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

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Chris Clark’s day-to-day responsibilities are vastly different from those he had last season.

This time last year, Clark was in the midst of his ninth season as an assistant coach on the Temple men’s basketball program, a run that included working on staff for Fran Dunphy, Aaron McKie and Adam Fisher. Clark had worked at Campbell University and St. Francis (Pa.) prior to taking an assistant position at his alma mater and his knack for recruiting locally coupled with his acumen in player development made him highly regarded within the profession.

However, his other alma mater, St. Joe’s Prep was looking for a new coach in the spring and after spending over a decade at the Division I level, Clark wanted his own program and what better spot to start than at a place where he starred and reached immense heights during his playing career. Clark officially took over at St. Joe’s Prep in June and instead of being ensconced in basketball every day, he’s involved in aspects of the school that made him who he is.

“A big part of the college coaching curriculum as an assistant is you’re always recruiting,” Clark said. “I think that’s been the biggest change as I’m not on the phone constantly talking to recruits from high school and now certainly with the transfer portal, some college kids. The bigger surprise for me is your hands are involved in everything from fundraising to scheduling to working with counselors as well as proctoring and speaking in classes.”

“Being back here is great and I’ve sat in those students’ shoes before. It’s having your hands in everything as a head coach. You’re never ready for it and it’s different here as it’s not a typical high school but it’s been an awesome experience thus far and I’m ready to start coaching some games.”

Clark starred for the Hawks under William “Speedy” Morris, one of the best coaches in Philadelphia basketball history who amassed 1,035 career wins between his time at Roman Catholic, Penn Charter, St. Joe’s Prep and La Salle men’s and women’s basketball. Furthermore, Morris won eight Philadelphia Catholic League titles including his last two in 2003 and 2004 with Clark as one of his lead guards. Clark was a starter on both those teams with the 2003 team consisting of him, former University of Pennsylvania standout Mark Zoller and current Bucknell head coach John Griffin.

Clark scored 15 points in that ’03 final against Kyle Lowry and Cardinal Dougherty then he was even better against Dougherty the following year, pouring in 25 points as he, Griffin and former Villanova standout Reggie Redding, now a player development coach for the Philadelphia 76ers, dominated in an 84-61 victory at La Salle University. Clark scored 1,239 career points as a member of the Hawks then played four seasons at Temple for the late John Chaney then Dunphy helping the Owls win the Atlantic 10 Tournament title and reach the NCAA Tournament as a senior in 2008.

He fondly remembers all the success those teams had and how he helped vault St. Joe’s Prep to the top of the Philadelphia high school basketball pantheon during those two seasons. He’s back to emulate those days and return the St. Joe’s Prep program to its former glory.

“It changed my life and I know a lot of others feel the same way about this place,” Clark said. “It’s really cool having played for Speedy and the success of that 2003-04 team. It’s been great and truly feels like an alignment with my life and family. It feels right and I’m excited to get started. I love the development piece with student-athletes and getting them better on and off the court. The championships are great and everyone strives for that but coaching the person and making an impact is something I truly enjoy. A place like this gives you all the support you could need. It’s a win-win for me.”

Clark was brought in after Jason Harrigan stepped away following five seasons at the helm which included a 62-42 record and three consecutive Philadelphia Catholic League playoff appearances including a trip to the league semifinals last season, the program’s first since 2018. Last year’s team finished 18-5 overall (12-1 Philadelphia Catholic League), secured the No. 1 overall seed then fell to Father Judge at the Palestra and didn’t qualify for the state tournament. The trio of Jordan Ellerbee (Florida Gulf Coast), Jaron McKie (Dayton) and Olin Chamberlain Jr. (Temple) were key to those three postseason berths and left a lasting impression.

Ellerbee won 2024-25 Philadelphia Catholic League MVP and finished his career with 1,012 points and 108 three-pointers made. McKie was a prolific shooter, finishing with 235 career three-pointers made on 44% shooting from behind the arc and scoring the fourth-most points (1,381) in program history. Chamberlain, the grand-nephew of Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and Philadelphia basketball icon Wilt Chamberlain, accrued 814 points, 260 assists and 123 three-pointers in four seasons. Clark noted “anytime you can make it to the Palestra, that’s a wonderful experience and they had some success throughout the course of the season.”

A historic senior class moved on then Mekhi Robertson, the 85th ranked recruit in the class of 2027 according to 247 Sports who holds offers from Villanova, Oklahoma State and Mississippi State, opted to transfer to SoCal Academy (Cal.) following Harrigan’s departure.

Clark is excited about remaking his alma mater in his image and meeting the expectations that come with rebuilding a roster that is coming off the end of one of its better runs in recent memory.

“It’s a rebuild because of who we lost last year but it’s an opportunity for these guys to step into new roles and start their careers as varsity guys,” Clark said. “We have a lot of talent but they’re young and inexperienced. That’s the challenge for me in keeping these young guys hungry but confident.”

Will Lesovitz is the lone returning starter for the Hawks after averaging 9.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.5 apg and 1.4 spg with 22 three-pointers in 19 games (18 starts) a season ago. The 6-4 senior guard “has brought his leadership and work ethic” to the team and “he’s been on successful teams, and he will be critical to our success.” Julian McKie, the son of the former Temple head men’s basketball coach and NBA Sixth Man of the Year, moves into the starting lineup, and the 6-6 sophomore forward is coming off one of his better games from the end of last season, one in which he went for nine points, four rebounds and three steals. “He’s an absolute stud. He just keeps growing. He’s long and athletic and his game is getting better and better. He’s developing into more of a wing and he’ll be able to play on the perimeter, not just under the basket where they had him playing last year,” according to Clark.

Myles Peterson appeared in 21 games last season the 6-4 junior forward will see time again this year. “We’ll lean on him, too, because he’s been around this program. He knows what successful teams should look and feel like,” as Clark stated.

Justin McKie could be the biggest difference between St. Joe’s Prep needing a few years to get back into contention and speeding up that timeline. The younger brother of Julian is a 6-4 sophomore guard who will lead the team at the point. After only appearing in four games and playing sparingly behind a veteran 2025 class, Justin should see his playing time and production increase dramatically and that could set the Hawks on a path to vie for a playoff spot. Justin’s new head coach thinks very highly of him and believes he could be the key to much of what St. Joe’s Prep does in 2025-26.

“Everyone talks about Jaron and he had an incredible career here then everybody is getting excited about Julian as he has had some really good moments, but Justin is coming along. He’s a point guard at 6-4, 6-5. He’s a big point guard who can really see the floor and has great vision. He can really shoot the ball. I’m excited because people will start mentioning Justin as one of those guys who can be really special in Philadelphia basketball.”

Luke Maransky comes over from St. Augustine (N.J.) and should see time in the backcourt. The 6-foot sophomore guard. The 6-foot sophomore guard avg. 7.6 ppg and made 43 shots from behind the arc as a freshman and can really light it up when given the opportunity as evidenced by his 22-point performance against Wildwood Catholic (N.J.). Two former football players will join Clark’s rotation. Alonzo Ellis is a 6-2 sophomore guard who has transitioned away from the gridiron to the hardwood full-time. He's a skilled lefty and Clark expects “him to play a lot of minutes for us this year.” Jayden Howlett, a 6-1 junior guard whose father, A.J. Howlett played at Neumann-Goretti from 1993-95, played football his first two years and after playing on JV last year, he’s being bumped up to varsity to contend for minutes. The South Philadelphia native will be a crucial part of St. Joe’s Prep’s success this season.

St. Joe’s Prep opens the season on Nov. 29 against Upper Dublin. Some additional nonleague matches to watch include Coatesville, Parkland and Gonzaga (D.C.). The Hawks open the Philadelphia Catholic League slate on Jan. 2 against Conwell-Egan. The Hawks are looking to recapture that championship spirit and build the consistency that made them so accomplished during Clark’s time as a player. Clark understands it will take time and that’s why he feels he was the right man for the job.

“I’m competitive and I want to win championships. That’s the standard of excellence of this place,” Clark said. “The football program has set such a high bar for athletic excellence and when Speedy was here, he did such an outstanding job of taking over a program and building a championship caliber team year in and year out. It starts with the people you have in your program. I’m trying to make a difference in their lives, not just as basketball players but people. If we do that, wins and championships will come.”

It's a new era for the Hawks and with one of its more successful alumni leading the way, don't be surprised if the trajectory changes early by beating the better teams in the Philadelphia Catholic League.

“I want to play fast and with pace. We’re going to spread it out and use the whole floor offensively. We’ll attack the paint and try to get layups which in turn should open up threes. It’s the modern game of basketball with space and pace. We want to do those things, and we have concepts we’ll play out of. Teaching guys how to play rather than call a bunch of set plays is how I want them to play. We’re going to be very versatile. On the defensive side, we’ll play a lot of man-to-man. People have been asking me about the matchup zone we played here with Speedy and I don’t know if I’m there yet. I want to press with a lot of the athleticism we have.”