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Prepping for Preps '16-17: La Salle College HS

10/10/2016, 1:30pm EDT
By Josh Verlin

Matt Paulus (above) and his backcourt partner, Jarrod Stukes, return to lead the way for an otherwise-young La Salle squad. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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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 2016-17 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed so far can be found here.)

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La Salle College HS head coach Joe Dempsey’s message to seniors Jarrod Stukes and Matt Paulus is simple: accelerate time.

Easy enough, right?

But that’s the task that the Explorers’ two returning starters and only two seniors in the projected rotation have, with a talented-but-young roster behind them.

If this La Salle squad is to make amends for last year’s loss to Archbishop Ryan in the Catholic League quarterfinals, breaking a two-year string of appearances in the Palestra for the PCL semis, they’re going to need a large group of sophomores to get a year older in a span of months.

“The key to our season is, can our sophomores act like juniors?” Dempsey said at last months’ West Chester Big 64. “How much can Jarrod and Matt be leaders? I know what they’re going to give us physically, it’s can they make these sophomores into leaders?”

It seems like they’re more than up for the challenge.

As juniors, 5-foot-9 Stukes (10.0 ppg) and 5-11 Paulus (8.8 ppg) did the majority of the ball-handling for the Explorers, who went 17-6 overall, with a 9-4 record in Catholic League play. But they had a senior-laden front court to rely on, including All-PCL First Teamer Ryan McTamney (17.0 ppg) and Shane Stark (7.9 ppg), both bound for Ursinus, and could defer as needed.

Now it’ll be, according to Dempsey, “maybe as many as five or six” sophomores in the rotation who will look up to the two seniors. Both guards know that without their voice in the locker room and on the court, there’s no chance of their final year of high school being a successful one.

“Even though they’re sophomores and they’re still young, I’m telling them they have to have an upperclassman mentality,” Paulus said.

Two sophomores in particular -- Zach Crisler, a 6-8 forward; and Konrad Kizska, a 6-5 wing -- will almost certainly start and represent the brightest part of the Explorers’ future. Luke Baldini, a 6-3 wing; Allen Powell, a 5-10 guard; and Jack Rothenberg, a 6-3 guard, were also mentioned as likely varsity contributors.

The entire class will play a big role in La Salle’s success the next three years.


At 6-foot-8 with an inside-out game, Crisler is one of the area's more promising young prospects. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Both Crisler and Kizska had productive summers playing on the Under Armour Association circuit, albeit with different programs: Crisler with Philly Pride on the UAA’s 15U circuit, where schools and scouts noticed his ability to stretch the floor out to the 3-point arc and his long, athletic frame; Kiszka, playing with Team Rio National on the 16U circuit, was offered by Niagara.

“They’re really, really talented,” Paulus said. “They’ve gained a lot more athleticism, they’re shooting the ball more. They’re not hesitating to do the stuff that they were adjusting to do as a freshmen. They’re confident, they’ll attack the rim, they’ll do all kinds of stuff -- I’m just trying to encourage them to use all their talents that they have.”

Despite their going from little-known sophomores to prospects on the Division I radar, Dempsey has been impressed with the way they’ve responded to the attention.

“They’re not full of themselves, that’s for sure,” he said. “The trick is not to come back thinking you’ve done something just because some college coach is giving you interest, it’s what have you done for La Salle? Neither of them have more than like 20 varsity points*, so look at it that way. There’s a long way to 1,000, you know?

*(Ed. Note: Kiszka has 63, Crisler 39)

Though this Explorers team will be mainly focused on the senior and sophomore classes, there is one junior who will certainly make a big splash in his first year at the school.

Sean Simon, who scored more than 600 points in his freshman and sophomore year at Springside-Chestnut Hill, has enrolled at his father’s alma mater for his last two years of high school. The 6-3 guard gives his team a proven shooter and scorer on the perimeter who can help take pressure off Stukes and Paulus,

“We’re fortunate to have him,” Dempsey said. “He’s definitely going to help space the floor, especially with Jarrod, and if you have he and Paulus out there at the same time, the kid Rothenberg can shoot it, Konrad’s 3’s coming along, Zach obviously can hit 3s, so I think it’s going to be a more difficult team to play us zone than maybe we’ve had in the past.”

If Crisler and Kiszka can take the leap that’s expected of them and Simon can adjust to the level of play in the PCL, this is an Explorers group that could certainly make some noise in the toughest league in the area.

After a loaded Neumann-Goretti and experienced Archbishop Wood, everybody else in the league will have to rely on youth and/or inexperienced players to step forward to challenge for a spot in the league’s semifinals at the legendary Palestra in February.

“I think the Catholic League’s wide-open right now,” Paulus said. “There’s some real good teams, obviously, with Wood and Neumann and all them, but I think we have an opportunity to play in the Palestra if we keep working hard.”


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