Roman Catholic teammates Wayns and Wanamaker to reunite, on opposite sides of the court

It was the day before the Catholic League championship game in 2007, and Roman Catholic's players were edgy. The coaches had shown them newspaper clippings that said they had no shot at beating Neumann-Goretti, the two-time defending champion, or of containing Rick Jackson and Scoop Jardine, both of whom were heading to Syracuse.

Senior Brad Wanamaker was hot. Sophomore Maalik Wayns was eager. They were diving for loose balls. Competition was intense. There were a few scuffles.

"The kids weren't thinking about winning the championship the next day - it was winning the drill," said Roman head coach Chris McNesby, who was an assistant at the time. "As a coach, you love that, but then it's like, 'Whoa.' It almost went too far; it was unbelievable."

The next day at the Palestra, Wanamaker overcame serious foul trouble to lead Roman on a 17-4 fourth-quarter run that erased a 10-point deficit and gave the Cahillites their first Catholic League title in seven years.

"Toughness," Wayns said on Thursday when asked to describe Wanamaker.

"Just tough," Wanamaker said of Wayns.

The former teammates will face each other at the Pavilion on Saturday night at 9 when Wanamaker's fourth-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers play Wayns' ninth-ranked Villanova Wildcats in another in a string of pivotal Big East games. It is just a game to most, but it will be special to Wanamaker, a senior, and Wayns, a sophomore.

They have remained close friends, calling each other before big games and getting together in the summer at Roman to play pick-up ball. Wanamaker is an unofficial mentor to Wayns, who said he has learned from the even-keeled Wanamaker to never get too excited after a win or too devastated after a loss, and to always keep your head up, no matter what is going on.

"I will always look up to him, no matter what our career paths are," Wayns said. "He did so many great things for me in high school. I learned so much."

Such as how to be unselfish, and how to put team goals ahead of personal ones. Wanamaker did it all at Roman, and for two years, Wayns watched, and learned. If Roman needed the 6-foot-4 Wanamaker, a natural guard, to play center, he did. If it needed him to guard a center, he did. If it needed him to score, he did.

Villanova coach Jay Wright described Wanamaker as "a classic Philly guard." Unafraid. Strong. A good ball handler. And tough to keep away from the rim.

"Bradley is a throwback guy, since he's completely blue-collar," McNesby said. "He'll do whatever it takes to win."