City of Basketball Love

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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Before Jake Forrester ever stepped on the court last Saturday afternoon — and even after he polished off another productive effort — he was in a hurry.

Actually, the 18-year-old had people to see. Mom, Dad and other family members, not to mention friends from his suburban Harrisburg neighborhood who’d come to see him play for this ridiculously good Westtown club that was in town for a game.

And what made last weekend’s game even more meaningful for the 6-9 Westtown junior forward is, unless those same family members and friends traveled to catch one of his earlier outings, they hadn’t seen him play in nearly two years.

Not since the talented big man left Central Dauphin High School following his sophomore year for western Pennsylvania’s Kiski Prep.

One year later, he’s playing at the opposite end of the Keystone State for one of the best high school basketball teams in the United States — and alongside some remarkably talented teammates.

“It’s always fun,” said the amiable Forrester, who received a nice ovation from the packed house at Camp Hill's Trinity High School when his name was introduced before Westtown’s tip against Timber Creek (N.J.). “That means maybe at the next level when I’m in college and for home games people will drive down to come see me.

“But it’s always great to have all my friends around here at home.”

While Forrester thrilled his family and friends by scoring 15 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, dealing one assist and redirecting three shots in Westtown’s 75-57 victory, the rapidly expanding profile that’s constantly in play these days wasn’t always there.

Yet while playing alongside the likes of 6-6 Arizona recruit Brandon Randolph, uncommitted 7-0 senior Mo Bamba, flashy 6-8 junior lead guard Cameron Reddish and 6-9 Stony Brook signee Anthony Ochefu might have been a bit intimidating at first, Forrester is now one of Westtown’s highly productive regulars.

He’s also gathering all sorts of steam with the college recruiters, as his number of Division I scholarship offers has grown with every transition jam or redirected shot he authors as Seth Berger’s powerful Moose (25-2) roll into yet another weekend.

Not too shabby for a fundamentally sound big man with all sorts of agility, want-to and a remarkably high motor who expected to be hopping off the bench since Westtown anticipated having 6-5 senior Najja Hunter plugged in alongside Randolph, Bamba, Reddish and Ochefu. When Hunter left last summer for St. Benedict’s (N.J.) Prep, that presented an opportunity for Forrester to be on the floor for the opening tip

Didn't take long for Forrester to take advantage of a gold-plated opportunity.

“Coming in and earning my starting spot, it took some work,” Forrester admitted. “I started the first home game, but fitting in was a problem at first at the beginning of the games having three high-major players — Mo, Cam and Brandon.

“They were the big three coming into games,” a grinning Forrester added, “but now with my stock on the rise it’s Mo, Cam, Brandon and me now.”

Let’s just say Berger is mighty pleased Forrester decided to relocate east.

“When that kid left — we found out he was leaving in August, but he decided to leave before then — so Jake walks into a starting role,” said Berger, who guided Westtown to its first Pennsylvania Independent School (PAISAA) championship last February. “There were a couple things that were interesting about that.

“One is I don’t know that Jake knew that he’s as good as he is. So when Jake came to Westtown, he had offers at Stony Brook and North Florida,” Berger added. “After he committed, he got offers from Penn State and Temple. And now he’s got offers from Indiana and Kansas State and, quite frankly, you can see that Jake’s best basketball is still ahead of him — so he’s improved a ton.

“I think in the first couple weeks, he was like, ‘Wow, these kids are really good, I’m not sure I’m good enough to be here.’ Then once he figured out how good he is, [it was like] ‘Oh wow! Look out.’ He’s got a post move. He’s got a counter. He’s got a 3-point shot. He could always catch, he’s got great hands and he’s always played hard so he’s started to put some skill with the effort. He’s gonna be a heck of a player.”

Last weekend at Trinity, in front of his personal cheering section, Forrester put his rapidly improving offensive skill set on display while digging in defensively and running the floor whenever the Moose were able to crank up their transition attack.

Forrester pocketed six first-half points, two by canning a pair of free throws, two more on a flush set up by a slick Reddish delivery and another deuce on a layup preceded by yet another of Reddish’s nine assists. Up by two after one quarter, Westtown’s 11-for-12 effort from the floor in the second had the Moose leading 42-23 at halftime.

“Cam’s a great point guard,” Forrester said, referring to Reddish. “He always looks for the open man, not selfish at all. But he scores when he can score.

“And he can score at will.”

Forrester came back after the break, flashing his range early by knocking down a 3-pointer before tacking on six points in the fourth quarter on a stickback, slick finger roll and another slam dunk that had the crowd roaring its approval.

Quite simply, Forrester was just doing what he does.

“College coaches love me because of my energy,” said Forrester, who right now has 15 or 16 Division I scholarship offers with more likely on the way. “I’m always attacking the rim, rebounding on both ends, it’s the little things they look at like that which leads to me scoring points and blocking shots and just me being successful.

“High majors are coming in, so this summer should be really fun.”

Energy matters to the guys in charge — regardless of the level.

So, too, do fundamentals.

“Jake’s basics, his building blocks, are really strong,” added Berger. “And the other thing that I love about coaching Jake is his effort level is somewhere between a 9 and a 10 out of 10 every single possession, every single game.

“I haven’t seen Jake take a minute off,” Berger continued. “So having a kid who’s as big as he is, runs as hard as he does, has hands like he does and you don’t have to tell him to play harder, Man, that’s a great kid to coach and a great teammate to have.”

Helps explain why Forrester is so pleased to have made his latest move.

Not only is Forrester enjoying himself playing alongside his ridiculously talented teammates every time they step on the floor — whether at their West Chester home or at some highly regarded out-of-town event — but he’s also extremely aware of how much his latest hoops-related move could benefit him in the not-so-distant future.

Also was a plus to play just a few minutes from home.

“It’s been a blast,” Forrester admitted. “Just enjoying the ride.

“Can’t wait to play next year and finish out this year.”