EXETER, N.H. – Last year was a banner year for a couple of the best academic prep schools in New England. In the case of Phillips Exeter Academy, the end result was a NEPSAC Class A championship, something one could see as a possibility before the season given the chemistry the team already established to go with its talent. This season, there won’t be any championship prognostications, as the team is decidedly very young, but there’s no reason to think they won’t be worth watching as there is good talent and coaching.
Jay Tilton doesn’t have an easy job trying to win games at the most demanding prep school in New England and perhaps the country. Last year’s championship is a bonus; players at this school have academic considerations that come first, second and third, and getting them into top academic colleges is the top priority as far as end results go. That will continue, and given Tilton’s track record, there’s reason to believe this young group – there are as many freshmen and sophomores (five) as there are seniors – can grow and later develop into part of a winning unit.
The guy who will be “old reliable” will be big man Kendrick Morris (6’10” Sr. C, Houston (TX)). Tilton will rely on him to hold down the fort at both ends inside and be the rock for this team. Morris doesn’t have the biggest frame, but he has a mature body, is fundamentally sound and will battle inside. He struggled to finish on Tuesday, but he’s better than that and part of his problem on the evening was making plays tougher than they needed to be.
Morris will be joined up front by Miki Ljuboja (6’8″ Sr. PF-C, Chicago (IL)), who has a good frame and showed a nice shooting touch on Tuesday. He hit well from long range, especially later in the workout, and added a nice baseline jumper from mid-range along the way.
The standout player on the evening was J.D. Slajchert (6’5″ Sr. SG-SF, Los Angeles (CA)), who should also be a key for this team. He’s very skilled, showing a good touch shooting from mid-range off the bounce and from deep, and he also drove through the defense for a layup and competed the entire time. He should play off Morris well, with help from Jeb Hulmers (6’3″ Sr. SG, Greenville (SC)), who deferred admission to Princeton by a year. Hulmers doesn’t have much in the way of physical gifts, but he competes, will get in the lane and can hit from long range. The other senior, Tony Karalekas (6’4″ Sr. SF, Naples (FL)) is a holdover who is still recovering from off-season shoulder surgery. They are looking forward to getting him back from a leadership standpoint.
The most talented underclassman might be Perry DeLorenzo (6’3″ So. SG-SF, Middlebury (VT)), who has a good frame and showed a nice three-point stroke on Tuesday. James Foy (6’2″ So. SG, Hamilton (MA)) is a lefty who has some versatility and should be a glue guy right now. Brothers Max Kirsch (6’4″ So. SF, Atkinson (NH)) and Mitchell Kirsch (6’1″ Fr. PG-SG, Atkinson (NH)) will be in the mix, as will local boy J.T. Thompson (5’9″ So. PG, Exeter (NH)).
With the young guys, Tilton knows there will be growing pains, especially since the schedule won’t look very different from prior years. Fortunately, this team got to spend some time around last year’s team during the off-season, and the hope is that some of their success can rub off on the new team.
This season, they won’t be in a lot of in-season tournaments, but will continue to play the same demanding schedule in part because of academic and travel considerations. That means this team will have plenty of tests and plenty of looks at other good teams, and that can only help. They will look different from last season’s championship team, but will continue to follow the model that culminated in being on top last March.
