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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Lonnie Diggs can distinctly remember the utter shock when he received the news. 

It was mid-October when the Math, Civics & Sciences longtime athletic director and boys basketball coach first heard  the revelation that a school which has existed since 1999 is set to close its doors.

“It was definitely a surprise,” Diggs said. “I’ve been at the school 20 years myself and the school has been around for 25 years. To hear that it will be potentially closing at the end of the year is a shock to me and everybody else.”

Math, Civics & Sciences is set to close at the conclusion of the 2023-24 academic year after founder Veronica J. Joyner and the board of directors voted on the motion Nov. 2. Joyner announced in October that she would be retiring and thus the school should close as she does not believe there is anyone who can do the job, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Furthermore, Parents United for Better Schools, Joyner’s nonprofit, has already voted to sell the N. Broad Street building, which is a five-minute drive from Temple University.

What makes these decisions so perplexing is both the timing and ensuing actions without any plan for students, teachers, and faculty. Parents, students, and community members were removed from the Nov. 2 board meeting and the vote to close the school was done in private rather than in front of the public. This action violated Pa.’s Sunshine Act, which requires agencies to deliberate and take official action in an open, public forum. Board meetings like the one in November require prior notice and are open to all who wish to attend.

Since then, students have staged walkouts on numerous occasions in protest but at this time, no further updates or changes have been made to the board’s decision. 

Diggs has served as athletic director and dean of students in his time at Math, Civics & Sciences, and he has been instrumental in helping build the basketball program first as an assistant under Dan Jackson starting in 2005 then taking over as head coach in 2018. He was on the sideline for the program’s inaugural state title in 2011 as MCS downed Lincoln Park and was the architect behind the most recent state crown in 2019 when Jihad Watson, Semaj Mills and Nisine Poplar (UMiami) led the way.

Diggs is now tasked with a much different role than he has manned in his time at the school. He must galvanize a team that may be without its best player into one willing to block out a potentially ominous ending that is outside of its control — all while trying to give a proud Philadelphia Public League program one more incredible run.

“With the situation being the way it is, I’ve actually been surprised by the amount of focus they have had,” Diggs said. “They’ve been really focused and we’re going to have a surprising year. With the whole situation, people are counting us out, but we’ll be right in the mix until the end.”

Nasseem Wright was a First Team All-Public League and Pa. All-State Class 3A Third Team selection last season after averaging 14.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.4 spg and 1.3 bpg. District 12 ruled that the 6-foot-6 forward is ineligible for his final season as he is technically a fifth-year senior following two years at KIPP DuBois Collegiate Academy, where he did not play for the basketball program, one season at Abraham Lincoln and last year with the Mighty Elephants. There is an appeal hearing Dec. 4 in Mechanicsburg and “hopefully it goes our way,” as Diggs stated.

Whether Wright is available or not, the Mighty Elephants are already facing heavy losses after finishing 17-11 overall last season, 7-3 in the Pub’s ‘A’ Division. Nayeem Johnson (East Stroudsburg), Chauncey Presley (Elizabethtown College), and Rashan Locke-Hicks (Northampton Community College) graduated. Also gone are program linchpins in Isaiah Griffin and Jeff King. Additionally, Saaid Lee transferred to West Catholic.

MCS defeated West Catholic, the eventual PIAA 3A champion, in the previous two District 12 title games, but last season ended with losses to West Catholic in the District 12-3A title game and Trinity in the second round of the PIAA 3A Tournament, 

There is a combination of players with familiarity with Diggs’ expectations and some new additions that could be invaluable to the team’s success this season. Azeem Murphy, the 6-5 senior forward who began his career at West Catholic, averaged 2.3 ppg and should see his scoring and rebounding numbers go up with more minutes.

Kevin Carter averaged 2.7 ppg and made 13 3-point shots as a junior but will have the ball in his hands as the starting point guard. The 5-9 senior, who has been with the program since his freshman year, is ready to play a significant role for the first time. Aiden Brown, an athletic 6-4 guard, will start on the wing and is expected to be a strong defensive presence. The final returning player is 6-2 junior guard Alantay Dawson, a shooter who played mostly on the JV team last season. Freshman, 5-11 guard Rahkiy Mason could see some time as a backup point guard.

MCS added 6-3 sophomore guard Milak Myatt, who comes over from Imhotep Charter in the same manner as Jaheim Bethea and Khalif Crawley before him. Diggs thinks Myatt, who was part of a Panthers team that won the Public League, District 12, and PIAA 5A title last season, is probably the team’s best player, according to Diggs. He holds an offer from UTEP and has received interest from Temple and La Salle. 

Sair Alsbrooks transferred in from Frankford, where he averaged 9.8 ppg and 6.0 rpg. The 6-6 senior forward offers size and versatility, as evidenced by his 19 three-pointers last season. Maki Hill is another one of those explosive, under-the-radar Public League guards who averaged 20.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.2 apg and 3.2 spg at Vaux last season. The 6-foot senior guard made 35 treys on a 42% clip as a junior and has scored 712 points in the past two years. Zion Robinson, a 6-2 sophomore guard, comes over from Cheltenham after seeing limited action in his first high school season. 

MCS will open the season against Eagle Academy (N.Y.) in the All-City Classic at Benjamin Franklin High School on Dec. 3. The non-league slate also includes Roselle Catholic (N.J.) and St. Benedict’s Prep (N.J.). The Public ‘A’ Division will be a grind again with Imhotep Charter at the top but the likes of Lincoln, Constitution, Sankofa Freedom and West Philadelphia are all in the mix.

The Public League has been dominated by Imhotep Charter for well over a decade. Interestingly enough, around the same time Imhotep began its ascension, so did MCS. Andre Noble led the Panthers to their first state title in 2009 and MCS secured its first two seasons later, spearheaded by the program’s first Division 1 recruit in Jeremiah Worthem. 

“That was a big turning point when we won that state championship and put ourselves on the map. We’ve been playing at a high level since then,” Diggs said.

Seeing how the program started from the ground up and turned into one of the most dominant in the Public League and across the PIAA landscape speaks to what Diggs, Jackson and countless others gave to establish that winning culture that could be coming to an end.

“It shows the good people we had in the program, not just me but the other assistant coaches,” Diggs said. “Dan was a parent to the student-athletes we had over the years. He and others gave themselves to an all-time program and that’s ultimately how we were able to have the success we have had.”

In what could be the final year in MCS existence, the focus will regularly be on what is transpiring off the basketball court than what is being accomplished on it. Diggs has seen and heard how students feel at this moment and he is energized by what this season could do for the 900-student school and surrounding community.

“With this possibly being the last season of MCS basketball, our guys want to go out with a bang,” Diggs said. “They want to make a statement and that’s the kind of mentality we have. We don’t know what the future holds right now with the school because it’s up in the air and nothing has been 100% finalized yet. Everyone wants to put their all into this season.”