City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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As a freshman on Malvern Prep’s football team, Isaac White got into only one varsity game, spending most of his time split between the JV and freshman teams.

Safe to say, he’ll have a much larger impact on the varsity level in his first high school basketball season.

A 6-foot-tall, 165-pound guard, White had an impressive debut for Malvern Prep, leading his team with 25 points in an 83-57, season-opening win at Friends’ Central on Wednesday afternoon.

“I feel great,” he said afterwards. “I was nervous in the beginning but at the same time, excited to play. It’s great being out there, it’s a lot of fun.”

Part of a Friars rotation that went 10 deep the majority of the game, White made his first entrance three minutes in, part of a four-man swap by head coach John Harmatuk. He immediately made his presence felt on the defensive end, putting pressure on the Friends’ Central ball-handlers in what was a turnover-filled contest.

White had four steals in the first half to help his team up to a 34-30 advantage at the midpoint, and finished with no fewer than seven swipes of his own while also creating several opportunities for his teammates.

“He has a non-stop motor, he gets his hands on everything,” Harmatuk said. “We chart deflections, and it might be a record. I don’t know how many it was, but it had to have been double figures. His effort is just incredible.”

The Pottstown native turned on his offensive game in the third quarter, scoring 10 during a decisive frame that saw Malvern Prep (1-0) expand the lead from four to 22.

By the end of the game, even he was surprised with his point total.

“I saw I was making shots,” White said, “I didn’t know I had that many.”

White is only one piece of an impressive freshman class that’s going to be a huge part of the Malvern Prep future. Deuce Turner (11 points) and Rahdir Hicks (3 points) both earned the start; Spencer Cochran joined White in playing big minutes off the bench, chipping in four points.

Harmatuk doesn’t expect any one of the freshmen to stand out more than any other this season, but instead thinks each will have their turn to shine throughout the year.

“We need to know that it’s going to be somebody different every single night, and the way to do that, it’s a cliche but play for your teammates,” he said. “I thought everybody was cheering on the bench, the energy was great.”

Junior forward Bill Corcoran added 17 points for the Friars, who also got 15 from senior guard Tommy Wolfe, one of two returning starters along with fellow senior Ray Baran.

Friends’ Central (0-1), which graduated two Division I players in DeAndre Hunter (Virginia) and Chuck Champion (Loyola) started one freshman and played one more as part of a lineup that only returned one starter, senior guard Antone Walker.

Walker was just about the only Phoenix player to have his game going offensively, chipping in more than half of his team's scoring with 29 points. Junior wing Justin Steers struggled with fouls and scored 11 points before fouling out early in the fourth quarter.

As would be expected from a game with so many underclassmen, it was often choppy, with turnovers and fouls plaguing both sides from the get-go.

“it was sloppy,” Harmatuk said, “but sloppy kind of favors us, so I’m okay with that.”

White, who plays wideout and safety on the gridiron, certainly has football in his blood. His father, Vince White, played running back at Stanford and eventually in the USFL after being picked in the sixth round of the 1983 NFL Draft by the New York Jets.

At this point, it’s too early to tell which sport will take up the majority of the time in Isaac White’s future.

“I have the same love for both of them,” he said.