City of Basketball Love

Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)

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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 2025-26 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed thus far can be found here.)

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The digits sit up there alone, looking for a friend. They have been sitting there for 24 years by themselves, now spilling over into a quarter century. The “2001” on the banner hanging in Coatesville’s gym has a chance for some company this season. It’s the first—and last—time Coatesville won a PIAA state and District 1 championship (as a Class 4A, prior to the 6A system being instituted by the PIAA for the 2016-17 basketball season).

Red Raiders’ coach John Allen was a star on that 2001 Coatesville state championship team. He knows what it will take for that lonely “2001” to be joined by a new year.

He also has a team capable of doing it, starting with arguably the best player in the state, 6-foot-7 swing forward Colton Hiller, the nation’s No. 4-rated sophomore, 6-foot-7 senior forwards Larry Brown and Jonas Chester, 6-1 junior guard Jahmaad Williams, and 5-10 junior guard Chris Allegra. They will be joined by 6-3 junior forward Jahlil Thedford, 6-1 junior guard Isaiah Hicklin, 6-2 senior Zeric Allen-Brown, coach Allen’s nephew, and 6-6, 310-pound junior forward Max Hiller, Colton’s older brother and a national-level offensive tackle in football.

The Red Raiders are coming off a 24-7 season last year, losing in the District 1 Class 6A semifinals to eventual District champ Conestoga, and reaching the state quarterfinals, where they fell to eventual PIAA state finalist Roman Catholic.

This will be Allen’s deepest team in his four years with the Red Raiders.

It’s a team that is poised to make an historic step this season. In the past, Coatesville has had teams that have hung close and failed to finish. This team has talent, size, and coaching, plus can go nine or 10 deep, enabling Allen to ramp up the speed of the game and apply more consistent pressure.

The Red Raiders will be looking to threepeat as the Ches-Mont League champions, beating their opponents by an average of 25 points a game in the Ches-Mont League tournament.

“This team is capable of winning everything this year,” Allen said. “That’s not coming from me. It’s coming from the kids. They believe they can do it. I believe we can do it. We’re capable of winning everything. The crazy part what it’s the team’s message to me. I like our ability to execute, and I believe by the time the playoffs roll around, we will be an elite defensive team. We may not be there right now. That will take time to develop. This is the deepest team I’ve had.

“Max went from the end of the bench to being our sixth man by the end of last year. We have guys who are equally talented from four on down to nine. We hang our hat on pressure, and anytime you see certain teams, you better be able to deal with pressure. With us being able to go nine, 10 deep, we’ll be able to pressure more than in the past. My biggest concern is health. Colton is resting right now, and we will have to replace two veteran guards. All these guys are friends and accept their roles. I have faith our guys will do it.”

Replacing two high-level guards Amon Fowlkes (Kutztown) and Nasir Williams (Albright) will come down to Allegra and Jahmaad Williams. Allen admits it will not be easy.

Brown has made considerably leaps in his game since last season. He is thinking of going the prep school route, though after his job of adding to the lonely 2001 figure hanging in the Coatesville gym.

In four years of playing varsity, Brown feels this team is far more connected than past Coatesville teams. This is a group that has grown up with each other, playing together since they were seven.

Hiller is the no-doubt, go-to player on the Red Raiders, probably drawing more attention than anyone else on the team. That could open more doors for Brown.

“I’m ready for that,” Brown said. “I’m stronger and have improved. I feel like I have done everything that I was supposed to do, and I feel everyone on this team has some dog in them. I have two guys who are hungry, Williams and Thedford. We push each other. We push each other in practice. The coaches push us. I’m ready to speak up and be a leader.”

The fact everyone knows their roles is a team strength Allegra said. Everyone accepts Hiller and Brown will be responsible for the lion’s share of the points, he stressed. He also likes how deep this team is.

“We go hard at each other in practice, and that translates into games,” Allegra said. “I think we have the best player in the state. No one can do what Colton does. Everyone around Colton knows their roles. If we play our roles, and Colton does what he does, we’re going to be fine.”    

Allen did a great job with Hiller last season. He gradually eased a talented freshman into a prime varsity role, giving him incremental responsibilities. By the end of the season, Hiller was one of the best freshmen in the country. He is coming off a summer in which he made the USA Men’s U16 National Team that won gold at the 2025 FIBA U16 Men's AmeriCup in Juarez, Mexico, averaging 13.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.8 steals a game. College offers have rolled in from Notre Dame, Villanova, Syracuse, Louisville, and North Carolina State, among many others, though not yet from his dream school, Duke, which should arrive—and he’s only a sophomore.

Allen just has one, good glaring problem: “I have great, nice kids, from great families, who raised their kids right way, who are great off the court, and great on the court, and we need some dog in these guys. They’re capable of it. I see it. I want to see more of it. The pieces are here. We do not take that for granted. We understand that hype and that people will be coming at us. As coaches, we will need to prepare our kids for it.”   

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Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on BlueSky here.