City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin
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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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For a coach who graduated nine seniors, representing most of his lineup and rotation, C.J. Savage is quite optimistic about the 2025-26 season. And the Great Valley boys’ eighth-year head coach didn’t hesitate to say so.

“[We’re] coming off a great year, 8-2 in Ches-Monts,” he said, “and a lot of teams lost players, we lost a lot — but I think we’re better than what we were last year.”

The Patriots won eight of their first nine games last year and finished 15-9 overall, with an 8-2 record in the Ches-Mont’s American division. That was enough for the No. 16 seed in the District 1 6A tournament, but they couldn’t defend their home court against No. 17 Pennsbury in the opening round. 

Off that group, Henry Person is now at the Phelps School for a post-graduate year, while the rest of the GV Class of ‘25 ended their respective athletics careers after high school. 

Only one starter is back — but Chris Woodard is a great piece to start with. 

Now 6-foot-4, the combo guard and younger brother of former Patriots standout/Muhlenberg sophomore Jack Woodard has been playing at a high level all offseason, wherever he’s gone. 

Take his recent showing in the fall league at Shoot Hoops PA (formerly Competitive Edge), where he was named MVP after leading Great Valley into the championship game of a league that also included Archbishop Carroll, Berks Catholic, Plymouth Whitemarsh and more. He scored 41 points in a win over Wissahickon, then helped them to a three-OT win over PW to get to the championship game, which they elected not to play against La Salle after that marathon semifinal. 

“He’s been on a heater for quite a while now,” Savage said. “He really took a big step towards the end of last year, he put in a lot of time and work in over the summer.”

Always a knockdown shooter, Woodard has greatly improved with the ball in his hands, and he’s worked on his athleticism as well; combined with a couple more inches on his frame, he’s now throwing down in-game dunks with regularity. 

“Yeah it’s definitely high,” he said of his confidence level. “I feel like I’ve been in a flow lately where everything’s just going in. Especially from the fall league, my confidence is totally up, and I’m just ready to win a lot of games this season.”

The rest of the Patriots’ roster is mostly unproven, but there’s some real upside, especially from a physical standpoint. 

In the middle, they’ll boast junior Fouad Ismaila, who missed last year for medical reasons but who Savage is counting on to give the Patriots a significant paint presence.

A physical 6-8 center, Ismaila gives them a true rim-protecting threat and glass cleaner, something that the Patriots haven’t had in a while. His presence on the court changes what the rest of the team can do defensively as well. 

“Having a guy with Fouad’s size lets us be more aggressive on the ball because we know he can step up and defend the rim if one of us gets beat,” Woodard said. “He’ll also grab a bunch of rebounds, making it easier for everyone else.”

But he’s not all their size: 6-4 senior Avi Sharma was in the rotation last year; 6-4 senior Marquis Alexander and 6-4 sophomore Jensen Ng join him to give Savage a trio of wing/forwards to utilize at the frontcourt spots. 

Starting at point guard will be 5-10 senior Ben Oswald, who was on the ball for the JV squad a year ago.

“With that size, we’re unpredictable,” Savage said. “Some games we might slow it down, take advantage of our size down there in the post, some days we might spread it out with Chris and Marquis.

“Defense is always key, and with a really good guard, we’ll be unpredictable, so people will really have to plan for us a lot, because we can go inside, we can go outside.”

While Woodard is alone in his amount of varsity experience, there’s a good bit of built-in chemistry through the senior class; Oswald, Sharma, Alexander and Woodard have been teammates since travel basketball in fourth grade. 

“I (tell them) you’ve got to stay focused and be ready,” Woodard said, “but also have fun, and don’t be too nervous, and just play loose. That’s it.”

If the Patriots are going to get off to a hot start this season, they’re going to have to do so in unfriendly territory. The Great Valley boys will play each of their first six on the road, starting with Council Rock South (Dec. 4) and West Chester Henderson (Dec. 4). 

The biggest name on their non-league slate is a visit from defending District 1 6A champion Conestoga on Dec. 22, one of five straight home games after the early road slate, they then play three more on the road before a chance to end strong with six of their last eight at home. 

“Hopefully we can get off to a good start, get home, but yeah, we have a tough schedule, starting on the road,” Savage said. “Come January, we’ll have a sense for where we’re at. The guys have been working hard, putting in a lot of time in the offseason, open gyms, so just looking forward to a great year.”