Austin, Imhotep Face Huge Challenge Friday Night

Two of the best teams not only in Philadelphia, but the entire East Coast, meet on Friday night when Friar signee Brandon Austin and Imhotep take on Chester High School as part of the 9th Annual Pete/Jameer Nelson Classic in Chester, PA.  Friarbasketball.com will have dual coverage Friday night, as I am heading to Philly for my first in-person report on Austin, while the rest of our staff covers the PC/Brown game.

The event features teams from across the Tri-state area and Chester may be the best of the bunch.  Led by Arizona-bound senior Rondae Jefferson (12th nationally per Scout, 17th per ESPN, 19th on Rivals), Chester had a 61 game winning streak snapped last week by MaxPreps’ #2 ranked team nationally, Lone Peak of Utah, at the City of Palms Classic in Florida.  Their last loss came in early January of 2011.

Prior to the loss to Lone Peak, MaxPreps had Chester ranked third in the country, but they fell for a second time in Florida, this time to #4 Whitney Young of out Chicago, so they now sit at 10th in the nation according to the publication.

Austin faces a major challenge Friday

Chester has long been a power in Pennsylvania, winning eight Class AAAA state championships and finishing second on nine other occasions.  When Chester won the title in 1994, former Friar John Linehan was their point guard.

Austin and Imhotep have won the Class AA title the past two seasons.

Chester features point guard Conrad Chambers (2014), who has been mentioned with Providence in the past, but the highlight will clearly be Austin versus Jefferson.  Like the future Friar, Jefferson is a forward who some believe can play point guard at the next level.  At his size (6’7, 215 pounds), he’ll more likely be a point forward for Sean Miller next season.

When matched up head to head, Jefferson will have a 35-40 pound weight advantage on Austin.

Chester defeated Imhotep at this event last season, 56-36, after leading by just a point at halftime.  Austin scored nine points that night.  Chester was ranked #1 in the state at the time, Imhotep #4.

The video below takes about three minutes to get to the actual game footage, but once it starts it gives a good feel for last year’s game.  Austin (#1 in red) has some highlights, including a big block and a few fine offensive plays.

Email Kevin at kevin.farrahar@friarbasketball.com

667 Comments

You must be logged in to post a comment Login