Photos: Zack Beavers, Jeremy Park, Kathy Leister, Mike Nance & Lennie Malmgren
By: Rich Flanagan
PHILADELPHIA – Robert Wright III’s career at Neumann-Goretti will be mentioned in the breadth as so many of the impeccable guards who began as unknowns but transformed into legitimate Division I prospects. What makes Wright’s tenure with the Saints even more amazing is the fact that he did a whole lot in a little over two seasons.
In his very first varsity game, he converted the game-winning layup at the buzzer to beat La Salle during the COVID-19 shortened season and that set in motion a career that would take him to the top of the basketball landscape, both locally and nationally.
Neumann-Goretti head coach Carl Arrigale - PSD Photo by Kathy Leister
Carl Arrigale has won nine state championships and 12 Philadelphia Catholic League championships during his time at Neumann-Goretti, and molded the likes of Quade Green, Antonio “Scoop” Jardine, Tony Chennault, Lamarr “Fresh” Kimble, Ja’Quan Newton, and countless others. His recipe for success has started and ended with great guard play and Wright became the next in a long line of sensational backcourt players who turned their passion and pedigree for the game into memorable careers and, ultimately, college scholarships. Wright continued that unprecedented trend for Arrigale.
“He’s been a big part of our success and left a pretty good legacy in his time,” Arrigale said. “He has performed at a high level.”
Wright has been named Pa. All-State Class 4A Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, becoming the first Neumann-Goretti player to be named all-state player of the year in back-to-back years since Green in 2015-16 and 2016-17. Green scored 1,853 career points and won four straight PIAA state titles under Arrigale before going on to play at Kentucky and Washington. He has spent time with various teams in the NBA G-League and is currently playing for Centauros de Portuguesa of the Venezuelan League.
Wright had the unflappable ability to deliver late in games and Arrigale admired that he was looking to take command at that point in the game when some players shy away from the moment.
“He didn’t always succeed but he wasn’t afraid to fail,” Arrigale said. “He had his share of both good and bad, but the fact that he never shied away from a moment is going to suit him well in basketball and life, in general, because he’s not afraid to go for it. A lot of those times, especially late in games, he wanted it on his shoulders, and he was able to get some of those late buckets.”
The 6-foot point guard who is committed to Baylor averaged 23.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.2 steals while shooting 45.8 percent from the field. He consistently found ways to get into the lane and finish over bigger defenders but when they backed off, he regularly made them pay by hitting 67 three-pointers, fourth-most in the Philadelphia Catholic League.
Pa. All-State Class 4A Player of the Year, Robert Wright #2 - PSD Photo by Zack Beavers
A season after having a postseason where he avg. 21.8 ppg in leading the Saints to the Philadelphia Catholic League and PIAA 4A titles, Wright found himself leading the charge to appearances in both title games for the second straight season but unfortunately came up short.
He converted game-winning baskets in consecutive games against Cardinal O’Hara and Archbishop Ryan in the regular season then turned it on once again in the playoffs, starting with 36-point outburst – a Neumann-Goretti playoff record - against Archbishop Carroll in the league quarterfinals then in the District 12-4A title game over Overbrook he topped that by going for a all-time program-record 43 points, one that had stood since 1961. He accounted for half of the Saints’ points in that game by going 19-for-27 from the floor with five three-pointers. He scored 33 versus Bethlehem Catholic in the second round of the state tournament then capped off the season with 27 points in a 62-58 loss to Lincoln Park in the PIAA 4A final.
Over the course of the last two seasons, Wright has scored 20 or more points 33 times and furthermore he only scored in single digits once. He was as dynamic a lead guard that Arrigale has ever coached and led Neumann-Goretti to 47 wins in this two-year span. He finished his career with 1,213 points, 10th on the all-time scoring list. As he heads to Montverde Academy (Fla.) to play his final high school season, he finished ahead of Kimble, D.J. Rivera, and Earl Pettis, and just behind former Syracuse forward Rick Jackson.
Pa. All-State Class 4A Player of the Year, Robert Wright #2 - PSD Photos by Zack Beavers
Jackson was the guy who demanded attention in the middle for several years in the black and gold, and Sultan Adewale played that very same role alongside a flurry of talented guards.
The 6-8 senior forward and All-State 4A First Team selection got stronger and more aggressive throughout his two-year stint with Neumann-Goretti. The London native bound for Iona University to play for Tobin Anderson did everything inside for the Saints by avg. 14.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks, and shooting 58.9 percent from the floor. He finished through contact in the post and showcased his array of moves while controlling the glass and rejecting shots on the defensive end. Adewale led the team in rebounds (299), blocks (57) and double-doubles (15), with five of those coming in the state tournament where he avg. 15.2 ppg and 12.4 rebounds.
He closed out his career with 10 points and 11 rebounds in the state title game after posting 10 & 7 in last year’s state championship victory against Quaker Valley. He physically matured in his two seasons in South Philadelphia and played against some of the better bigs in the area such as Thomas Sorber (Archbishop Ryan), Carson Howard (Archbishop Wood) and Shareef Jackson (Roman Catholic). He became a more compelling prospect as he expanded his range by knocking down 14 three-pointers in two seasons. He hoisted 33 total as a senior, showing his willingness to work his way out to the perimeter and find space when the defense clogged the lane on him.
All-State 4A First Team Selection Sultan Adewale #11 - PSD Photos by Zack Beavers & Jeremy Park
Arrigale noted that Adewale fit the mold of past Neumann-Goretti big men who displayed steady improvement within the program from Danny and Derrick Stewart to Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree to Marcus Littles.
“He made great strides this year,” Arrigale said. “To his credit, he kept getting better and better. Rob gets a lot of the accolades, but I don’t know what we would’ve done if we didn’t have Sultan. He was the one guy in our program that we just didn’t have a replacement for. He remained healthy and stayed out of foul trouble, and he was a stalwart. He was probably our most important player on a game-to-game basis.”
Khaafiq Myers finally received the recognition he deserves by being selected All-State 4A Second Team, despite missing eight games with a nagging ankle injury that hampered him throughout the season. With Wright, Adewale and Myers making the all-state team, this marks the first time since 2019-20 that Neumann-Goretti had three players selected. That year, Jordan Hall, Hakim Byrd and Hysier Miller made the team after leading the Saints to the league championship before the pandemic ended the state tournament.
PA All-State 4A Second Team selection - Khaafiq Myers #3 - PSD Photos by Zack Beavers
The 5-11 junior guard boasts offers from UMass, La Salle, Wichita State, Temple, George Washington, North Carolina A&T, St. Joe’s, NJIT and Drexel. More importantly, he avg. 11.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.3 steals per game. His best attributes are his court vision to find players in open spots, particularly on corner threes, and defensive instincts as he continually turns steals into layups and run outs at the other end. He is becoming more confident in his jumper, as evidenced by his 17 three-pointers, and shot 43 percent from the field overall this season. With Wright moving on and Adewale graduating, he will be the unquestioned leader of Arrigale’s team, and the hope is that the ankle injuries will no longer be an issue as the program looks to return to its rightful place at the top of the Philadelphia Catholic League.
“First and foremost, I hope he can have one healthy season because I think everyone will be able to see what he’s really capable of,” Arrigale said. “He was in and out of the lineup. He’s a fierce competitor and a guy who can make an impact at both ends of the floor. He makes his teammates better at the offensive end and can be help defensively. The health issue didn’t allow him to do that to the fullest, yet he did that better than most guards in the state.”
Cardinal O’Hara enjoyed two of its most successful seasons in program history thanks in part to the outstanding player of Izaiah Pasha. The 6-5 guard arrived from Central Dauphin East and all he did was lead the Lions to consecutive Philadelphia Catholic League quarterfinal berths as well as the first two PIAA state tournament appearances ever. He avg. 17.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.4 blocks as a senior, and was the epitome of a stat-sheet stuffer throughout his career. He recorded eight double-doubles this season, with one of those being a 34-point and 10-rebound performance against Audenried in a PIAA District 12 Class 4A Tournament seeding game.
Pa All-State Class 4A First-Team Selection, Izaiah Pasha #4 - PSD Photos by Mike Nance
His length and athleticism allowed him to grow into a Division I prospect with offers from St. Joe’s, Siena, La Salle, George Washington, VCU and Xavier rolling in as his play improved. He initially committed to Iona but pulled out of his national letter of intent following Rick Pitino’s departure for St. John’s, and reclassified to the class of 2024 with a location for a prep year yet to be determined. His wingspan and vertical leap allow him to finish above the rim as well as block and alter shots as a versatile defender. It also gives him the ability to shoot over defenders as he made 66 three-pointers in the last two seasons.
Ryan Nemetz, who stepped down as head coach at Cardinal O’Hara in March following the team’s exit in the state tournament, has high praise for Pasha and how he changed the direction of the program in a short time span.
“He’s probably one of the most talented kids in recent memory at O’Hara,” Nemetz said. “His talent, especially in the Catholic League and the state, was unmatched. When he came in, people didn’t think he could play in the league, but he wanted to take on the challenge and he put in a ton of work on the court while maturing off it.”
Two seasons ago, Dean Coleman-Newsome was in the midst of rehabbing for not one but two major knee surgeries that caused him to miss all of his sophomore season. The 6-4 guard burst onto the scene as a freshman on a team featuring John Camden (Virginia Tech), Anquan Hill (St. Bonaventure) and Tairi Ketner (Albany) then was forced to sit on the sideline for an entire season. He returned stronger and more physically prepared to take on the gauntlet that the Philadelphia Catholic League would throw at him. His reintegration into the lineup yielded a league playoff appearance followed by the program’s first trip to the state semifinals since 2015 when Derrick Jones Jr. was at the peak of his dominance.
PA All-State Class 4A Third-Team Selection, Dean Coleman-Newsome #4 - PSD Photos by Lennie Malmgren
After former teammate Moses Hipps moved on to play at McEachern (Ga.), it was Coleman-Newsome’s time to exhibit that prowess that made him a regular contributor throughout his two seasons of high school basketball. He avg. 15.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals while shooting 46.9 percent from the floor and sinking 37 three-pointers as the Patriots fell to Neumann-Goretti on the road in the league quarterfinals.
Archbishop Carroll head coach Francis Bowe noted that even though the Patriots put together an improbable run to the state semifinals during Coleman-Newsome’s junior season, he wasn’t nearly close to what he could be as a player since he was still very much getting acclimated with so many aspects of the game.
“Even during that run, he didn’t feel like himself,” Bowe said. “He said, ‘I can get better,’ and his body transformed. At 5:00 a.m., he’s at Carroll getting shots up and the janitor lets him in. He goes to class and has a 4.0 GPA then has practice. He’s not eating any sugar then he’s doing things like hot yoga on the weekends. He’s resourceful because he had personal achievements and goals he wanted to meet. When his career ended, he didn’t want people to look back and think, ‘Ahh, what a shame that kid had a knee injury.’”
He will certainly not be the player people remember for having a knee injury as he was integral to three Philadelphia Catholic League and PIAA state playoff appearances. He finished his career with 972 points and heads to play at Chipola College (Fla.), a top D1 JUCO that has produced a wealth of talent in recent years.
Meleek Thomas and Brandin Cummings led Lincoln Park to the state title and a 30-1 record. Cummings – bound for Pittsburgh – avg. 23.1 ppg and made 75 three-pointers this season. The 6-4 junior guard scored 25 points in the state final and has scored 1,482 career points. Thomas, who scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter of the state final including the game-winning floater with 11.1 seconds left, has developed into one of the top prospects in the class of 2024. After avg. 24.9 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists, Thomas holds offers from Kentucky, Villanova, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, and Kansas State, to name a few. Laurel Highlands senior Rodney Gallagher is headed to play football at West Virginia but he could’ve pursued basketball and with good reason. The 6-foot guard 21.7 points and led the Mustangs to an 82-18 record in his career, which culminated with 2,035 points.
2022-23 Pa. All-State Class 4A Boys Basketball Team
First Team
Robert Wright III 6’ junior Neumann-Goretti
Brandin Cummings 6’ 4” junior Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter
Meleek Thomas 6’ 4” sophomore Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter
Rodney Gallagher 6’ senior Laurel Highlands
Sultan Adewale 6’8” senior Neumann-Goretti
Izaiah Pasha 6’5” senior Cardinal O’Hara
Second Team
Max Hurray 6’ 1” junior North Catholic
Jake Karnish 6’ 2” senior Fleetwood
Bryce Epps 6’ senior South Allegheny
Keondre DeShields 6’ 3” senior Laurel Highlands
Khaafiq Myers 5’ 11” junior Neumann-Goretti
Elijah Hamilton 6’ 5” senior Octorara (tie)
Duce Jackson 6’ 6” senior Collegium Charter (tie)
Third Team
Cole Miller 6’ 3” senior Clearfield Area
Austin Bausman 6’ 4” senior Eastern York
Nyerre Collins 5’ 10” senior Greater Johnstown
Bradyn Foster 6’ 8” junior Highlands
Dean Coleman-Newsome 6’ 4” senior Archbishop Carroll (tie)
Zach Kirk 6’ junior Octorara (tie)
Zion Moore 5’ 11” sophomore Belle Vernon Area (tie)
Player of the Year: Robert Wright III, Neumann-Goretti
Coach of the Year: Mike Bariski, Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter