City of Basketball Love

Chris Stewart (@CStewTU)
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Basketball was not Seth Pinkney’s favorite sport when he was growing up in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. But due to his tall frame and standing out from the bunch at a young age, Pinkney ended up taking people’s advice and decided to give basketball a try.

“It kind of came along being tall, made people push me towards it growing up,” Pinkney said.

It’s a good thing they did.

Pinkney, who currently stands at 6-foot-10 as a rising high school junior, is slated for a bigger role for his Archbishop Wood squad at the varsity level this season after spending his first two years developing his body and his game.

Wood’s fourth-year head coach, John Mosco, has been a big part of Pinkney’s rise since he arrived as a freshman. Mosco knew that it was going to be a challenge to breed Pinkney, a stick-thin 6-7 freshman, into a viable player for his team, but knew the risk was small compared to the potential reward.

“He was a big-time project as a freshman...he didn’t play much, he sat out and just watched,” Mosco said.  “He got better and the summer after freshman year he played at Team Philly, really progressed and got a lot better. He just keeps spring-boarding.”

Pinkney, who recorded six blocks in a win over Imhotep in JTBL action last Thursday night, prides himself on the defensive end of the court the most.  Along with the six blocks, Pinkney recorded seven points and eight rebounds to help keep Archbishop Wood undefeated in JTBL play.

“My goal is 10 blocks and if more that’s even greater. I mostly try to do 10, ” Pinkney said. “I am going for 10-10-10, (a) triple double next year.”

With offense being his biggest weakness as of now, Pinkney has plans on hitting the weight room with his coaches to get bigger, to be able to compete more in the paint with the other PCL bigs like Villanova-bound Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree (Neumann-Goretti).

Mosco has been a huge help to Pinkney with making the strides to improve his craft offensively.

“Coach Mosco has been helping me with my post moves around the rim, the assistant coaches have been helping me the whole way since freshman year, he’s been making me an even better player than I am right now,” Pinkney said. “We have a great coach. I love working with him, I love playing for him.”

Pinkney received his first D-I scholarship this spring, from Coppin State University. Despite being thrilled with the offer, the offer just makes Pinkney hungrier to go out and prove why he deserves offers from even better schools.

“Getting my first offer was a good experience, that just pushed me to want to get more offers,” he said. “I know it’s a good school, but I want to get something better than that.”

Archbishop Wood recorded a 14-10 record last season, and the Vikings have expectations to make a push for a spot at the Palestra next season in the PCL semifinals. With several key players returning like guards Collin Gillespie, Matt Cerruti and Tyree Pickron, plus Pinkney and others, the sky's the limit for how far this team can climb in the PCL standings.

For this to be possible, Mosco believes that a lot is going to depend on Pinkney’s improvements he makes going into the season.

Pinkney has acknowledged that his footwork around the rim is a work in progress, along with his overall strength. Playing a lot this summer is a step in the right direction, Mosco believes.

“He is getting a lot of work in with us and his AAU team, Team Philly. Those guys do a great job with him, he is working like five days a week with both programs, so he’s progressing and getting a lot better since he’s walked in the door,” Mosco said.

There’s certainly a few things in common in terms of playing style between Pinkney and recent Philadelphia 76ers rookie standout Nerlens Noel. Pinkney runs the floor like the big man and alters shots on the defensive end, even if he is not blocking them. Offense remains both of their biggest weakness as well, with most of their points coming off lobs and layups at the rim.

Mosco would love for Pinkney to keep up the style of play like Noel does, playing with a lot of heart and energy night in and night out.

“If he can be like (Noel) that would be really good,” Mosco said. “We are looking for him to attack and just block all the shots he can, you know just be a presence on the defensive end.”

Mosco was excited after the JTBL game, seeing the development his big man is making. Mosco believes the best is yet to come for his center.

“He’s getting better, he’s getting stronger, he’s coming into his own right now,” Mosco said.