City of Basketball Love

Ari Rosenfeld (@realA_rosenfeld)
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When Jalen Brunson first became a national name, shooting up recruiting lists to become the top-ranked point guard in his class, he did so as a high school player in the suburbs of Chicago.

Brunson’s prep exploits are well-known: he captured a state championship his senior year and scored 58 points in a losing effort in the previous year’s state championship game, was named Illinois’ Mr. Basketball, made the McDonald’s All-American game, and was MVP of 2015 FIBA U19 World Championships.

Beforehand, however, Brunson spent the better part of his childhood growing up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, just across the bridge from Philadelphia, as his father Rick wrapped up an 11-year career playing professional basketball.

That made 16th-ranked Villanova’s 77-57 win over Penn a reunion of sorts, with Brunson matching up against fellow point guard and old friend Jake Silpe, a Cherry Hill East graduate and a freshman for the Quakers.

The two admittedly lost touch for a while after Brunson left the area, but have recently rekindled their relationship since becoming counterparts in the Big 5.

“I remember playing him when I was little, then he moved over to Chicago," Silpe said. "I saw him about a week ago back in Cherry Hill, but it’s good to play against him and see what he really is. He’s a real good player and I love that matchup."

While Brunson stole the show with 22 points--20 in the second half--and five assists, Silpe bounced back from a DNP-CD in the Quakers’ previous game against Drexel to dish out six assists against just one turnover in 25 minutes of action.

“It felt nice playing against an old friend,” said Brunson. “We had a real good relationship. We played with each other and against each other. Seeing him on the other side was different but it was fun to play against him.”

Both Brunson and Silpe came into their respective seasons as their teams’ top-ranked recruits, with Silpe having been coveted by nearly the entire Ivy and Patriot leagues as well as several other mid-major programs before committing to Penn. When their teams started play on November 13th, both found themselves starting at the point guard spot in their first collegiate games.

Since then, however the pair’s seasons have gone quite differently.

Brunson has fit in seamlessly to Villanova’s guard-oriented, drive-and-kick offense, averaging nearly 11 points per game and dishing out an average of just over three assists. His early-season play has cemented his reputation as a potential NBA prospect should he choose to leave the Main Line early.

Silpe, on the other hand, has lost his starting spot amidst offensive struggles, as he’s averaged just 3.1 points on 26 percent shooting in his young career. His minutes had slowly dwindled over the last several games, culminating with the Drexel game in which he didn’t see any action.

Matched up against each other for the first time in years, though, the local products both turned in their best efforts of the season, Brunson posting a career-high in points and Silpe doing the same in assists.

Brunson made the Wildcats’ only three-pointer of the night, but did most of his work in the lane, driving by Penn defenders and finishing well around the rim.

“They were just trying to take [the three-pointer] away and we just read them differently and we got inside and got in the paint,” said Brunson, who got to the foul line 10 times. “They were just playing us one-on-one and I was just being aggressive, then they were fouling me and I was making free throws.”

His second-half scoring spree was the most noticeable aspect of his game, but it was a different aspect of Brunson’s performance that most impressed his coach.

“[His scoring] isn't as encouraging as the way he started the game defensively,” Villanova head coach Jay Wright said. “We know he can [score] and there’s gonna be some nights we need him to do it, but every night we’re gonna need him to defend and play hard, and he really started the game great.”

On the opposing side, Silpe looked much more confident on the floor than he has in previous games, even dishing a couple of the no-look dimes that Cherry Hill East fans had grown accustomed to in recent years.

Perhaps most notable was that in a game which they lost by 20 points, the Quakers actually outscored Villanova by five in Silpe’s 25 minutes of action; no other Penn player had a positive plus/minus.

“I was really pleased and I’m really happy for him,” said Penn head coach Steve Donahue. “Certain kids, when you recruit them, you hope they have ‘it’, whatever that ‘it’ is. That kid has ‘it’. He really competes. I’m trying to help him through this rough time with the offense in terms of scoring, but he competes defensively, he competes for loose balls, he has a good feel for the game, he finds guys.”

Both young players should figure heavily into their teams’ futures as the Wildcats and Quakers enter their respective conference seasons; Villanova will host sixth-ranked Xavier in its Big East opener on New Year’s Eve, while Penn opens Ivy League play on January 9th against archrival Princeton.

It’s said that it’s always nice to see a familiar face, so if Donahue and Wright get their way, both of their freshman point guards will be able to use their reunion as a springboard into conference play.