He's a basketball legacy

Hakim Warrick may mean as much to the Friends' Central basketball program as the Wynnewood institution means to the Chicago Bulls forward's career.

Warrick, 27, is a graduate of Friends' Central and Syracuse University, where he completed his degree in 31/2 years and won the 2003 NCAA championship.

Friends' Central retired the West Philadelphia native's jersey in 2006 after he led the Phoenix to their first Friends' Schools League title in 2001 and their first of any kind since 1974, when they won the Penn-Jersey League.

"Growing up in the Philadelphia area, I saw so many great players that should have been the next 'one', the next prospect, not be able to play right away or have to go to a junior college," Warrick said last month in a phone interview. "So I knew that I wanted to be able to come in [to college] and play right away.

"Academically, that was the main reason for me going to Friends' Central."

The first annual Hakim Warrick/Philly.com/Rally Boys' Basketball Classic, originally scheduled for Feb. 12 at Philadelphia University, was canceled when snow prevented St. Anthony of Jersey City from traveling south to face Warrick's alma mater.

But the Phoenix (24-2), ranked No. 4 in Southeastern Pennsylvania by the Inquirer, defeated Westtown, 58-45, for the program's third-ever league championship Feb. 13. That ended an eight-year title drought that included four runner-up finishes.

Then Friends' Central, which per school policy does not compete in the PIAA state tournament, beat Germantown Academy, 72-52, for the Pennsylvania Independent Schools tournament championship Feb. 20.

This season's cast included sophomore forward Amile Jefferson and junior guard Devin Coleman. After finishing second in the league to Academy of the New Church in both 2008 and '09, the Phoenix finally reclaimed the trophy.

"The school was not known for basketball at all before Hakim got here," said third-year Phoenix coach Jason Polykoff, a former Haverford College guard who was Warrick's former teammate and sixth man on Friends' Central's 2001 title team.

"My goal was to bring [the program] back to the days Hakim was playing, and I was lucky enough to get a couple of players in who kind of brought it back to where it was."

Before Warrick helped transform the Friends' Central basketball culture, won an NCAA title, and went to the Memphis Grizzlies with the 19th pick in the 2005 NBA draft, he honed his skills playing pickup games at 34th and Haverford Streets in West Philadelphia.

"Since I could pick up a ball, I've been playing," said the 6-foot-9 Warrick, who said he was 5-foot-10 as a freshman at University City in the Philadelphia Public League.

"Every summer I grew like two or three inches, and by senior year I was 6-8."

During his childhood, Warrick had become friends with another local talent, Mike Cook. Cook, who now plays professionally in England after competing for both East Carolina and Pittsburgh, matriculated as a Friends' Central freshman in the fall of 1998.

Polykoff said that during his sophomore year, Cook enticed Warrick to join him in Wynnewood.

"That was a big reason I went there - being friends with him and playing with him when we were young," said Warrick, who left University City after three years.

When Warrick arrived at Friends' Central, he worked hard but was unable to graduate in the spring of 2000.

"I was just so far behind academically, I needed an extra year," he said.

That fifth year, Warrick, junior Cook and senior sharpshooter Ryan Tozer - recently appointed as the first men's basketball coach at Rosemont College - were named first-team all-league as they led Friends' Central past Westtown in the championship game, 73-47.

Warrick scored 924 points in his two seasons at Friends' Central. He averaged 15.6 points, 13 rebounds, and 4.8 blocked shots during the championship season, according to the Syracuse athletics Web site.

The following season, after Warrick's departure, the Phoenix repeated with another blowout final victory, 70-30, this time over George School. That team included Cook and guard Mustafa Shakur, who played college ball at Arizona and now averages 20.5 points per game for the NBA Development League's Tulsa 66ers.

Though Abington Friends had won 12 of the league's first 19 titles since its inception in 1981-82, Friends' Central now was on the map of elite hoops in the Philadelphia area.

"Friends' Central was never known as a basketball school, so when I got there and we won it that year, I think it was big for me and my teammates because we were able to start . . . what you see now," Warrick said. "The next year they won again as well, and they were able to get McDonald's all-Americans like Mustafa Shakur, and they're a top-five [basketball] school now. I think it all started back then."

Now in his fifth NBA season, Warrick is averaging 10.2 points a game for his professional career. He played four seasons in Memphis, then signed a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks before being traded Feb. 18 with Joe Alexander to Chicago for John Salmons, a Plymouth Whitemarsh product.

Warrick may be best known for his block of Kansas' Michael Lee on a three-point attempt with 1.5 seconds remaining to seal Syracuse's 81-78 national championship victory at the New Orleans Superdome in 2003.

But locally, Warrick also is remembered for creating opportunities for Philadelphia-area youth.

Keino Terrell, who coached Warrick at Friends' Central during his stint from 1998 to 2006, credited Warrick's parents - mother Queen Warrick of South Jersey and father Kenneth Nichols, who lives in the Chester area - for giving their son support and opportunity at Friends' Central.

"This was a stretch for the school to bring in kids, but because of the way they carried themselves as young gentlemen and the way they were able to handle the rigors of the classroom, they were able to open the door for other kids, mostly city kids, to go to Friends' Central," Terrell said.

Polykoff cited Conrad Chambers, a top eighth grader at Our Lady of Charity in Brookhaven, near Chester, as an example of the type of student-athlete who benefits from Warrick's success. He plans to attend Friends' Central in the fall.

Warrick, who called for his alma mater to retire Cook's jersey, as well, said he returns to the Philadelphia area during the summers and is looking at condominiums in Old City and other sections of Philadelphia.

Regardless of where his NBA career takes him, Warrick is remembered for his unique abilities at Friends' Central.

"Usually on TV, when you see somebody dunk on someone else, it's a big deal," Polykoff said. "Hakim did that every day in practice and in every game."