Nobody local has been to the Final Four since Villanova won in 1985. Is Philly just getting by on nostalgia?
Even though the stands aren't packed, it is clear that Philadelphia has a still-thriving, even unique, basketball subculture.
Los Angeles probably would claim superiority. UCLA has more NCAA titles than Philadelphia. Kobe Bryant wanted to be there - not here. But that was about marketing, not hoops. Go to the courts at 33d and Diamond in North Philadelphia and someone will be able to point to where Bryant's dad, Jellybean Bryant, made somebody look silly.
"There's no better city if you're going to compare," said Norm Eavenson, a retired schoolteacher who scouts high school players as his hobby. "Philadelphia produces good high school players, good coaches. It produces referees. It can satisfy the cravings of any basketball junkie on any given night."
Eavenson figures the Philadelphia area easily produces 25 to 30 male and female Division I prospects every year.
Therefore, it also produces bushels of hoop families. Look at one, the Pearsons, from West Chester. Their basketball season never ends. Mom and Dad both played at Cardinal O'Hara High School. Dad then played for legendary coach Jim Phelan, a South Philadelphia native, at Mount St. Mary's.
Three Pearson daughters have gotten Division I scholarships, and the oldest son is a referee working high school games. Dad just coached the local CYO team to an archdiocesan title.
And Uncle Duke? He's an NBA referee.
Wherever a dinner-table conversation starts at the Pearsons', "somehow we always end up talking about basketball," said Rita Pearson, the mother.
Needing a spreadsheet
Mike and Rita Pearson were at a gym in Lancaster County on Wednesday, rooting for the area's top-rated high school girls' team, Archbishop Carroll. Their daughter Rachel is a freshman playing for Carroll.
