City of Basketball Love

Stephen Pianovich (@SPianovich)
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Roman Catholic is still on the search for its next head coach, but whoever is named the next Cahillite leader will not be the only new face playing a big role in purple and gold next season.

The program lost four starters from a team that won both the Philadelphia Catholic League and Pennsylvania Class AAAA championships during the 2015-16 campaign, but Philly basketball fans got a glimpse of what could be a big part of the Cahillites future at last week’s All-City Classic.

Roman Catholic’s pair of rising sophomores Mikeal Jones and Seth Lundy both played in the all-star game, showing two potential pieces to build around as the page turns to a new chapter of basketball at the school on the corner of Broad and Vine.

Jones could be one of Roman’s go-to scorers next season with the team’s top three options – Lamar Stevens, Tony Carr and Nazeer Bostick – all heading up to Penn State for their initial collegiate seasons.

Jones, a 6-foot-7 forward who is already garnering D-I interest and has a Penn State offer, will likely remind Cahillite fans most of Lamar Stevens. He certainly showed a similar scoring ability last week when he went off for 18 points to lead the 2019 Non-Public team.

It was one of the major signs this offseason that Jones will be ready for a larger scoring role next season.

“I don’t really put too much pressure on myself, so I won’t really feel that too much,” Jones said. “I know I’m going to have a bigger role, but I’m ready to help us go out and try to win another championship.”

It’s not like Jones was glued to the bench all of last season under former coach Chris McNesby. The then-freshman was sixth on the team in scoring with 132 points (4.3 ppg) and filled in as a starter in the middle of the season when forward Paul Newman was out with an injury.

D’Andre Vilmar (6.0 ppg) and Dakquan Davis (4.8 ppg) are both set to be seniors next season at Roman and will play major roles alongside Jones and Lundy in the new era of Cahillite basketball. There will be different faces, but those players are hoping to maintain the level of play Roman is accustomed to.

“It’s going to have some new challenges, of course. But yeah, you can say it’s a new era,” Jones said. “Some big time players are gone, those seniors have graduated and we’re getting a new coach. It’s going to be a new-looking program.”

And while those seniors and McNesby won’t be with the program both their on-court and off-court presences will be remembered.

“We always had to be better at practice, which was a good thing for us,” said Lundy, a 6-4 wing. “Going up against guys like Tony Carr and Lamar Stevens, they made us better. I think next year we’ll be ready.”

Added Jones: “They taught me what it means to play hard all game. Every time they went out there I knew they wanted to play their hearts out, and that’s what they wanted me to do. That’s how you compete and get better.”