City of Basketball Love

Jared Leveson (@jared_leveson)
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Bobby Cottrell had the most minutes off the bench last season for the Cahillites (18.1 mpg) and played a crucial role in Roman’s run to the PIAA 6A State Finals. 

He expected to get inserted into the starting lineup with the graduations of guards Xzayvier Brown (Saint Joseph’s), Jermai Stewart-Herring, and Erik Oliver-Bush.

However, Cottrell is Roman’s sixth man so far this season because of new additions and the team’s need for a consistent veteran off the bench. 

It’s not how he envisioned his senior season starting, but his mental toughness and selflessness has kept him engaged and helped Roman win games early this season. 

“It’s basketball,” he said. “We’re all trying to win. So, I gotta do what I gotta do to help the team win.”

Cottrell’s performance against Scranton Prep on Friday night at Holy Family University embodied his approach this season. Coming off the bench, the senior got his teammates involved and took what the defense gave on offense, leading the Cahillites to a dominant 80-32 victory. 

The 6-foot-1 senior ended the night with eight points on three-of-six shooting from the field, seven assists, two rebounds, and two steals. 

“That’s what you want from seniors,” head coach Chris McNesby said. “He’s playing [unselfishly]. He knows what we do. [He] shares the ball. He’ll score if he has to. 

“You love seeing that with seniors.”

“I’m just starting to like grow and get better, getting mature,” Cottrell added. “When I was younger all I would think about was scoring and stuff like that but now as I'm getting older I'm thinking it's [less] important.”

Cottrell has handled his role with grace. 

“I think our guys just understand it's about winning and everyone playing a role. [I] never had to have a talk with him about it,” McNesby said.

If anything, he’s grown more vocal during practice and games, keeping guys focused. It’s something McNesby and he discussed during the summer. Cottrell has taken it to heart and is doing his part. 

“He played in big games last year,” the 12-year head coach in his second stint with Roman continued. “He knows what those environments are going to be like so I think he’s just trying to keep the guys focused and keep them ready.”

Shareef Jackson, another key returning piece to this Cahillite squad, is appreciative of Cottrell’s leadership. He’s helped, Jackson, bear the responsibility of leading this dominant program with a high standard of excellence. 

“Besides being a great person,” Jackson said. “In practice we might be lagging a little bit, you might know what to do, [but] especially having one guy who shows confidence in knowing where he’s at and where you are supposed to be at and guiding is especially helpful for the team. 

“Definitely having people besides me (and) helping me along the way, helps put this team together as a whole.” 

Roman’s roster is deep, but it has lots of inexperience. Sebastian Edwards (6.1 mpg) and Sammy Jackson (5.3 mpg) played a couple minutes per game last year. New additions like Hunter Johnson, Malik Hughes, CJ Miller, and Travis Reed are getting accustomed to Roman Catholic basketball. 

Cottrell’s role off the bench is strategic. He’s playing starter level minutes, but having him come in the game is getting those less inexperienced players’ feet wet early on. 

“You gotta have someone who’s solid come off the bench,” McNesby said. “With Bob we know what he’s going to give us. so right now at this point anyway we feel it's a little better for him to kind of play in that role.”

“He's going to be consistent.”

The Cahillites shared and protected the rock incredibly well, piling up 25 assists compared to four turnovers. 

Cottrell set the tone early on for Roman and dished out five assists in the first half and got his team to a comfortable 37-14 lead going into the halftime break. He takes pride in getting his teammates involved. 

“[It's] the strongest part of my game,” the senior added. 

He helped find Edwards and Reed early and often in transition and half court sets so they could get into a smooth rhythm offensively and gain some confidence early.  Edwards shot the lights out finishing with 17 on five-of-six shooting from three. Reed had an efficient 10 points and went four-for-six from the field. 

Shareef Jackson did his usual thing and bullied Scranton Prep on the inside. The 6-foot-8 junior collected 17 points, six rebounds, two assists, three steals, and one block. 

Cottrell is just a basketball player now, but he used to play football and baseball. The Roman Catholic staff say he’s the best golf player on the team too after a supposedly impressive performance during a team outing this past offseason. 

Even though it’s all about basketball for him now, as he aspires to play hoops at the collegiate level. The senior has one big takeaway from those early days that’s helped him manage his sixth man role— mental toughness.

“It’s never always gonna be your way,” Cottrell said. “When you are fighting through adversity [you gotta] keep it calm, keep it cool, stay to yourself. 

“I don't know how to explain it like… don't get out of character.” 

By Quarter
SP: 7 | 7 | 14 | 18 || 32
RC: 22 | 15 | 21 | 22 || 80

Scoring
SP: Daniel Santaniello 15, Kellen Casey 7, Brycen Martin 4, Ambrose Rossi 2, Jorden Odom 2, Joseph Ramey 2

RC: Shareef Jackson 17, Sebastian Edwards 17, Hunter Johnson 12, Travis Reed 10, Bobby Cottrell 8, CJ Miller 4, Sammy Jackson 3, Derek Carr 5, Robert Spruill 2