City of Basketball Love

By Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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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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Anyone wearing the red and white of Dobbins Tech gets reminded. Every time they practice. Every time they play. Every time they enter the Dobbins gym. The rafters and walls reek of history, and championships, and iconic Philadelphia hoops legends like Greg “Bo” Kimble, the late Eric “Hank” Gathers and Hall of Famer Dawn Staley. It’s been since 1985 the last time the Mustangs won a Philadelphia Public League championship, led by Bo and Hank.

These Mustangs cannot escape it.

In fact, this version of Dobbins Tech would like to update it, maybe add some new felt letters and numbers to the dusty banners.

Third-year coach Derrick Stanton has made great strides in quick time, guiding the Mustangs to the Philadelphia Public League playoffs his first year, and reaching the league semifinals last year before losing to defending and eventual PIAA Class 5A state champion Imhotep Charter, 69-51. It marked the first time in at least a decade that Dobbins had reached the Pub semis.

Stanton and Dobbins have a lot of reason for optimism, beginning with returning starters 6-4 senior forward Zachary Campbell, 6-3 senior guard Saleem Hudson and 6-1 junior guard Jarrell Little. Stanton will look to 6-3 senior forward Samuel Thomas (who suffered a leg injury in the state playoff loss), 6-3 junior forward Tylee Richardson, 6-2 sophomore guard Makaii Akridge, 6-foot sophomore guard Haneef Davis and 5-9 sophomore guard Kaseem Jacobs to fill out the rest of his starting rotation.

The Mustangs finished 25-3 overall and were 11-0 in the Public League C Division. Dobbins’ season ended after a six-hour round trip bus ride in the first round of the PIAA Class 5A state playoffs to District 2 No. 1 seed Abington Heights, 67-56 (Abington Heights lost to Imhotep in the state quarterfinals).

It’s a ride the Mustangs do not plan on taking this year. Winning the Pub could prevent that. One major move for Dobbins will be going from the C Division to the A Division this year, in the neighborhood of traditional powerhouses like Imhotep, MCS, Lincoln, West Philadelphia and Constitution. Imhotep, and legendary coach Andre Noble, is still Imhotep, but quite a bit lighter with the graduation of Justin Edwards, one of the nation’s best players now at Kentucky, and Rahmir Barno (Florida Gulf Coast).

“I love the effort of this team, and we have to give constant effort because we’re undersized,” Stanton said. “When we bring it, there are not many teams that we cannot hang with. Once we are in games, the confidence grows and we’re able to execute in half court and execute in transition. Moving to the A Division, I expect us to be in the top four of the division. We have Imhotep, Constitution, MCS, West Philly, they are all great teams there, and we played them throughout the spring and summer, and I think when we put our minds to it, we can finish in the top four.

“There was some sting there losing in the state playoff game. Once we lost Sam, we lost our rim protector, we lost our size. That playoff loss sticks to us. That motivates us this year. We played a lot of suburban teams this offseason to get ready for the state playoffs.”

Stanton already knows the talents of Campbell, the Mustangs’ go-to player, who was an All-Public League honorable selection last season. What he knows, which the rest of the city will find out about this year, are what Akridge and Davis are capable of.

“We list Davis as a guard, but he can bang with anyone out there, and Akridge is a long, slinky lefty who can finish in transition and has a real smooth jump shot,” Stanton said. “I expect big things from those two. Our expectations are the Philadelphia Public League championship or bust. We really feel that good about this group. It goes back to 1985 with Bo and Hank, and that’s a while. The kids know, they are aware of the history. They see it every time they come to the gym.”

And much of the Mustangs’ success will depend on Campbell, a three-year starter.

“I remember coming off the court after the Abington Heights playoff loss, because we did not play the way we were able to play,” said Campbell, who is getting Division II attention. “We can do the same things we did last year. We have to cut down on the late-game mistakes. It killed us last year. One game we would get hit with turnovers, another game it would be bad IQ, making dumb decisions. We have to clean that up. We have to focus on our set plays. Communication and closing will be important. We had games where we were up the whole game, then blew in the last two minutes. Defense will be a strength of this team. We are small, but we’ll win with speed.

“We can be really good. I have to be a leader and hold the team accountable.”

This will mark a continued adjustment for Hudson, who took a big leadership step after the state playoff loss. With everyone in the locker room bandying about after the Abington Heights game, thinking there were more games to play, it was Hudson who starkly let everyone know that was it, the Mustangs’ season was over.

“I expect more this year,” Hudson said. “I think I spoke up after the playoff loss because I thought some people did not care that we lost. I have to be more of a leader this year and I’m ready for that. That comes with communicating more because we did not communicate enough last year. I have to work on that. This is my senior year and I have to step up and be more vocal. The goal is to go farther than we did last year. We know we should have won that first-round playoff game. Our defense will lead the way. We’re going to swarm everyone.”

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Joseph Santoliquito is a hall of fame, 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.