DiGIOVANNI: Brickus making his own family footsteps at Coatesville
When you drive through Coatesville, if you listen very carefully, you can hear the faint sound of bouncing basketballs coming from the city’s playgrounds and gymnasiums.
Basketball is not just a sport in Coatesville, it is a rite of passage for young boys who hope to join other Coatesville legends like Richard “Rip” Hamilton in the city’s long and storied history of basketball greats.
One of those young men, who has artfully mastered his craft on the playgrounds of Coatesville, is Red Raider junior Jhamir Brickus.
Brickus is a product of the city and comes from a line of former Coatesville greats. Many of his cousins starred for the Red Raiders, and his father Maurice was a mainstay of the 2000-01 PIAA championship squad.
But, Jhamir is blazing a path that could lead him past any of his relatives.
Brickus eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in his sophomore season, and has a realistic shot to join another Coatesville great, John Allen, in the rarified air of the 2,000-point fraternity.
Brickus and his brother Dapree Bryant are leading the Red Raiders to a great start to this season, and Coatesville looks like a player again on the District 1 scene under new coach Fred Thompson. Thompson has Brickus looking for his shot more, and wants him to be more engaged at crunch time, something that did not happen often enough the last two seasons.
Brickus, his brother Dapree, and Malvern Prep stars Deuce Turner and Rahdir Hicks were all part of a seventh/eighth grade squad that placed eighth in the country. That team was coached by Ricky Hicks, himself a Coatesville legend and the all-time assists leader in West Chester University history.
Turner and the younger Hicks opted for Malvern Prep, and are doing great things for the Friars, with Turner already garnering offers from Division I programs (and impeccable academic institutions) like Bucknell and Princeton.
But Brickus and Bryant remained close to home with the Red Raiders, and the city of Coatesville is glad they did.
Before the holidays, Brickus led Coatesville to big Ches-Mont League victories over Downingtown West and West Chester East, going over the 25-point mark in both games. The “Silent Assassin,” who rarely shows emotion on his face, was more animated than I have seen him the last two years.
Basketball looks like fun again for Brickus. Maybe it is the handful of Division 1 offers already trickling in. Or maybe it is because this is now his team, and his chance to stand out and become another Coatesville legend. Every time Coatesville needs a basket or an entry pass, Brickus delivered, and carried the Red Raiders to two important victories.
And although the 5-foot-8 Brickus may be diminutive in size, his heart is as large as they come, as is his basketball IQ. He learned his lessons well from the savvy Hicks and from his father Maurice, who, unlike his son, wore his heart on his sleeve and was an emotional leader of the state champion team.
Different strokes for different folks. But, make no mistake about it, the days of Jhamir Brickus letting some other Coatesville player take the reins are over. It is fully his team now. His team needed that and the junior needed that.
The rest of the Ches-Mont League and District 1 have been warned. Another Coatesville legend is in the making.
PETER DiGIOVANNI’S CHESCO 7 BEST
1. Westtown
2. Coatesville
3. Malvern prep
4. West Chester East
5. Unionville
6. W.C. Rustin
7. Downingtown East
