” said head coach Chris McNesby, who is in his third season back in charge after a previous eight-year stint. “He’s improved and he’s gotten a lot better. He’s put a lot of time working on his game, and he played a really good role for us the last two years, and now, even though he’s a junior, this kind of becomes his team a little bit. He’s still learning how to be a leader, but he’s got leadership qualities. It’s just now how to do it around other guys.”

Senior guard Robert Cottrell (6.2 ppg, 25 threes) was the team’s top option off the bench before stepping into the starting lineup during last season’s postseason run. 

Junior 6-1 guard Will Felder, a standout corner on the football team, played in 24 games, including six starts late in the year. Junior 6-3 wing Sebastian Edwards played in 19 games. Shareef’s younger brother Sammy Jackson, a 6-5 guard/wing, looks poised to take a leap after being a swing player on last year’s team.

That group got some extra run during the team’s state playoff run as Stewart-Herring and Oliver-Bush weren’t eligible due to PIAA rules. However, other than that there is not a lot of returning experience or production.

As a senior point guard, Cottrell will be looked upon beside Jackson to steady the ship at times.

“I think it’s going to be a little challenging, but when we get locked in, it’s going to be good,” Cottrell said.

The Cahillites reload with some new faces to the program. Senior guard Hunter Johnson, who averaged 11.0 ppg as a sophomore at Cardinal O’Hara in 2021-22, returns to the area after spending last season at Orlando Christian Prep (Fla.).

Senior 6-3 guard Travis Reed averaged 12.1 ppg at Frankford; senior 5-7 guard Kabe Goss averaged 15.6 ppg, 4.0 apg, 4.0 rpg and 3.5 spg at Trenton (N.J.); senior 6-5 wing C.J. Miller averaged 7.9 ppg at Woodbury (N.J.); and sophomore wing Malik Hughes is an intriguing piece from Cheltenham.

“It’s fun as a coach,” McNesby said. “Guys are going to compete for minutes, and it’s a really good group of guys, so I think they all kind of bought in to contributing when it’s their turn, so hopefully that can be an asset for us. We have bodies that we can use, and they’re still young. You don’t see one guy emerging, but you see spots for each of them. If they can be consistent and we can use multiple bodies, that could be fun.”

“It’s going to be hard, but new guys means you can teach them more concisely what you want on the court and what you want off the court as well,” Jackson said.

The Cahillites have rolled out top heavy lineups with bonafide D1 talent over the past two seasons. Outside of Jackson, there are no other solidified stars heading into 2023-24. After going with a rotation that went about six deep, McNesby said this group’s depth could make it unique.

“Now, maybe we can go eight or nine deep which is a little different,” McNesby said. “We have a good enough group of guys who are unselfish that I think they get it.”

“Our preseason is going to be really big, just getting guys experience and gelling and then believing in each other. Because there’s talent that could be good, so now it’s just believing in each other and not taking the backseat to anyone. Like why not? I think we have enough talent to compete, just get that experience and go do it. X always had that confidence like we knew we weren’t losing. We gotta get that confidence. You gotta earn that though.”

Spearheaded by Brown’s heroics, Roman found some magic late last season to turn a terrific season into a banner campaign. 

Those who were around for last season’s run are ready to experience it all over again. It might take a more collective effort, but the Cahillites are determined to repeat in the PCL and finish business in states this time around.

“That was fun and I want to do it again,” Cottrell said. “It’s my senior year. I want to go out with a bang.”