All-City Classic has history of opening doors

At 6-foot-5 with spring to spare, Nasseem Wright hopes his recruiting stock takes flight Friday night in the 27th annual Rasual Butler All-City Classic.

The spidery Math, Civics, and Sciences Charter junior forward is still a relative newcomer to basketball, but his skills and elite athleticism could trace a familiar trajectory.

“It’s been a springboard for so many people in the past,” said Charles “Shoob” Monroe, who started the event in 1995. “And it could be just as big for Nasseem Wright.”

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This year’s installment begins at 5:45 p.m. at West Philadelphia High School and features top area talent such as juniors Thomas Sorber (Archbishop Ryan) and Ahmad Nowell (Imhotep Charter). Sorber recently committed to Georgetown.

Rob Wright, a former Neumann Goretti standout who led the Catholic League in scoring last season before announcing his transfer to Montverde Academy, a private school in Florida, is also expected to play.

Monroe acknowledges that his event competes for attention more often these days, but his goal remains the same. To that end, scouts from Nike and the McDonald’s All-American Game, among others, are expected to attend, he said.

“That’s why I started it ,” Monroe said in a phone interview, “to get exposure for the young guys. That will continue to be our mission.”

Before Hakim Warrick became an NCAA champion at Syracuse, he was a slender, springy junior at Friends’ Central who was added to the All-City Classic roster as an alternate in 2000 at La Salle University.

Warrick’s high-flying performance led to an invite to Nike’s prestigious summer camp, which led to phone calls from Jim Boeheim, which eventually yielded a national championship alongside Carmelo Anthony.

Warrick later became a first-round NBA draft pick in 2005 and enjoyed a 13-year career in professional basketball (eight in the NBA).

“You never know who is watching,” Warrick told The Inquirer in 2019. “It only takes one top coach, one assistant to like you and you never know what that could turn into.

“For me,” Warrick said, “I was not ranked at all nationally and I think playing well in that game and having the scouts to get that buzz out there helped.”

Wright, 18, who didn’t start playing basketball in earnest until his sophomore year, is similarly unheralded.

He did, however, score 28 points against St. Vincent-St. Mary, the alma mater of LeBron James, when the Ohio-based team visited Philadelphia. He has gotten some interest from Coppin State and Delaware State, Wright said, but no Division I offers, yet.

It likely hasn’t helped Wright that college coaches — under enormous pressure to win immediately — are more likely to choose a veteran from the transfer portal than an incoming freshman, especially one with little experience.

Still, Wright, named first-team All-Public League and third-team all-state last season, hopes to make a name for himself.

“It means a lot,” Wright said of Friday night’s game. “It gives me the chance to show who I am as a player against a bunch of top-tier guys.”