Feel sorry for Omari Grier if you like.
The Episcopal Academy basketball standout's season ended Feb. 17. That's when the Academy of New Church defeated the Churchmen in a Pennsylvania Independent Schools tournament game.
Several of Southeastern Pennsylvania's other premier athletes have won district titles since Grier handed in his uniform.
Some of you may be thinking: Poor Omari. It's a shame that his season is over.
Grier will be the first one to tell you there's no need to feel sorry for him.
As the 6-foot-4 junior point guard sees it, he's getting a head start on the next season.
Grier works out with a personal trainer three days a week at Nexxt Level Sports in Voorhees, N.J.
On Saturdays, his workouts often begin as early as 7:30 a.m.
"When I'm waking on a Saturday morning, most players are sleeping," Grier said at the conclusion of a recent Saturday morning workout. "That just gives me an advantage over my opponents to get better."
And it's not like the junior needs a lot of improvement.
The first-team all-Inter-Ac League selection averaged 17 points per game, and his average of 15.5 points against league foes was the highest of any Inter-Ac player.
For now, Grier, the cousin of former NBA player Eric "Sleepy" Floyd, said he's attracting some interest from some Atlantic Ten, Big East and ACC schools but has yet to receive a scholarship offer.
However, as his work ethic shows, he's eager to turn those schools' interest into offers.
"Anything I had a weakness in last year, I'm working to improve," said Grier, who grew four inches after his sophomore season. "I just use this time to improve [my] game."
Omar Wellington, one of Grier's trainers at Nexxt Level, said his client has what it takes to play major-college ball. Wellington just wants him to be more vocal on the court.
"What I like about his game the most is his No. 1 move: His step-back jumper," Wellington said. "His step-back is killer. . . .. But I like the balance. He can shoot it. He can go left. He can go right. He can rise up on you. He can defend."
Coach can't hang
Math, Civics and Sciences boys' basketball coach Danny Jackson and a few of his friends took Franklin Learning Center boys' coach Will Wright out to a club Saturday night for some support. FLC had just suffered a heartbreaking loss to Neumann-Goretti in the District 12 Class AAA championship game.
The only problem was Jackson, 23, is a junior at St. Joseph's University. And we know how late some college students like to hang out on weekends, and Wright, in his late 30s, couldn't keep up.
"Man, I got home around midnight," said Wright, who looked exhausted Sunday afternoon.
What about Jackson?
"I got home around 2 a.m.," he said with a laugh. Midnight, he said, "is kind of early."