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 2024-25 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed thus far can be found here.)

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The Cardinal O’Hara basketball program has experienced a mixed bag of emotions over the last few seasons.

Three years ago, under the direction of Ryan Nemetz, the Lions made the PIAA state tournament for the first time in program history and won its inaugural game. The following season, Izaiah Pasha (Delaware) and Aasim Burton (Rider) led the program to another state playoff appearance and victory. Nemetz stepped down after those two state berths and in stepped former Lafayette head coach Fran O’Hanlon, who brought 27 years of Division I coaching experience back to the Philadelphia Catholic League, where he starred at St. Thomas More then led Bonner-Prendergast to the 1988 league crown as head man.

O’Hanlon led Cardinal O’Hara (10-14, 4-9 Philadelphia Catholic League) to a victory over Devon Prep in the opening round of the league playoffs then coached his final high school game against eventual league champion, Roman Catholic in the quarterfinals. He decided to resign in March, leaving the Lions in search of a new leader after a whirlwind three seasons that saw historic firsts followed by a Philadelphia Catholic League lifer stepping in steady the ship.

Ryan Krawczeniuk is now in charge of leading the Lions program and while this is a new endeavor for him, he brings a lengthy résumé to the table.

“At the high school level, this is my first head coaching experience,” Krawczeniuk said. “I have coached the 17U teams at East Coast Power, which is high level basketball but it’s also AAU so it’s vastly different. I have been a lead assistant at the college level, but this is my first opportunity coaching full-time at the high school level.”

Krawczeniuk was a standout player at now defunct Meyers High School, where he scored over 1,500 points and was named Wyoming Valley Conference MVP twice. He began his collegiate career at Mansfield University then transferred to play for Jeff Wilson at East Stroudsburg, where he was an integral part of the 2018 NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Championship. East Stroudsburg went 27-6 that season and advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history. Krawczeniuk finished his career with 122 made three-pointers in three seasons.

He dove right into coaching with stops at Misericordia University then Marywood University before becoming Director of Operations and 17U Head Coach of East Coast Power, a program that has produced Justin Jaworski, Matt Faw, Erik Timko and Kentucky forward Andrew Carr. Krawczeniuk was officially handed the reins in April and while he has been coaching at the AAU level for years, he’s excited to bring his unique brand to the organized high school game in the Philadelphia Catholic League.

“The intersection in terms of the Catholic League is the pace of play,” Krawczeniuk said. “The AAU style is very high level and fast-paced and from what I’ve seen of the Catholic League, the styles are similar.”

“The difference in the dynamic is with AAU you might practice with those guys one or two times a week and it can get disorganized very quickly. Meanwhile, we have a similar style in high school but we’re practicing six times a week and there’s a lot more organization and game planning that goes into it.”

The Wilkes-Barre native will lean on a host of newcomers as well as a few holdovers in year one. Milak Myatt, a 6-4 junior guard who transferred in from Math, Civics & Sciences which closed at the end of the 2023-24 scholastic year. Myatt averaged 11.9 ppg and 3.5 rpg with 25 three-pointers made in helping MCS advance to the PIAA Class 3A semifinals last season. He has accrued offers from Southern Mississippi, UTEP and Kansas State and figures to be one of the breakout stars in the Philadelphia Catholic League.

Krawczeniuk is excited for what Myatt will bring to the table and put on display this season.

“He’s a kid that is going to splash on everybody’s radar this year,” Krawczeniuk said. “He is one of the best players I’ve had the chance to work with at the high school level. He understands pace and makes the right reads within the game, which are things that a lot of kids don’t pick up until they’re in college. He has a very cerebral game, and people are going to see a kid this year that is not only gifted but also understands the game at a high level.”

Malik Brown is a 6-7 sophomore forward who comes over from Lower Merion and will get his first opportunity to showcase what he can do. “He’s a coach’s dream because he’s a matchup problem. He’s really talented and has great footwork inside, which we will take advantage of when we have the matchup there. This kid can step out and give you a lot of guard skills,” according to Krawczeniuk.

Kahseem Bronzell and Lymir Green should also provide a spark to the Lions offense. Bronzell arrived by way of West Chester East and the 6-1 junior guard was 2023-24 Honorable Mention All-Ches-Mont League National Division a season ago. He poured in 27 points in a triple-overtime loss to Avon Grove then had 15 points against State College. Green is a 5-9 guard who transferred over from Spring-Ford and his father, Marques scored 1,734 career points at St. Bonaventure and holds the school records for assists (657), steals (325) and three-pointers made (281).

With Burton, Pearson McGuinn (Stonehill College), Miles Johnson (Neumann University) and Anthony Hobbs (University of Providence, Mont.) having graduated, the new additions will be instrumental to Cardinal O’Hara’s success as will certain players who remain from the previous regime. Jack Quinn is a 6-foot junior guard who avg. 3.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg and 1.9 apg in 24 games and will see extended minutes. Tygee Clark is the team’s top returning scorer at 6.8 ppg and Krawczeniuk notes that he’s “one of the quickest and shiftiest guards I’ve seen. He’s very dynamic and will have a great year for us. He has a knack for scoring the ball.” Clark scored 13 points in a regular-season loss to Roman Catholic.

Edwin Ujor should have a major role after only appearing in seven games as a junior. The 6-4 forward “will play more of an inside role for us. He has a big frame with a strong body and is very athletic. He will help Malik on the boards and give us a ‘lunch pail guy,’ or someone who just does the dirty work.” Look for 6-2 senior guard Matthew Cervellero, whose brother Christian previously starred for the Lions, to see extended time in his final season.  

Krawczeniuk also expects to receive contributions from two players who were members of the Lions freshmen team last season in 6-foot guard Kaleb Hargrove and Gabe Skehan.

Cardinal O’Hara will open the season against Abington Heights on Nov. 30 and matchup with Downingtown West, Perkiomen Valley, Scranton Prep, Penn Wood and Upper Dublin in nonleague play. The Lions will open the Philadelphia Catholic League slate at home against Archbishop Ryan on Jan. 3.

Krawczeniuk wants to make the Cardinal O’Hara program in the same image as East Coast Power with an emphasis on player development. More than that, he wants to rekindle the success that the program has known but hasn’t been able to capture for decades. Cardinal O’Hara won its lone Philadelphia Catholic League title 56 years ago, and the last time it advanced to the Palestra was 1998. Creating a culture is priority number one this season then from there he wants to return the Lions program to a place of prominence.

“Our priority this year is establishing a way of doing things, a style of play and a character about this team,” Krawczeniuk said. “From O’Hara basketball as a whole, there has been a lot of talent that has come through the program, but the reality is the program hasn’t hung a banner since 1968. There’s a lot of things with a new team and young guys where rookie mistakes are committed. We need to learn how to get away from those and learn to play winning basketball.”