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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Clyde Jones believes in his program.

The legendary coach, or more so legendary builder, has a habit of reaching historic heights everywhere he has been. His touch goes beyond gold. It’s a winning imprint that he left in turning around Harriton to win the PIAA District 1 Class 3A championship, then at Penn Wood in winning the District 1 Class 4A and PIAA state championships, and then the District 12 Class 1A title at Girard College and bringing that program to a state final.

Last year, Jones once again wove his magic, in turning perennial doormat Chichester into the Del-Val League champion for the first time in 30 years. The Eagles finished with a school-record 21 wins, going 21-5 overall and 7-1 in the Del-Val League, beating traditional Southeastern Pennsylvania powerhouse Chester for the first time since 1987 — and first time ever at Chester.

Now comes the fun part for Jones, building the blocks back up again.

Gone to graduation are star point guard Mazen Sayed (Gwynedd Mercy) and twins Akhir (Albright) and Zaiyin Keys (Neumann University). It will be 65 points to make up for the Eagles, who reached the District 1 Class 5A semifinals, where they lost to Unionville (75-72), and PIAA first round, where they fell to District 11 runner-up Pocono Mountain West (73-67).

“My expectations for this group is to see a versatile team, using a combination of pressure and man defense, and we will be extremely competitive every night,” said Jones, who will be entering his seventh season as the Eagles’ head coach. “We will compete. Come January, we will be a better, more dangerous team. I like our group. We lost a lot, but we have some talent back. We have some sleeper kids who can really shoot the ball and can put up some numbers.”

That will start with 6-foot-3 senior forward Carlton Gordy, the grandson of Chester High legend Carlton “Silk” Gordy.

“Carlton can do a lot, he is going to open some eyes, and he has really matured the last few years,” Jones said. “He is really coming into his own.”

“My role will be different,” Gordy said. “I have to be a leader and be the best version of myself. That means I will need to speak up more.”

Gordy will be joined by 6-2 senior forward Derrick Robertson, 6-1 senior guard Hamza Clay, 6-1 senior forward Jayan Harris, 5-11 senior guard Siddiq Oglesby, 5-11 senior guard Warren Wideman, 5-11 sophomore guard Kayron Kinney, 6-7 junior forward Antonio Posey and 6-foot sophomore forward Cameron Guasperini.

Jones is big on developing guards, especially point guards. Sayed leaves a void that Jones feels can be made up for by Wideman and Kinney.

“Those two will be on the court together, but they are going to manage the point-guard duties, because Maz is going to be hard to replace,” Jones said. “You have to remember, those kids last year were in the gym with me for a long time, going back years. We had a chance to develop them. We threw them right into the deep end. They got lumped up early and learned. This group here will go through some growing pains, too. They missed a development year because of COVID-19, but they are athletic, they play hard and they have talent. It’s a matter of finding out if they are basketball players.”

Wideman played sporadically last season. He said he learned a lot watching Sayed’s poise and control in crucial situations, like when Sayed found Akhir Keys on the baseline for a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left that gave the Eagles a momentous 55-54 win over the Clippers.

“We can pick up where they left off last year,” Wideman said. “We feel that we have a target on our backs, being the defending Del-Val champs. I feel like we have a very good chance of repeating, and I say that because of all the hard work we put in during the offseason.”

Who will step into leadership roles remains a question. Jones said he expects Robertson, Gordy and Clay to take on that responsibility, but he didn’t rule out younger players like Kinney and Wideman.

Gordy is also optimistic of the Eagles’ chances this season.

“We can all do a lot of things, if we all buy into and listen to what coach Clyde tells us,” he said. “We have the height and the athleticism to be good. The guys last year passed down the game plan to us. Coach Clyde is very good, the best in the area. If we listen to him and carry out the game plan, I think we can be pretty good.

“We know everyone in the Del-Val will be coming after us. We’re ready for it. Coach Clyde gets on us about studying film, and he will get the best versions of us. We know we will have to win with defense, energy, guard play and communication. I know we can do it. We have the talent and the coaching to do it. We can win the Del-Val again.”

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.