West Catholic forward Zion Stanford, a Temple recruit, is a pillar of the Burrs’ program

Inside the wooden doors of West Catholic Preparatory High School’s gym, the boys’ basketball team is holding an offseason practice. The chatter is loud. Some players are on the sidelines doing push-ups after a missed shot and others are rushing to get back in line for another rep.

Small forward Zion Stanford was the first in line for warmups, where he drove to the net with a reverse layup, while the rest of his teammates gazed at the 6-foot-5 senior.

It was easy to tell he’s one of the leaders of West Catholic’s group. Coach Miguel Bocachica, a.k.a “Coach Boc,” says Stanford leads by example, being soft-spoken but a driven player on the court.

“He’s really a product of a lot of work,” Bocachica said. “He doesn’t miss days. He works on his game religiously.”

It took time, but Stanford, a three-star prospect, became a versatile player, from a big man at the rim to a perimeter shooter, all of which caught the attention of college coaches. There was one school in particular, though, he gravitated to from the start.

Less than a 15-minute drive from his West Philly home to North Broad, Stanford decided to stay close to home and play college basketball at Temple, becoming coach Aaron McKie’s first commitment of the 2023 class.

“I noticed there was a great bond, like with the coaches and the players,” Stanford said about his unofficial visit to Temple. “They all just love each other. I felt like the energy they brought, I could adapt to them a lot.”

He passed up scholarship offers from Boston College, Drexel, St. Joseph’s, Bryant, Albany, and Fairfield. His decision to stay local stemmed from McKie’s coaching style, which Stanford felt he was already familiar with.

Consistently working in the gym and earning each minute on the floor is the standard Bocachica has set in place at West Catholic. The former Imhotep Charter assistant coach calls it an old-school method.

That system landed Stanford a spot on varsity as a freshman, but he had to work on his game each day to maintain those minutes. “He just played the right way,” Bocachica said. “There was never an issue about whether he was getting a shot or if he was playing X amount of minutes. He kind of just played.

“From the second he got here, he was on the perimeter, and sometimes it looked a little wild and crazy, but over time it all just paid off.”

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Stanford started playing competitive basketball for Philly Triple Threat at age 11 and stayed on the team throughout the rest of his AAU career.

Bocachica first met Stanford when he was in seventh grade during a workout session at West Catholic.

“When I first met him, he was maybe three inches shorter, but with the same body type,” Bocachica said. “People just weren’t sure if he was going to grow, is he going to do this or is he going to do that. I wasn’t worried about it. I just loved how he competed. He was on a team with a bunch of talented kids. He played hard and played the right way.”

Bocachica reached out to Triple Threat’s administrator saying he wanted Stanford to come work out with the high school group, so Stanford joined a couple of sessions where he jelled with the team.

As a freshman, Stanford watched the seniors lead the way. However, West Catholic went through some rough patches, finishing 5-9 during the 2019-20 season. Stanford’s impact started to become more valuable, helping the team improve to 6-4 in his sophomore year.

West Catholic then made a 12-1 leap last season, when Stanford averaged 14.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 59.6% from the floor and 36.7% from three-point range.

“Junior year, my role definitely got bigger,” Stanford said. “Basically, I got to do more things like shoot wherever I want. I was more reliable last year than most of my other years. They really relied on me more.”

He helped his team make it to the Catholic League semifinals at the Palestra. He also earned first team all-league and second team all-state honors.

“Zion’s been here when we weren’t great,” Bocachica said. “He’s been here when we were solid, and he’s still here. Now, we’re pretty good, so he’s kind of been a pillar to all that.”

As West Catholic started to consistently win games last season, Stanford was noticed by more colleges. In late June, he had a dominant performance at the Philly Live tournament. That’s when Temple assistant Chris Clark reached out to him.

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During his unofficial visit to Temple’s campus in June, Stanford had a conversation with guard Hysier Miller, a Neumann Goretti graduate who saw valuable minutes as a freshman, about coming from Philly and the opportunities he could have in the Owls’ program.

Shortly afterward, he spoke with McKie and got his official offer. After talking with his parents and coaches, Stanford knew Temple was the right fit.

“I really finalized my decision when I had to talk to my dad,” Stanford said. “He was telling me that if I do stay in Philly, I have to turn it up a notch. I have to really stay focused and can’t get distracted by anything.”

Stanford doesn’t plan to lose his focus. For now, his priority is getting back to the Palestra and bringing home a championship for West Catholic.

“I want to bring a championship to this school,” Stanford said. “We haven’t won the championship since 1950. We had a good chance last year. We’ve been there before. We’ve got to just finish it out. This is my last chance to finish it.”