City of Basketball Love

By Ryan Coyle (@ryancoyle35)
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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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The 2022-23 season was one out of a storybook for Jaden Colzie and his Plymouth-Whitemarsh teammates. A 20-2 regular season record, a Suburban One League Liberty Division title, an SOL tournament championship, and the illustrious District 1 title, where PW defeated Springford 59-54.

But, that storybook season came to an ending in the first round of the PIAA 6A state tournament when the Colonials fell to 15-11 Chambersburg, 68-56 on their home floor where they hadn’t lost all season. 

“We were too happy, we were too cocky, we were messing around in warmups,” Colzie said. “We got smacked. It was a lesson learned. Coach talks about it 24/7, but it is a good lesson that we can’t be satisfied, and we need to come ready to go every night or something like that can happen.” 

While last year’s PW squad made history, capturing their first district title since 2016, the early exit in the state playoffs has been the driving force this offseason in terms of motivation for Colzie and his returning teammates.

“Going into the coming season, it is motivating,” Colzie said. “I feel like I am being disrespected. I feel like the guys are being disrespected due to all we lost from last year’s team. But, sometimes it is good to be like that. It gives us an edge, it gives us something to prove and ending the season the way we did last year, we aren’t short on motivation at all.”

Colzie, who enters his fourth year as the starting point guard for longtime head coach Jim Donofrio is coming off a season that saw him earn second team all-league SOL Liberty Division honors as he averaged 12.3 points, 3.3 steals and 3.1 assists per game, including 16 points in the district championship victory.

While he returns with a ton of experience under his belt, there are a lot of unproven players that will need to step up for this year’s PW team. First team all-league SOL Liberty Division players Qudire Bennett (1,000-point scorer) and Chase Coleman are no longer with the program due to their PIAA eligibility running out. They leave massive shoes to fill, as that duo along with Colzie formed the best trio in the Suburban One a season ago.

“This year’s team is going to have to have a different look, because we lost two high-level scores in Q and Chase from last year,” Donofrio said. “At this stage, we don’t have the luxury of having two guys that could go out there and score 20 on any given night. We are going to have to get back to some of our old ways of our pressure defense.”

While there are large shoes to fill in the scoring column with Bennett and Coleman gone, the Colonials also lost their starting center Lincoln Sharpe and backup big man Rodney Willis Jr.

“We lost some guys inside in Lincoln and Rodney that did a lot of the dirty work for us,” Donofrio said. They cleaned up the glass, got second chances, and provided us with a presence inside that this team might not necessarily have at this stage of the game. It is going to have to be a collective effort this year when it comes to rebounding.”

Outside of Colzie, the only other main contributor who saw major minutes on last year’s district title team and is returning is senior wing Jahseir Sayles who checks in at 6-foot-7 and will be counted on to make up for some of that rebounding production lost. Sayles is a very good athlete on the wing and has been developing his outside shot over the course of the offseason.

“We are relying on J (Colzie) and Jah (Sayles) heavily this year as older guys on the roster who have played a lot of varsity minutes to be those leaders for these young guys that we are going to be relying on,” Donofrio said.” I have been very happy with the development of both of them since the end of last year and they know what is expected from them to get to where we want to go.”

Colzie and Donofrio are both very excited talking about the potential of 6-4 sophomore guard Mani Sajid, who played more of a backseat role off the bench last year, but is ready for the limelight this upcoming season.

“We have a guy now that might be flying under the radar a little bit, but he has been evolving and is ready to put the SOL on notice,” Colzie said. “This is going to be Mani Sajid’s breakout year. He is going to be a special player. He didn’t get that much of an opportunity his freshman year due to everyone we had in front of him, but he is going to be a difference maker. He is the truth.”

If Sajid, who Colzie says has “lived in the gym all summer” is able to form a strong 1-2 scoring punch at the guard spot for the Colonials that will make life a lot easier for the rest of the team, which is inexperienced on the offensive end. With guys like Sayles, shooter Ben Marsico, role players like Taron Davis and Josh Harris fitting into their spots on the team as well the Colonials should be right back in the mix competing with the likes of Upper Dublin and Abington for another SOL Liberty crown. 

“I have been doing this for a long time, but this has been one of the funnest groups I have had the chance to work with through an entire offseason,” Donofrio said. “They are young, they are talented, but they are hungry. As a coach, that is all you can ask for.”

While last year’s PW squad was fortunate enough to have a good crop of experienced and scoring guards that drove the success of the team, this year we will see a lot more of Plymouth-Whitemarsh picking up 94 feet and trying to cause havoc for 32 straight minutes, converting defense into offense. 

“We know we will have to change things up with the personnel, but we have a lot of athletes on this team and guys that just know how to play hard and that fits with what Coach D wants to do,” Colzie said. 

With a bunch of unproven guys vying to make a name for themselves at the varsity level and a few key returners from last year’s squad that finished the year with a sour taste in their mouth, this year's PW team will not be short on motivation at all. 

Combine that hunger and drive with a coach like Donofrio, who has amassed more than 500 wins in his illustrious career, don’t rule out PW at making another championship run this season.

“We know we lost a lot from last year from Q, to Chase, to Lincoln, and everyone in between,” Donofrio said. “A lot of programs would look at this upcoming season as a rebuild. We don’t believe in that and feel like we have the pieces instead to reload. There is an expectation here to compete for championships every season and the guys in that locker room know that. I believe we have the talent to do it again, combined with the hunger I see from these kids. Now it is my job to help get us there again.”