City of Basketball Love

By Alex Murphy
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2023-24 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 6. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season click here.)
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When you think of the Philadelphia Catholic League, a few programs and rivalries stand out, none more so than Neumann Goretti and Roman Catholic.

Last year the Saints and Cahillites met once more in the PCL title game in front of a packed house at The Palestra, the fifth time in recent memory that the two programs met in the final, let alone regular-season matchups.

The two might be rivals on the court, but they’re friends off the court, and no place illustrates this better than some 300 miles south in Norfolk, Va. and the campus of Norfolk State University where Roman product Allen Betrand and Neumann alum Christian Ings will share the court this season.

“It’s been real fun,” Betrand said. “It’s been real competitive as well because we both like to win. Every day, we challenge each other to be better than we were yesterday. Coach [Robert] Jones knew what he was doing when he got these Philly dogs. That’s what he likes.”

Betrand is on his fourth team of his college career, joining the Spartans after time spent at Towson, Rhode Island and most recently, Rider. Now a graduate student, he’s hoping to find that niche that will help carry himself to the NCAA tournament.

Ings made a pit stop at Rider too, spending his first two seasons of college ball there. He’s entering his third season at Norfolk with a familiar face now by his side.

“It was a great feeling,” Ings said. “In high school, every time we did play against each other, it was a big thing. The whole city came out. … To see him flourish since high school, just being from Philadelphia and seeing someone else from the same city as I am, the fact that we get to have him here with me, it should really be something to see.”

It was Ings who actually helped recruit Betrand to the team after the two both spent time at Rider, though missing each other by a few seasons. Ings transferred following the 2019-20 season and Betrand didn’t arrive until 2022-23.

“Me and Chris, we’ve been battling since we were young,” Betrand said. “... He knew what I was going through [at Rider] and he knows what I’m looking for in a program and within myself. He got me here by letting me know how it was down here. … He sold me on everything. It was really a no-brainer after he called me.”

Now, the PCL powers have joined forces in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, bringing the swagger and intensity of Philadelphia basketball to the DMV.

There’s a certain pride that most, if not all players who are from the Philly region take wherever they go.

From those who have turned into NBA stars to those who made all the difference in college, wearing Philly on their sleeves is like a badge of honor, and that’s no different for Betrand and Ings.

“Every time I step on the court, I feel like I gotta put on a show for Philadelphia because that’s what they see when they see me first,” Ings said. “They see the basketball player and then they see where I’m from. … I love being able to put on for my city. It’s a rough city, but it makes you tough. That’s what everyone has in common, a city full of tough guys.”

In reminiscing on their high school battles, the two fondly remembered those rivalry games, joking about who took home the victories when the games mattered most.

“It definitely was competitive,” Betrand said. “They always got the regular season victories over us, but we always got them big dubs, them championships, so I’m not even mad at the regular season losses.”

That hard-nosed, tough mentality that Philadelphia breeds has now joined forces to continue a legacy of tradition founded in the last few years at Norfolk State.

The Spartans, despite missing out on the NCAA Tournament in 2023, won back-to-back MEAC Tournament championships in 2021 and 2022 and three regular season titles since 2019.

Even last year, Norfolk was a missed layup away from a third-straight trip to the Big Dance, and the Spartans aren’t looking to replicate that result again. 

Having some established, veteran players in the lineup like Betrand and Ings will be the key to a third ticket punched in four years.

“I don’t know too many schools that got a Neumann and Roman player on the same squad,” Ings said. “I’ve never seen that. … It’s about getting better, 1 percent every day, just trying to chase that main goal of winning a championship.”