Roman Catholic coach Chris McNesby’s search for a starting five marks a unique preseason

Roman Catholic has another tough act to follow this season after securing a Catholic League basketball championship and making a run to the state title game in 2022-23.

However, this year’s starting five will have a new look. Point guard Xzayvier Brown (17.0 points, 4.6 assists) and forward Anthony Finkley (8.4 ppg, 4.8 rebounds) graduated and are now freshmen at St. Joseph’s. Jermai Stewart-Herring (13.2 ppg) and Erik Oliver-Bush (8.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg) transferred to prep schools.

That leaves junior Shareef Jackson to lead the charge as the Cahillites attempt to repeat last year’s success.

“First of all, Xzayvier Brown made it look pretty easy. I’m not going to lie, it’s pretty tough,” Jackson said about taking over a leadership role. “But I feel like with the new and younger guys coming onto the team, it’s a complete wipe, so we can start to build our own team a little bit.”

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Jackson, a 6-foot-8 forward, is heading into his third year at the varsity level. He averaged 10.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks in 2022-23 to earn second-team All-Catholic League honors as Roman went 27-4 overall and 11-2 in the league.

The team will run through Jackson both on and off the court.

“He’s excited for it,” said coach Chris McNesby. “He’s improved and he’s gotten a lot better. He’s put in a lot of time working on his game, and he played a really good role for us the last two years. And now, even though he’s a junior, this kind of becomes his team a little bit. He’s still learning how to be a leader, but he’s got leadership qualities.”

Senior guard Robert Cottrell (6.2 ppg) was the team’s top option off the bench before stepping into the starting lineup during last season’s postseason run.

Junior 6-1 guard Will Felder, a standout cornerback on the football team, played in 24 games, including six starts late in the season, and junior 6-3 wing Sebastian Edwards played in 19 games. Shareef Jackson’s younger brother Sammy, a 6-5 guard/wing, looks poised to take a leap after being a swing player on last year’s team.

That group got some playing time during the team’s state playoff run as Stewart-Herring and Oliver-Bush were not eligible because of PIAA rules.

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As a senior point guard, Cottrell will also be looked upon beside Jackson to steady the ship at times.

“It’s going to be a little challenging,” Cottrell said. “But when we get locked in, it’s going to be good.”

The Cahillites have rolled out top-heavy lineups with bona fide Division I talent over the last two seasons. After going with a rotation that went about six deep, McNesby said, this group’s depth could make it unique.

“Our preseason is going to be really big,” he said. “Just getting guys experience and jelling and then believing in each other. Because there’s talent that could be good, so now it’s just believing in each other and not taking the backseat to anyone. Like, why not? I think we have enough talent to compete, just get that experience and go do it.”

It might take a more collective effort to live up to last seasons’ achievements, but the Cahillites are determined to defend their PCL title and finish business in states this time around.

“That was fun and I want to do it again,” Cottrell said. “It’s my senior year. I want to go out with a bang.”

This story was produced as part of a partnership between The Inquirer and City of Basketball Love, a nonprofit news organization that covers high school and college basketball in the Philadelphia area while also helping mentor the next generation of sportswriters. This collaboration will help boost coverage of the city’s vibrant amateur basketball scene, from the high school ranks up through the Big 5 and beyond.