Here’s how the story goes … or, at least how Yosef Yacob tells it.

Yacob took a seat at the barbershop earlier this week, beside Rondae Jefferson. The All-Delco seniors – Yacob at Archbishop Carroll, Jefferson at Chester – struck up a conversation while they were getting a trim.

Yacob told Jefferson he had made his choice and would commit verbally to Binghamton. That’s when, Yacob said, Jefferson spilled the beans.

“He told me he was going to pick Arizona,” said Yacob, a Chester native. “I was all smiles. I said, ‘That’s great.’ He was smiling, too.”

That’s because Jefferson knew he had made his decision, too.

Jefferson narrowed his choices, from an innumerable stack of letters to seven schools. Thursday, in his home, he met with Arizona coach Sean Miller, to whom Jefferson gave his verbal commitment to join the Wildcats for the 2013-14 season.

Jefferson has been out west a few times this summer, visiting the training ground for USA basketball in Colorado Springs, Colo., and playing in the Under Armour Elite 24 event in Venice Beach, Calif.

So he’s at least comfortable with the surroundings, which justified his visit to the Tucson, Ariz., campus earlier this month.

Jefferson picked Arizona ahead of Florida, Memphis, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple and Texas.

“I just feel like, when I get there, it’ll be my team,” Jefferson said. “I’m going to be the big piece on a team that’s going to win the ‘chip.”

Jefferson’s star shined brightest last season, his talents coinciding with one of the most historic seasons in Chester High program history.

Jefferson averaged 12.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.7 blocks per game for Chester (32-0), which finished the season having claimed consecutive PIAA Class AAAA championships and with a top-five ranking nationally according to three publications.

The Daily Times’ Player of the Year, Jefferson also was PIAA Player of the Year, after having directed the Clippers to their first perfect season in school history. They picked up their eighth state title – the most among Pennsylvania schools – established a school-record with a 58-game (and counting) winning streak, as well as winning the District One and Del Val League crowns.

That’s largely thanks to Jefferson, the lanky, multi-talented point guard stuck in a forward’s body.

So at the end of last season, and the start of the summer recruiting stretch, Jefferson reduced his list of suitors to seven. He didn’t want any excess phone calls. That left seven schools as his potential college destinations.

An argument could have been made that Temple was the most-suitable spot, being that his brother – Chester All-Delco Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson – has had three strong seasons there. Same could be said for Rutgers, with coach Mike Rice demonstrating such a dogged recruiting bid Jefferson for the last three years. Or even Memphis, with one of Jefferson’s friends, three-time American Christian All-Delco Tyreke Evans, having spent one season there.

Instead, it was Arizona. It’s where Jefferson said he felt at home.

Chester High junior Rondae Jefferson was named PIAA Class AAAA Player of the Year, by vote of the state's sportswriters.

Three other players also were honored.

Jefferson, the Daily Times Player of the Year who averaged 12.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.7 blocked shots and 2.5 steals, helped Chester (32-0) last month win its second consecutive state crown and eighth overall.

I caught up with Jefferson as he heard the news.

"I'm so hyped right now. I'm about to pop," he said. "It means a lot. I don't even know what to say."

Chester's Larry Yarbray was named the Class AAAA Coach of the Year.

Chester's Darius Robinson, a junior, and Erikk Wright, a senior, made the all-state second team in Class AAAA, while Archbishop Carroll's Yosef Yacob, a junior, made the all-state second team in Class AAA.

Here's how the Class AAAA and AAA all-state teams look:

CLASS AAAA
FIRST TEAM
Rondae Jefferson, Chester, 6-7, jr, 12.1 ppg
B.J. Johnson, Lower Merion, 6-5, jr, 15.8 ppg
Haiishen McIntyre, Harrisburg, 6-2, sr, 24.2 ppg
Devin Thomas, Central Dauphin, 6-9, sr, 23.8 ppg
Geno Thorpe, Shaler, 6-3, jr, 21.4 ppg
Steve Vasturia, St. Joseph's Prep, jr, 21.8 ppg
SECOND TEAM
Nolan Cressler, Plum, 6-3, sr, 25.7 ppg
Shep Garner, Roman Catholic, 6-2, so, 15.9 ppg
Miles Overton, St. Joseph's Prep, 6-4, jr, 15.0 ppg
Jordan Reed, Wissahickon, 6-3, sr, 23.7 ppg
Darryl Reynolds, Lower Merion, 6-7, sr, 10.6 ppg
Darius Robinson, Chester, 6-1, jr, 11.8 ppg, pictured
Erikk Wright, Chester, 6-4, sr, 11.4 ppg
THIRD TEAM
Greg Bobal, Emmaus, 6-3, sr, 11.5 ppg
Quindell Brice, Pocono Mountain West, 6-4, sr, 16.2 ppg
Malik Draper, Scranton, 6-4, sr, 15.3 ppg
Nate Snodgrass, Butler, 6-0, sr, 21.3 ppg
Jahad Thomas, Williamsport, 6-2, jr, 14.5 ppg
Sheldon Zablotny, Erie Cathedral Prep, 5-11, jr, 17.4 ppg
Mike Zangari, Red Land, 6-10, sr, 21.4 ppg

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Rondae Jefferson, Chester
COACH OF THE YEAR: Larry Yarbray, Chester


CLASS AAA
FIRST TEAM
John Davis, Neumann-Goretti, 6-4, jr, 12.9 ppg
Donovon Jack, Berks Catholic, 6-9, sr, 17.0 ppg
Brendan Kilpatrick, Malvern Prep, 6-5, sr, 15.8 ppg
Micah Mason, Highlands, 6-2, sr, 28.7 ppg
Ja'Quan Newton, Neumann-Goretti, 6-3, so, 15.8 ppg
Maurice Watson, Boys Latin Charter, 5-10, sr, 21.8 ppg
SECOND TEAM
Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Allentown Central Catholic, 6-4, so, 17.7 ppg
Andrew Andreychik, Danville, 6-0, sr, 23.0 ppg
Jaymon Mason, General McLane, 6-2, jr, 18.4 ppg
Jamal Nwaniemeka, Conwell-Egan, 6-2, sr, 21.8 ppg
Derrick Stewart, Neumann-Goretti, 6-5, sr, 8.7 ppg
Devin Wilson, Montour, 6-4, jr, 10.0 ppg
Yosef Yacob, Archbishop Carroll, 6-0, jr, 14.6 ppg
THIRD TEAM
Shawn Anderson, New Castle, 6-3, jr, 18.8 ppg
Dwight Andrews, Johnstown, 6-5, sr, 18.7 ppg
Charles Cooper, Octorara, 6-1, sr, 17.3 ppg
Ted Hinnenkamp, York Suburban, 6-6, sr, 21.0 ppg
Marquis Marshall, Berks Catholic, 6-4, sr, 15.4 ppg
J.C. Show, Abington Heights, 6-2, so, 17.1 ppg
Cornell Yarde, Schuylkill Valley, 6-2, sr, 21.2 ppg

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Maurice Watson, Boys Latin Charter
COACH OF THE YEAR: Adam Kaufman, Montour

(Times staff photos / ERIC HARTLINE)

Chester High's Rondae Jefferson is the 2011-12 Daily Times Player of the Year.

Jefferson averaged 12.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.7 blocks and 2.6 steals per game for the Clippers (32-0), who won back-to-back PIAA Class AAAA titles and finished the season ranked No. 4 nationally by USA Today.

Three other notes on Jefferson: His 21 rebounds against Lower Merion in the District One Class AAAA championship established a school record. He totaled 14 double-doubles of points and rebounds. And he nearly had a quadruple-double in the regular-season finale, totaling 15 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists and eight steals.

Rounding out the 2011-12 All-Delco team are: Chester senior forward Erikk Wright; Glen Mills senior center Raheem Harvey; Penn Wood senior guard Malcolm Richardson; Ridley senior Shawn Church; and Archbishop Carroll junior guard Yosef Yacob.

Barring breaking news and college commitments, this likely will be the final blog post here for a while. Check back regularly, just to be sure, and thanks for your consistent readership this season. It's been a fun one.

(Times staff photo / ERIC HARTLINE)

STATE COLLEGE --- The Clippers accomplished what they came to Happy Valley for.

Chester defeated Lower Merion, 59-33, Saturday night to claim the PIAA Class AAAA crown. It's the school's eighth title overall, third in five years and second in a row.

Never had the Clippers (32-0) gone unbeaten en route to a state crown, nor had they ever posted back-to-back state title seasons. Until 2012.

For more on the big win, check out Sunday's Daily Times and delcotimes.com for goodies like the videos below, a photo slideshow by Eric Hartline and all the coverage fit to print. That's all for now. Hope you enjoyed our coverage of the season. Thanks for stopping by.





(Times staff photo / ERIC HARTLINE)

Here's what I know about the recruitment of Rondae Jefferson: A lot of teams have come calling. Here's what I don't know about the recruitment of Jefferson: Everything else.

A Chester junior and one of the nation's top recruits for the Class of 2013, Jefferson has told me he has made no decisions – not even narrowing down the list of schools that have offered. And if he has, Jefferson isn't telling anybody.

I asked Jefferson Friday night, following Chester's 81-31 thumping of Norristown, a few questions about the process:

Who has offered a scholarship?
Jefferson: “I don’t even know. I’ve got a couple offers. I can’t think of them right now. My head’s spinning right now.”

Not even one name?
Jefferson: “I don’t want to say somebody and leave somebody out.”

Temple could join the Big East. What does that mean to you?
Jefferson: “I mean, the Big East is fine. I like the Big East. It doesn’t really matter to me. I don’t think about that.”

Chester coach Larry Yarbray told me another school threw its hat into Jefferson's ring.

“(There's) too many right now. Ohio State called me (Friday),” Yarbray said. :He’ll have more (offers) moving into next year, if we continue to win and he keeps playing like he is, plays good on the (summer) circuit, works on his weaknesses, all of that.”

Jefferson's recruitment seems to be one of those wait-and-see things. So you better find a cozy spot on the couch. This could take awhile.

(Times staff photo / ERIC HARTLINE)

Something about Rondae Jefferson's game Tuesday night looked unfamiliar.

He shared the ball (six assists). He rebounded well (four boards, two offensive). He played sound defensively (three steals). But the junior combo guard, ranked 19th nationally at his position for the Class of 2013, was cold from the floor.

Jefferson shot 1-for-4 from the field, 1-for-6 from the free-throw line and finished with three points in Chester's 59-31 pasting of Methacton in Tuesday's second round of the District One Class AAAA tournament.

Afterward, Jefferson said he felt "a little sore in my legs. It's nothing. I'm 100 percent." His coach told a different story.

"He wasn't feeling well tonight. He's the type of dude who's not going to tell you that," said Chester coach Larry Yarbray. "I could tell he wasn't well. He was the last one out of the locker room. He's the type who's going to play no matter what. If he's not scoring, he's going to rebound and play defense. Next game, maybe he'll make a few shots for us. But 75 percent of Rondae Jefferson is still better than most high school players.

Even while failing to make a difference in the scoring column, Jefferson led the Clippers in assists. And when Chester made only one bucket in the opening six minutes of the third quarter, he had a pair of helpers to start the fourth ... including a spot-on bounce pass into Erikk Wright's breadbasket to finish off a baseline drive.

"He finds ways to help, always," Wright said of Jefferson. "That's the kind of player he is." Added Jefferson: "I don't know. I just try to come out and play my game. It ended up being a pass-first kind of night."

Top-seeded Chester (24-0), which qualified for the PIAA tournament, hosts No. 9 Norristown Friday in a district quarterfinal.

(Times staff photo / ERIC HARTLINE)

For all intents and purposes, Monday's win over Roman Catholic was nothing more than Archbishop Carroll's attempt to finish out the regular season on a strong note.

But we all know that's not the case.

Once again, as evidenced, by the 46-45 win over the Cahillites, Carroll coach Paul Romanczuk has his Patriots pointed in the right direction as the Catholic League Playoffs approach.

Carroll has won 10 of its last 12 games, dating back to Jan. 6, and the Patriots haven't lost consecutive games since December. Not a bad run to be having.

Against Roman, Carroll's leading scorer Alec Stavetski didn't score a single point. Freshman Derrick Jones continues to contribute in more ways than one, with scoring, rebounding and blocking shots. And junior Yosef Yacob, pictured, had a huge night, dropping 17 points and resembling the player who turned heads last season in the PCL tournament.

If the PCL playoffs began today, Carroll would clinch third place. Listed below are the standings, as well as the remaining schedules for Carroll and Roman:
PCL ... Team (Overall Record)
11-0... Neumann-Goretti (17-3)
11-0... St. Joe's Prep (18-2)
9-2 ... Arch. Carroll (14-6)
8-3 ... Roman Catholic (12-8)

Friday
Archbishop Carroll at West Catholic, 6:30
Roman Catholic at Father Judge, 7:30

Sunday
Archbishop Wood at Roman Catholic, 2:30
St. Joseph’s Prep at Archbishop Carroll, 3

(Times staff photo / ERIC HARTLINE)

Here's one thing Jameer Nelson knows about Chester High basketball: This year's team is more talented than his state-title team in 2000.

Here's another thing Nelson knows: Nelson - the Orlando Magic's starting point guard, an NBA all-star, a consensus Player of the Year at Saint Joseph's, a 2000 PIAA Class AAAA state champ at Chester - would NOT include his name among Chester's five-best all-time players.

"I can't put myself in it," said Nelson, who spoke to me in advance of the three-day holiday tournament bearing his and his father's name, the Jameer Nelson/Pete Nelson Classic. "I'm behind those guys from when I played at Chester. There were a lot of great players at Chester, before me and after me."

So who would Nelson include? Some of the names may surprise you.

"My all-time starting five? Wow," Nelson said. "I'd go with Zain Shaw, Eric Evans, Ray Carroll, Granny Lash and Rondae Jefferson (pictured, right)."

Zain Shaw, a 1991 grad and the program's all-time leading scorer, had 1,993 points and won a state title as a sophomore. ... Eric "Pooh" Evans, a 1994 state champ and the brother of NBA star Tyreke Evans, shared the same backcourt as Ray Carroll. Speaking of him ... Ray Carroll, a 1995 grad, an all-American and a 1994 state champ, had 1,401 points. ... Granny Lash, twice a state runner-up, averaged 21 points as a junior but is not among the school's 1,000-point scorers. ... Rondae Jefferson, a state champ last year as a sophomore, is regarded nationally as one of the top recruits from the Class of 2013.

"Rondae's definitely up there all-time," Nelson said. "They probably have more talent (this year and last year) than we had. I still like my team in 2000. There were some tough teams before and after, so it's tough to compare, to say who would win. All I know is if you've played at Chester, you've got to be a good player."

Nelsom omitted guys like Emerson Baynard (10th-leading scorer, a first-team all-American), Nasir Robinson (stud at Pitt, 2nd-leading scorer, 2008 state champ), and Horace Walker (9th-leading scorer who had an NBA career).

But hey, everyone's got their opinions. Who would make the cut for you?

Here's more from my interview with Jameer Nelson.

(Daily Times staff photo / ERIC HARTLINE)

There was more to Saturday's PIAA Class AAAA championship game than the score, though that's a strong indicator of what went down at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Penn Wood led for every second of the first half, and Plymouth Whitemarsh pulled the same feat for almost all of the second half. Did you know Penn Wood turned the ball over seven fewer times (19-to-12) than the winners?

Take a look at some other numbers from Saturday's game, at Penn State University...

4 – Points from Penn Wood center Shawn Oakman.
8 – Turnovers by Oakman.

NOTE: Coming into this game, I was certain that Oakman was the difference. If he could stay out of foul trouble (he didn't) and own a rebounding edge on P-W (he didn't), then Penn Wood could win it all again. This game showed that Oakman, while he's come a long way, still has a lot of work to do.

32 – Minutes played by Penn Wood's Aaron Brown, Tyree Johnson and Will Brown, pictured. The trio never left the court.

NOTE: Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones knew his best chance at a comeback was through his best players – so he kept them on the floor the longest.

5 – Blocks by Plymouth Whitemarsh center CJ Aiken.

NOTE: Aiken got dunked on – quite memorably – in the District One Class AAAA championship game, by Penn Wood's Aaron Brown. But Aiken got the last laugh, swatting two of Brown's fourth-quarter shot attempts.

13 – Rebounding differential (38 to 25) owned by Plymouth Whitemarsh.

NOTE: Whis Grant, a 6-0 guard with 11 boards, outrebounded Penn Wood big men Oakman and Darian Barnes combined. That's an unsettling stat.

28 – Field-goal percentage by Penn Wood.
50 – Field-goal percentage by Plymouth Whitemarsh.

NOTE: As offensively sound as Penn Wood is, the Patriots looked downright miserable in the final 19 minutes Saturday. After taking their 10-point lead, they were outscored, 40-20, by the fourth quarter's midway point.

(Photographs by Daily Times staff photographer Eric Hartline)

Penn Wood's magical run ended Saturday night in a 58-51 loss to Plymouth Whitemarsh.

The Patriots, who hadn't lost to a team from Pennsylvania all season, hadn't lost a game in general since Dec. 23. Here's what some of them - and two P-W players had to say about the game:

PENN WOOD GUARD DEQUAN PELZER
On his final game at Penn Wood: “Playing with Aaron Brown, Shawn Oakman, Tyree, Will (Brown) – this is my second family. They're like my family. They all know that. We all know that. We all were working for each other.”
On the offense: “What were we – 7-for-37? We just couldn't shoot. Our offense just wasn't there. It happens.”
On going 93 days without a loss: “I don't even know what to make of that. I can't say what that means to me. Maybe down the road, I can talk about that.”

PENN WOOD POINT GUARD TYREE JOHNSON
On the offense: “Tonight, our offense wasn't there and they pulled out the victory because of it.”
On returning to the state final: “Just making it here was great. If we had won, it would've been better. But we didn't win. And I'm not mad at the loss.”

PENN WOOD CENTER SHAWN OAKMAN
On the game: “We lost, but it doesn't erase the history we made.”
On the offense: “We didn't get into another rhythm. We didn't have any rhythm the whole game.”
On Plymouth Whitemarsh: “They kept their heads when they were up. They didn't yell at each other or nothing. They knew – they believed – they were going to win. They knew they were the better team.”
“I'm ready for next season.

PENN WOOD COACH CLYDE JONES
On the silver lining: “We worked to put this program on the map … so there are a whole lot of positives.”
On P-W's defense: “This one was a blast from the past, if you want to say that. We got back to doing some things that we hadn't done in awhile and I'd like to say Plymouth Whitemarsh had a lot to do with that. They played a great defensive game. Most of our shots were challenged. We didn't get many clean looks at all. We didn't do a good job of running our sets to get those clean looks, either. They worked and challenged us on every shot. They challenged us on passes. They challenged us on catches. And we didn't execute. We were out of character.”

PENN WOOD FORWARD AARON BROWN
On his coach's message: “He told us we had a great year and that not many teams get to the championship two times in a row. That in itself is an accomplishment. We had many accomplishments in these two years. I think we're just thankful for all of these accomplishments. I wouldn't want to play with anybody else.”

P-W GUARD WHIS GRANT
On winning Round 2: “States is so much bigger than districts so I can't imagine how they are feeling. I would be devastated to lose. States is definitely a bigger stage.”
On getting revenge: “It gave us more momentum, more fuel to keep going at them. They took something from us last time.”

P-W CENTER C.J. AIKEN
On getting revenge: “We felt we were the better team. At Villanova, we felt we gave them a gift and we didn't want that feeling again.”

(Photos by Daily Times photographer Eric Hartline. Norristown Times-Herald staff writers Tom Kerrane and Dennis Way contributed to this post.)

It's difficult to miss Archbishop Carroll's D.J. Irving, especially last week at the Jameer Nelson/Pete Nelson Classic. The affable, effervescent point guard was all over the place, bouncing around the gym and talking with everyone.

Irving, an All-Delco, led the Patriots to the PIAA Class AAA state championship a year ago. He's got his sight set on doing it again, too. Here's the first installment of what the early Boston University commit had to say about Carroll's play in the early going:

Q: Are you guys where you want to be?
A: No way. A lot of the guys in our program are inexperienced. The defensive schemes and the rotations are not there yet. I'm happy that we won the games we won, because we really should have lost. We're not going our hardest. That's the main thing. And rebounding, we're struggling there. The team defense can be a whole lot better.

Q: Can you tell now whether this team can repeat?
A: Not yet. I think near January and February, we'll be there, because we'll be so used to it.

Q: Who's been the biggest surprise on your team?
A: Matt Donaldson (6-4, 220) is a football player. He wasn't with us last year. At the beginning of the summer, and I'm not even lying, he struggled to make a layup. He's improved a lot. He's helping on defense, on the rebounding and he's finishing.

Q: Who do you stay in touch with from last year's team?
A: I try to talk with Kasheef (Festus, a walk-on who's redshirting at Coppin State) and I try to keep up with what Andre (Wilburn, a freshman at Delaware State) is up to. I miss them already.

PHOTO BY TIMES' PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC HARTLINE

Check back with us Saturday for the second installment of my Q+A with Irving.