City of Basketball Love

Rich Flanagan (@RichFlanagan33)
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Before the 2015-16 season began, Jack Coolahan knew what was going to be expected of him.

He was going to have to be the guy with the ball in his hand late in games. He was going to be counted on to calm a young, inexperienced team when it was struggling and couldn’t find an answer. He was going to have instill what head coach Tony Chapman instilled in him years before into players not familiar with the rigors of the Bicentennial Athletic League or the District 1 playoffs.

Reflecting back on his final season at Holy Ghost Prep (Pa.), Coolahan was pleased with the team’s progression as well as his own.

“I started putting better games together. I gained a lot of confidence and learned a lot from the mistakes I made in my junior season,” Coolahan said. “I definitely made a lot of strides as far as leadership because I never really had to do that before [this year.] Hopefully I can continue that in college."

Coolahan will take the momentum from leading the Firebirds to a 19-7 record and a District 1 Class AAA title to D-III Babson College, a private school in Wellesley, Mass. Coolahan said Babson had been recruiting him since his junior season.

“I never really knew much about them or contacted them but they first saw me at a [prospect camp at Amherst College] over the summer,” Coolahan said. “They were on my list for [much] of fall and [throughout] the season. It finally came down to them and a couple of schools at the end."

He committed to Babson head coach Stephen Brenna and the Beavers in late March over Ursinus, Colby College (Waterville, Maine) and Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio). The Beavers are coming off a Sweet Sixteen appearance and were in the Final Four of the D-III NCAA Tournament the year prior.

Babson’s recent success combined with their high academic standards really appealed to Coolahan, who received BAL All-League First-Team in the Independence Conference and a spot on the Suburban Team in the 29th annual All-Star Labor Classic this year.

“It was one of the more talented, academic schools that I got into. I knew they had a lot of success on the court in recent seasons,” Coolahan said. “It's a pretty high level program so I just wanted to challenge myself both academically and athletically."

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Fleming starts anew at Neumann

For Justin Fleming, choosing where to play at the next level was never solely about proximity.

While it would nice to stay near his family and friends in Northeast Philadelphia as his brother, Eric did for five years at Holy Family, a 45-minute drive down I-95 gives him an opportunity to play the sport he loves and receive a great college experience at the same time.

Fleming committed to play for head coach Jim Rullo and D-III Neumann University on Tuesday. He said being too close would have not allowed him to get the full college experience he longed for.

“I literally live right across the street from Holy Family. The one thing about Eric was he always wanted to stay close to home,” Fleming said. “Trust me I want to be close to home, too, but I really want to get the whole college atmosphere and I think I can get that at Neumann.”

After a season in which he averaged 12.3 points per game, up from 8.8 as a junior, and helped Father Judge (Pa.) reach the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs with a 13-10 record, the 6-foot-2, 185-pound combo guard chose the Knights over Gwynedd-Mercy and Delaware Valley.

“They had been recruiting me ever since my junior year. They’ve always been contacting me and asking what my college interest is,” Fleming said. “They were always my top choice and I’ve always mentioned them. When I first began talking with them, they had everything for my college choice: a catholic school, not [very] big and just a perfect fit for me.”

Neumann (22-8, 14-4 Colonial States Athletic Conference) boasts a wealth of players with Philly roots including former Catholic League Adam Robinson (Monsignor Bonner) and is coming a berth in the CSAC title game where they were upended by Gwynedd-Mercy, one of Fleming’s top choices. The Knights return their top two scorers, DeShawn Lowman (17.6 ppg) and James Butler (16.2), and Fleming knows he still has work to do if he wants to help them pick up where they left off last season.

“I need to get better in every aspect of the game because the game is going to get a lot faster. I need to train myself for that [by] focusing on better footwork and getting faster.”