Two Prep Charter students have signed Letters of Intent to continue their basketball careers
With their proud teammates behind them, Prep Charter seniors LaShay Banks, left, and Sydney Mallory signed their Letters of Intent May 13.
Preparatory Charter Huskies’ All-Public standouts LaShay Banks and Sydney Mallory made school history May 13 by signing National Letters of Intent for the fall.
Banks — the school’s first female athlete to ink a Division I scholarship — will soon call Ohio home to attend the University of Cincinnati. Mallory will head north to Division II Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.
The young ladies became the 10th and 11th student-athletes respectively from the school at 1928 Point Breeze Ave., to receive athletic scholarships since the building opened in 1998.
With their fellow varsity athletes in attendance, the duo sat side-by-side in the school’s spacious auditorium to sign their letters. Athletic Director Chuck Pearsall commended the two smiling hoopsters, noting their influence on their mates.
“For every athlete, one of the goals should be post-secondary education,” he said. “Education is vital.”
Last season, the duo helped guide their team to a 20-6 mark that included a 13-game winning streak, title-game defeats in the Public League and City Championships and an appearance in the PIAA Class AAA playoffs.
Coach Paul Rieser, in his fifth season guiding the program, introduced his stars, who broke the news to their eager peers.
Banks, a four-year starter, averaged more than 13 points and 10 rebounds in her senior season. The Bearcats, a member of the Big East Conference with national powerhouses such as the University of Connecticut and the University of Notre Dame, have posted three straight losing seasons but boast a solid recruiting class that includes Banks.
“I don’t feel any pressure,” the 18-year-old North Philadelphia resident said. “I am ready to accept my task and further my game.”
Banks, bedecked in a Bearcats shirt, chose Cincinnati out of nine schools. Her visit to the campus delighted her with its great atmosphere, she said. The small forward/guard, who will major in physical therapy, takes pride in being the first Prep Charter female to receive a full athletic scholarship from a Division I university.
“Everybody is friendly here,” she said. “This is like my home away from home.”
Though Banks’ new home will be more than 500 miles away, her mother, Tamara Banks, and grandfather, Thomas Smart, have no worries.
“I am very proud,” her mother said. “Ohio will let LaShay broaden her horizons.”
For Mallory, 17, her first year at Prep Charter after three at Hunting Park-based Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls, her time in South Philly has gone too quickly. Public League opponents, however, will not likely miss her. The Frankford resident averaged 11 points and nearly 12 rebounds — numbers the power forward will look to improve as Bloomsburg Huskie when she laces up for a team that completed its first winning campaign since 2002-’03 this season.
“I will play in a summer league in July to prep myself. I plan to work hard and put the time in, on and off the court,” she said.
With an interest in business administration, she chose Bloomsburg out of three schools because of its “friendly vibe.”
“Everything seems calm there,” she said while adjusting a hat bearing the name of her future school.
With seven Catholic League championships in the last 13 campaigns, the boys’ basketball team at Ss. Neumann-Goretti High School, 1736 S. 10th St., has become a producer of local legends. The East Passyunk Crossing institution has accommodated college hoops fans, too, as it has sent numerous players to happy campuses.
When Kahleah Copper revealed her college selection Nov. 14 in the auditorium at Prep Charter High School, 1928 Point Breeze Ave., she did more than make the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights happy. The 17-year-old also delighted her mother, Leticia Copper, who is fighting breast cancer and will require only a short trip to watch her youngest daughter’s basketball games.
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