City of Basketball Love

Justin Procope (@1Procope)
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When Jermaine Palmer agreed to become the next head coach for the Oxford High School girls basketball team, he saw it not just as a job, but as a full circle moment.

The Palmer family has deep ties with the high school and the town of Oxford. Palmer’s mother, sister, and Palmer himself all played for the school, and it’s where his daughter Jordyn, one of the top prospects nationally in the 2027 class, fell in love with the game. 

“I think it’s an opportunity to give back,” Palmer said in a phone interview. “I just love the fact that the job came up in Oxford, my hometown.”

The bulk of Palmer’s coaching experience has been at the AAU level, where he spent 15 years with the Chester County Storm, a program focused on developing players from Chester and Delaware county. He is hoping that experience building up a program in AAU will translate as Palmer will have a hand in every level to try and do the same at Oxford.

“Building the program at Oxford is going to be a test, it’s going to be a challenge,” Palmer said. “The goal is to start with our youth and start building our program around the younger age, the elementary schools, going to the middle schools start getting kids more developed that way and as they get to the high school level, they understand the basics of basketball at a younger age than they are learning right now in high school.”

The same lessons Palmer taught to Jordyn will be the same ones he will preach to his new group of players. Those lessons helped turn her into the reigning PA player of the year and a gold medalist after her recent victory with Team USA in the U17 FIBA World Championships, with Palmer watching from the crowd. 

“It was so surreal,” Palmer said. “Coming out of a small town, it’s unreal when you sit there and I think about it from my perspective, like my child is 15 years old. We’re from a little town of Oxford and you’re playing on national TV worldwide.”

Before any fans get their hopes up… no, Jordyn will NOT be joining her father at Oxford. 

“Jordyn is happy where she’s at,” Palmer said, laughing at the thought. “ Everything’s rolling for her, so I’m not going to touch that.”

The sophomore forward is set to continue her stellar career at Westtown, where she will be favored to capture her third straight state title. Ensuring there was still time to follow her career was an important factor in deciding whether or not to take the job. Having the opportunity to coach while still having the time to attend most of her marquee games was viewed as a win-win scenario. 

Palmer will rely on the senior duo of Kate Kline and Kaia Patterson, who were a part of the Hornets squad that finished 1-9, tied for dead last in the Ches-Mont American standings, and 8-14 overall. It will be a welcome change for Patterson, who played AAU for Palmer three seasons ago and is eager to have him as a coach again. The rest of the team will be brand new to him, another adjustment for Palmer coming from AAU where you can essentially handpick your roster. 

Regardless of who’s on the court, when you’re attempting to build a program and establish a culture, having strong foundations and core values is important. For Palmer, it’s all about the fundamentals, emphasis on defense, and a focus on academics. 

“They will be student athletes first, student comes first,” Palmer said. “When it comes to basketball, we focus on the fundamentals, focus on team development, focus on the basic understanding of the game. A lot of kids have a lot of athletic ability, but if they don’t know how to properly use it, it goes against them.”

“And I feel like teaching a game of basketball doesn’t stop at basketball, it goes beyond,” Palmer continued. “You teach people how to be good people in the world.”

No matter who you are or what you do, there will always be expectations to deliver when you are the hometown kid who’s returned. 

“There’s a little pressure there,” Palmer admitted. “Pressure’s going to come with, can I improve the season better than last year […] but we’ll get through it, we’ll push forward, it’s going to open conversation and it’s going to be a lot of teaching and talking. 

Despite the inevitable expectations that will follow, Palmer is embracing the opportunity to build something special in his hometown. Wins and championships will of course be the goal, but creating a program that cultivates and keeps talent in Chester county would be the real prize for Palmer. 

“There's a lot of talented kids in southern Chester county, we don't get opportunities,” Palmer said. 

“So our goal is to push as many kids as possible and get them in college. But for the program, you know, we want a successful program. We want people who want to stay here and not to leave this town.”