City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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Urban Sports Rescue is hosting its boys and girls Unsigned Senior Showcase this weekend.

The boys event takes place Saturday at Imhotep Charter with five games scheduled beginning at 9:45 a.m. The girls event features two games Sunday at Belfield Recreation Center beginning at 3 p.m.

College coaches from the Division II, Division III, NAIA and JUCO levels as well as prep school programs are expected at the event with 24 currently committed for the boys event and 19 committed for the girls event.

Event director Rasool Hajj said the first Unsigned Senior Showcase was a boys event in 2009 with 25 to 30 players playing shirts and skins in front of five college coaches. It’s grown over the years to where about 90 players are signed up with familiar names like Fazl Oshodi (Friends’ Central), Amir Speights (Constitution), Robert Cottrell (Roman Catholic) and Zach Campbell (Dobbins Tech) headlining the list along with plenty of others and undiscovered talent.

The girls event makes its return for the first time since the COVID shutdown. Academy New Church’s Xola Wade and Abington’s Jordyn Reynolds are two of the names on the list who have made their imprint on the area hoops scene in recent years. The goal is to expand the girls event to as many as four games next year.

The boys feed will be available after the event on Wednesday, while the two girls games will be streamed live by the Sports Fan Base Network. Hajj said the event gave some players the opportunity to put together highlight reels last season.

The goal is to open a door for those competing with exposure to college coaches and also show them the opportunities out there.

“Mentoring players in the past and just having a passion for helping kids getting out of Philadelphia into better environments,” Hajj said of his goals. “I call it just giving them an opportunity to at least get a year in college to see if it’s something they want to do.”

For more information on the event, including full schedules and player lists visit https://urbansportsrescue.com/.

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Boys Unsigned Senior Showcase
Saturday, April 13 @ Imhotep Charter

Team 1 vs. Team 2, 9:45 a.m.
Team 3 vs. Team 4, 11 a.m.
Team 5 vs. Team 6, 12:30 p.m.
Team 7 vs. Team 9, 1:45 p.m.
Team 9 vs. Team 10, 3 p.m.

Girls Unsigned Senior Showcase
Sunday, April 14 @ Belfield Recreation Center

Different Mindset vs. For the Love, 3 p.m.
Respect Her Game vs. Girls Can Hoop Too, 4:15 p.m.