Daily News All-City boys' basketball team
IT WOULD be difficult to have a more impressive and accomplished senior season than Archbishop Wood's Collin Gillespie had during the 2016-2017 campaign.
IT WOULD be difficult to have a more impressive and accomplished senior season than Archbishop Wood's Collin Gillespie had during the 2016-2017 campaign.
All the 6-2 point guard did was secure a scholarship to defending national champion Villanova, lead the Vikings (28-3) to the school's first Catholic League boys' basketball championship and then cap the season with the school's first boys' PIAA basketball title.
That is why Gillespie, our Player of the Year, is the star of stars as we present the 2017 Daily News All-City Team.
Early in his senior season, Gillespie had offers from Division I schools such as Maine, Albany and Fairleigh Dickinson, with Division IIs Philadelphia University and Holy Family also in the mix.
By January, however, it was clear Gillespie's game had evolved, and Villanova came calling.
By season's end, Gillespie led the PCL in scoring at 24.1 points per game. He also led the Vikings, who won their first PCL title in 51 years of competition, in almost every statistical category. In addition to scoring, he also led the team in field goal percentage (51 percent), assists (5.2), rebounds (5.7) and steals (2.0).
Gillespie also scored a career-high 42 points and added seven rebounds and seven assists in a highly-anticipated matchup against Neumann-Goretti, an 82-73 Wood victory before a capacity crowd at Archbishop Ryan.
For his career, Gillespie finished with 1,133 points. In the Catholic League semifinals at the Palestra, he scored 33 points and added 10 rebounds. In the finale, Gillespie scored a game-high 24 points, helping the Vikings overcome a 13-point halftime deficit, the largest halftime deficit conquered in PCL history, according to TedSilary.com.
The other first-teamers (seniors, unless noted):
Quade Green, Neumann-Goretti:
Daron Russell, Imhotep
Izaiah Brockington, Archbishop Ryan
Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, Neumann-Goretti
Daily News 2017 All-City Teams
Coach of the year: John Mosco, Archbishop Wood
Player of the Year: Collin Gillespie, Archbishop Wood
FIRST TEAM
Name, School, Height, Position, Year
Collin Gillespie, Archbishop Wood, 6-2, G, Sr.
Quade Green Neumann-Goretti, 6-0, G, Sr.
Daron Russell Imhotep, 5-11, G, Sr.
Izaiah Brockington Archbishop Ryan, 6-4, G, Sr.
Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree Neumann-Goretti, 6-8, F, Sr.
SECOND TEAM
Kyle McCloskey Germantown Academy, 6-5, F, Sr.
Dave Beatty Imhotep, 6-3, G, Sr.
Marc Rodriguez Father Judge, 6-2, G, Sr.
Evan-Eric Longino Germantown Academy, 6-5, G/F, Sr.
Donta Scott Imhotep, 6-7, F, So.
Tyree Pickron Archbishop Wood, 6-3, G, Jr.
THIRD TEAM
Antwuan Butler Del-Val, 6-0, G, Jr.
Malik Archer Math, Civics and Sciences, 6-4, G, Sr.
Conner Delaney Episcopal Academy, 6-0, G, Sr.
Matiss Kulackovskis Archbishop Ryan, 6-7, F, Sr.
Daeqwon Plowden Mastery North, 6-5, F, Sr.
Mahki Morris Del-Val, 6-2, G, Sr.
HONORABLE MENTION
(Seniors, Unless Noted)
Nisheem McNeal-Wright, Audenried; Tamir Green, Constitution; Kyle Thompson, St. Joseph's Prep, Jr.; Allen Betrand, Roman Catholic , Jr.; Maurice Waters, Constitution; Nick Alikakos, Episcopal Academy.
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