ConHigh's Gilbert signs to play basketball at George Mason

LONG, LANKY, lefthanded and legit on the basketball court. That's a fair description of Constitution High senior forward Ahmad "J.R." Gilbert.

And after Wednesday's National Signing Day, you also can call him a George Mason signee.

Interestingly, the 6-7, 190-pounder inked with the Patriots, in part, because head coach Paul Hewitt sold Gilbert on his similarities to a familiar southpaw.

"When coach Hewitt sat down with me, he showed me clips of Thad Young and some of the stuff they did with him," Gilbert said via phone the night before he penned.

Hewitt, who has led George Mason since 2011, spent the previous 11 seasons coaching Georgia Tech, where he tutored the former 76ers do-it-all in 2006-07.

"That's like what I do now in high school," Gilbert said of Young, who is now with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"Playing the midpost, posting up, bringing the ball up sometimes, shooting the three. He gave him more freedom and was trying to relate that to where he could use me, and that made me more comfortable playing for him, because he already had a lefthanded player that could mostly do everything."

Hey, what gives? Yesterday, when Gilbert put pen to paper in front of classmates and teammates inside ConHigh, his right hand did all the work.

"And I throw with my right hand," he laughed later. "I can only shoot and dribble with my left."

He also eats with his right. Serious efforts were made via Twitter, but no word on Young's fork wielding ways.

Nevertheless, the Philadelphia ties of George Mason assistant coach Roland Houston, an assistant at La Salle University from 1999-2004, also helped Gilbert choose. So did staying relatively close to home.

The West Philly resident is the son of former Overbrook standout Ahmad "Ahkkie" Gilbert, who played junior college ball at Mount Aloysius, near Altoona, after helping Overbrook's 1983 Public League title team.

Though he lives with his father, Gilbert said his mother, Tanya, also has been influential.

Both parents flanked their lithe lefty during Wednesday's festivities. ConHigh head coach Rob Moore was also there to offer congratulations.

"They've both played a big role in my life, so I didn't want to go too far out," Gilbert said of his parents. "Now, they can drive back and forth to my games."

However, unfinished business remains here.

This season's marching orders from Hewitt and Co. are to work on moving without the ball and becoming more efficient with ballhandling and shooting.

Last season, Gilbert scored 19 points and added 14 rebounds in the Generals' Class AA state title win, only weeks after they fell inches short of a Public League title (they also hoisted Class A gold in 2012).

In the Pub finale at Temple's Liacouras Center, Gilbert's last second three-pointer bounced off the front rim as time expired and gave Martin Luther King High its first Pub title.

That misfire haunted him in the days, weeks and months that followed. It's still there now, but more as a motivator than anything else. Nailing a game-winner with Team Final during AAU play last summer, Gilbert said, relieved some, but not all of the ache.

"I think about that almost every night, I'm not going to lie. We even talk about it in school, but it gives me momentum. If we make it to the Public League championship, I'm making sure it's not a close game.

"It's not gonna come down to the last shot, and if it does, this time it's going in."

The Ss. Neumann-Goretti girls' basketball team had four D-I signers Wednesday: point guard Ciani Cryor (Georgia Tech), wing Sianni Martin (Towson State), wing A.J. Timbers (Towson State) and center Christina Aborowa (University of Texas).

For the boys: Roman Catholic forwards TreVaughn Wilkerson and Gemil Holbrook signed with Hartford and Rider, respectively.

La Salle High had nine students from various sports sign with Division I programs. Basketball's David Krmpotich penned with Colgate; baseball's Jimmy Herron and Anthony Morabito inked Duke and Georgetown, respectively; and Lacrosse's Zach Drake signed with Lehigh. Swimming signees were Vince Everman (U.S. Naval Academy), Kyle McElwee (U.S. Military Academy at West Point) and Nick Stachel (Pitt), while the golf team saw Gary McCabe (Temple) and Jack Quirk (Delaware) sign to play in college.