Boys’ Varsity Basketball Shooting for the Top

While it may be the “off-season” the George School boys’ varsity basketball team is certainly not taking any time off. “We have a group of kids who are committed to learning each day and they bring out the best in me,” said Head Coach Ben Luber. “They love the game, hate to lose and are all high character students that represent George School in a first-class manner.”

The team completed in multiple pre-season invite only events in September, winning all four games, leading the charge for what is hopefully an exciting regular season. According to City of Basketball Love, the team stands a solid chance of claiming the Friends Schools League championship this year, a title that has gone to rival Westtown since 2014. “If one team can give the reigning champs a run for their money this season, George School might be the one to do it,” wrote Ty Daubert.

“We are holding ourselves to a very high standard and our expectation this season is to earn a championship for our school,” said Kachi Nzeh ’23. “It’s going to be a very long road for us but, like Lebron James said, ‘the road is the greatest teacher there is.’”

During the PA vs NJ Shootout Tournament on September 18, the Cougars beat Nationally ranked Gill St Bernard, a team that boasts both the number one player in the class of 2024 and the number three player in the class of 2023.

In addition to off season competition and practices, Ben also invited coaches and scouts from top teams across the nation to open practices in September. Among the list of visiting team representatives were Harvard, Iowa, Lehigh, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, NC State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Temple, UConn, University of Pennsylvania, and VCU.

“When it comes to the open practices, it’s been a great experience especially with the help of Coach Ben,” said Kachi. “There have been a plethora of schools visiting our campus and it’s a great opportunity to play and compete.”

As a result of the open practices, Kachi received full scholarship offers from Miami, LaSalle, Temple, Penn State, Iowa, VCU, and Maryland. Gestin Liberis ’22 received full scholarship offers from Millersville and West Chester University, and is receiving interest from both Yale and University of Pennsylvania.

Christian Bliss ’24, who already has full scholarship offers from Drexel, Siena, Loyola Chicago, and St. Peter’s, said, “During the open gyms, I thought I showed plenty of coaches my value to a team and the progress I made since the last time they saw me. This was the first time college coaches could come to my practices, so it was a nice experience getting to speak with them in person. I also liked asking what they thought I could do to get better.”

Christian is also receiving interest from NC State, Penn State, UConn, Temple, LaSalle, Northwestern, and Maryland.

The boys’ varsity basketball season kicks off on Wednesday, December 1 against Vision Academy and the team will play their first league game on January 5, 2022 against Friends Select. “I am very confident that Coach Ben will have us ready for every team we face this year,” said Christian.

Follow the team’s season and record on the new athletics website.