Lincoln High graduate Khalif Meares revives his career at Rowan after time away from the court

Dating back to his senior season at Abraham Lincoln High School in 2018, Khalif Meares demanded the attention of everyone in attendance.

He was the main reason behind the best two-year stretch in Railsplitters history. He elected to play at one of the better junior college programs in the country at Harcum College. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, halted a successful future, and before Meares knew it, he was out of options. He captivated crowds for two seasons and then suddenly didn’t have a single pair of eyes on him.

Meares was candid in saying that while the pandemic was part of the equation, he also lost track of handling his business off the court.

“I fell off in the classroom,” Meares said. “I took a break from school and played in a couple summer leagues, then decided to come back to school.”

Meares was a mainstay at the Danny Rumph Classic over the last two summers, showcasing what made him such an incredible player in the Public League and at Harcum. Still, he missed being part of a team and playing with a purpose.

“I wanted to get back into school and ready to play,” Meares said. “I wasn’t really debating between schools, then I went to a Rowan game and saw a lot of people I knew. It made it feel like home, and they opened their arms to me.”

Meares is back with a ball in his hands facilitating the offense for Rowan under interim head coach Eric Brennan. The 6-foot-3 junior guard is averaging 20.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 4.1 steals for the Profs (12-5, 6-4 New Jersey Athletic Conference). He has scored 20 or more points in 11 games, including a career-high 30 against Swarthmore on Jan. 3.

“We thought it might take a few games, but it was almost immediate,” Brennan said of Meares spearheading the offense. “This is a kid who loves to play basketball, and he seems like he never gets tired. Rarely will he come out of a game. He’s a calming presence, and he’s having so much fun playing basketball. It’s nice to see him out on the court and enjoying what he’s doing.”

Despite being away from competitive basketball for three years, Meares is tied for 43rd in Division III in scoring while shooting 51.2% from the field. He attacks the ball with quickness and finishes with ease. At only 166 pounds, Meares has a goal to add weight to his rangy frame, but through the early part of this career, conditioning has not been a factor.

“I just play a lot of basketball,” Meares said. “The first day of practice, Coach Brennan told me I play too much basketball outside of here and didn’t want me to get hurt. I work out a lot with my old coaches like Jamel Lindsey and get in the gym with them.”

Lindsey, now head coach at Girard College, was an assistant during Meares’ senior season at Lincoln and later succeeded Al Brown as head coach. Lindsey helped his former pupil stay in shape during his hiatus from organized basketball, but what Meares did as a member of the Railsplitters is the primary reason he was so heavily coveted early in his career.

He led Lincoln to an overtime win against Conestoga in the first round of the PIAA Class 6A tournament as a junior to secure the program’s first state playoff victory. As a senior, he averaged 14 points, was named Public League Liberty Division player of the year, and made the Class 6A all-state second team.

» READ MORE: The Brennan brothers helped each other steer their basketball paths. Now they lead Rowan’s program — together.

Meares scored 18 points to lead the Railsplitters to an 86-76 win over Roman Catholic in the District 12-6A title game, clinching the school’s first city title, then led a run to the PIAA 6A final in Hershey, where he had 28 points in a rematch with the Cahillites.

Despite receiving interest from Hartford, West Chester, and East Stroudsburg, Meares chose to take an opportunity at Harcum under Drew Kelly, now an assistant at Northern Illinois. He blossomed at Harcum under Kelly and assistant coach John Ball, who succeeded Kelly.

He held a career average of 13.2 points. He recorded the program’s first triple-double with 14 points, 16 assists, and 10 steals against Harford Community College on Dec. 20, 2019. His 183 career steals remain a program record.

During Meares’ time at Harcum, Brennan was recruiting his teammate, Hafeez Melvin, who eventually played two seasons at Rowan. In the process of locking down Melvin, Brennan also was planting the idea of having Meares join his teammate with the Profs.

“Khalif was Hafeez’s teammate at the time, and I made a really light mention to Khalif because I knew he was higher than us in both division and level,” Brennan said. “I said, ‘If it doesn’t work out at higher levels, we would love to have you because you’re a great player.’ ”

» READ MORE: La Salle special assistant Joe Mihalich’s inspiring road back to the bench honored by the PSWA

Brennan felt building that relationship early on with Meares paid dividends years later.

“I planted the seed, and he also saw Hafeez’s experience here,” the coach said. “At that point, he came to a lot of games and invested a lot of time to ensure we were the right fit for him.”

Meares is once again demanding the attention of both the opposition and crowd. Playing in a starting lineup with 6-6 senior Ja’Zere Noel (21.7 ppg), Meares is scoring at will and blowing by defenders. On the defensive end, he has 70 steals and has multiple steals in 15 of his 17 games.

“It’s great, especially because he’s been a leader since those first few practices,” Brennan said. “A lot of people can get behind that. He’s working his tail off every possession and usually sticking [to] the best player on the other team. Offensively, we just get him space because there’s not a lot of overcoaching you need to do with Khalif.”

Added Meares: “It just feels great and I’m happy to be back on the basketball court. I’m back playing and in school instead of just playing. Now I’m around teammates and coaches. I feel like they all trust me, and they have seen what I can do. I really trust them.”

This story was produced as part of a partnership between The Inquirer and City of Basketball Love, a nonprofit news organization that covers high school and college basketball in the Philadelphia area while also helping mentor the next generation of sportswriters. This collaboration will help boost coverage of the city’s vibrant amateur basketball scene, from the high school ranks up through the Big 5 and beyond.