City of Basketball Love

Rich Flanagan (@richflanagan33)
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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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This past year has been a rather good one for Isaiah Thomas.

The Philadelphia City Councilman became just the second at-large City Council candidate since 1987 to receive more than 100,000 votes in a Democratic primary in May, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, then finished with the most votes among council at-large candidates in the general election earlier this month to secure his second term in office.

As the head boys’ basketball coach at Sankofa Freedom, where has served for the 14 years the school has existed, Thomas led the Warriors to a 14-13 overall record (6-4 Philadelphia Public League ‘A’ Division), the second round of the Public League playoffs and the program’s first state tournament win since 2020. Sankofa Freedom fell to Boys’ Latin in the league playoffs then downed Tri-Valley to open the state playoffs before falling to Dock Mennonite in the next round.

Last year’s group consisted of a big three that was reminiscent of the 2019 team that led Sankofa Freedom to its first PIAA state championship. That group was led by Derrius Ward, Khalil Turner and Scott Spann and propelled the Warriors to the PIAA Class A title with skill and versatility led by Thomas at the top.

Last year’s team featured Zaki Alston (Chestnut Hill College), an All-Public League Second Team and Pa. All-State Class 2A Third Team selection after averaging 14.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg and 1.3 apg. Ryan Hardy (CCP) averaged 10.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg and 3.6 bpg by controlling things inside for the Warriors. He led the team with 82 blocks on the year.

Those two brought a multitude of aspects that the team will be without this season and Thomas relished how they led with such poise.

“Number one is leadership,” Thomas said. “Number two is the ability to get downhill. Zaki had the ability for us to call a play for him and he would get downhill. If he didn’t finish, he would at least get to the free throw line. More importantly, he allowed us to get our defense set. Those are all the things we lost.”

The third member of that talented trio was 6-1 guard Nasir Williams, who averaged 14.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.3 apg and 2.3 spg and led the team with 42 3-pointers as a sophomore. He’s one of the only options with range behind the three-point line and can fill it up in a hurry, as evidenced by a pair of 27-point performances against Maritime Academy Charter and Audenried. He also scored 16 points in last year’s matchup with eventual Public League champion Imhotep Charter. “You can see the flare from him,” Thomas noted.

So much of what Sankofa Freedom will do this season will be predicated on how teams defend Williams, and he figures out different ways to exploit their game plans. With his shooting ability and pure athleticism in getting to the rim, the Warriors have one of the better go-to scorers in the Public League but when they have to look for other options, the supporting cast is still learning where they fit into the equation.

“Right now, because we’re so young, it’s about playing basketball the right way,” Thomas said. “It’s the fundamental side of the game: passing the ball with two hands, setting a quality screen without moving, talking on defense and boxing out.”

Asim Hardy led the Warriors with 4.9 apg, and the 5-10 junior guard will be called upon to get the team into its sets as well as not allow defenses to key on Williams. He also averaged 4.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg and 2.4 spg and should see more scoring opportunities as the primary point guard. He had a career-high 17 points against George Washington as a sophomore. 

According to Thomas, “he’s a terrific help defender and rebounds well for his size. He runs the ball down and digs the ball out of the paint. He has to work on his shot and free-throw shooting, but he’s got a lot of room left to improve. He’s a class act and you can tell when Asim is on the floor.”

Another guard Thomas is high on is 5-10 sophomore Nasir Brown, or “Little Nas.” He played in 24 games as a freshman and will have his chances to penetrate and hit shots from the outside. He may start his share of games but Thomas notes “we want to bring him off the bench and have that three-guard combination with Big Nas, Little Nas and Asim.”

Sophomore Nafis Dubose is the wildcard of the group at 6-3 with a lean frame. He avg. 4.0 ppg and 2.8 rpg but his biggest issue was consistency. He closed out the season on a high note, though, with a career-high 22 points, nine rebounds and three steals in the state victory over Tri-Valley. Another 2026 guard to watch is 5-10 Yasir Johnson, who will be logging varsity minutes for the first time this season. Damon Holt, a 6-3 senior guard who avg. 2.5 ppg and 2.6 rpg in 20 games, will be called upon to be more of a leader in both production and direction.  

From there, Thomas has been shifting his focus to the incoming freshmen class as “all our tallest guys are 2027s.” He’s extremely high on this group as Jasir Henderson (6-2), Terrance Fortson (6-3) and Samaad West (6-3) all bring upside and potential with undefined roles, which should give Thomas a variety of options in constructing lineups as the newcomers get more comfortable with the grind of the Public League.

An exciting year on and off the court has given way to a new system with lots of intrigue for Thomas and Sankofa Freedom. In the last few years, the program has made the PIAA state tournament with regularity. Furthermore, the Warriors are not only competitive in the Public League but have put themselves into the upper echelon of teams and are used to playing deep in the Pub tournament.

Whether it’s winning at the ballot box or accruing them on the box score, Thomas is hoping that a relatively young team can mesh together and continue this upward trend that first culminated in 2019, with further peaks hopefully to follow. 

“We’ll get back there, I can tell you that,” Thomas said. “We’re confident and optimistic that we’ll get back there. We just have to get a lot grittier on defense. I’m the only coach Sankofa has ever had since the school opened and every year when teams play Sankofa, they know they’re going to get a gritty team who’s going to guard.”