Aaron Bracy congratulates St. Joe's Rasheer Fleming for being honored with the inaugural 'Jack Scheuer VGH Award' on Saturday. (Photo: St. Joe's Athletics)
VGH is special. Very special. And rare.
VGH = Very Good Hoops.
The man who coined the acronym, Jack Scheuer, was a stickler for basketball being played the right way.
“It’s a simple game,” Jack would say.
Pass, move, screen, find the best shot, rebound, defend, play as a team.
Easy game. But so hard.
When Jack liked what he saw, he’d scribble the letters VGH or GH on your notebook.
GH = Good Hoops.
VGH and GH were stamps of approval for Jack and a relief that they weren’t ruining his game. If you weren’t playing the right way, thus ruining Jack’s game, you’d get a grimace and BH in ink on your paper.
BH=Bad Hoops.
Occasionally, Jack would be so disgusted that he’d write VBH.
VBH=Very Bad Hoops.
–
Now that the English lesson is over, let’s review what we just saw at the Wells Fargo Center in the inaugural Big 5 Classic.
OK, breathe. Breathe again. One more time.
It was a frantic, thrilling day. Twelve hours after arriving, the adrenaline is just now dying down.
They changed the Big 5 this season, adding Drexel and altered the format to a pod system with a winner-take-all ending. To the athletic directors and Wells Fargo Center executives, take a bow.
And thank you.
Because the first-ever Big 5 Classic went like this:
Game 1: Drexel 57, No. 18 Villanova 55, GH
Game 2: La Salle 93, Penn 92, OT, VGH
Game 3: St. Joe’s 74, Temple 65, GH
Somewhere up above, Jack was smiling. No BH today. Nothing even close.
The Big 5 Classic delivered. And in ways only the Big 5 can.
–
To honor Jack’s longtime contributions covering the Big 5 forever, we polled media members for the inaugural “Jack Scheuer VGH Award” for the player in the championship game that best symbolized how Jack expected basketball to be played.
Honestly, the entire, glorious day of the Big 5 Classic itself could have been honored as the winner.
Since we stipulated a player in the championship game, the Hawks’ Rasheer Fleming was the overwhelming selection. Fleming was dynamic while helping the Hawks take the first-ever Big 5 Classic title with a 74-65 victory over Temple. The 6-foot-9 sophomore out of Camden High had 22 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 assists. He made 8 of 11 field goals and all four of his free-throw attempts.
“All my teammates trust me in practice to make shots,” Fleming said after setting career highs for points and field goals. “I just thank my teammates for giving me the chance.”
Jack would have loved how Fleming did all of the dirty work down low, boxing out, defending in the paint, passing out to teammates for a better shot when there was nothing open inside.
It was beautiful. The way the game is supposed to be played. VGH.
“Nonstop fight,” the Hawks’ leader, Erik Reynolds II, said of Fleming. “That’s who Rasheer is. I’m not surprised at all.”
A fighter. And a captain. And a steadying influence on the Hawks.
“He’s just a steadfast, faithful, loyal person,” St. Joe’s coach Billy Lange said. “When you have to lead something, you have so many things running through your mind. If you know when you show up that someone is going to be the same person every day, it’s a relief. He’s the same person every day.”
Something else. Something you didn’t know but makes the honor for Fleming just right. Jack Scheuer was the most genuinely kind person you’d ever meet. He also was a family man. And a man of faith.
Fleming is as well.
“Since he’s been a freshman, he has led us in pregame prayer,” Lange said. “His spirit is so pure.”
Jack, I’m sure, would have loved to hear that.
And I know Jack would have loved to see Saturday from courtside and not somewhere in the clouds.
Because there was nothing but VGH and GH on display. All. Day. Long.
–
Just prior to the Hawks’ banner-raising win, you half-believed what you saw that ended with La Salle beating Penn 93-92 in overtime.
The game was a classic Big 5 duel, with punch and counterpunch the entire 45 minutes. The Explorers, having played 55 minutes just three nights earlier had no wilt in them.
Penn’s tremendous guard Clark Slajchert scored on a drive with four seconds left in overtime, tying his career high with 33 points. But wait. Khalil Brantley streaked up the court, got one big step over half court and launched the ball off the backboard and into the basket. From 40 feet away!
What?! Yes, it counted. “I knew for a fact it was good,” Brantley said.
VGH.
For La Salle.
And for Penn.
“Both teams played in the spirit of what the Big 5 is about,” Quakers coach Steve Donahue said. “Our kids gave it their all.”
Did what I think I saw really just happen? If so, how in the world?
“It’s a testament to young people never saying never,” Explorers coach Fran Dunphy said. “Great play, great shot, maybe some fortune.”
And confidence.
“I gotta do it for these guys, gotta figure something out and do it for my team,” Brantley said of the final shot.
He said he’s used to hitting buzzer-beaters after making four in high school. Confidence. Skill. And?
“With a little sprinkle of God,” he said.
–
Speaking of divinity, Drexel surely didn’t have a prayer against Villanova, right? The 18th-ranked Wildcats were already 0-2 in the Big 5, having been upset by Penn and at home to St. Joe’s on Wednesday. They would be in an angry mood, ready to put the Hawks loss behind them.
But wait. Villanova came out misfiring. And missed. And missed. And missed some more.
Drexel wasn’t playing in awe, something coach Zach Spiker stressed entering the contest. The Dragons started building confidence and got tremendous games from Amari Williams (12 points, 6 rebounds, 5 blocks) and Luke House (11 points).
The Wildcats finished 5 of 27 from 3-point range, and Eric Dixon’s 21 points couldn’t save them from a shocking 0-3 finish in the Big 5.
Classic Big 5 upset.
GH.
It was a GH and VGH kind of day that Jack would have loved.
Hey, can we do this again tomorrow?
—
Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. His byline regularly appears on Associated Press stories. Big5Hoops.com is his second website dedicated to Philadelphia college basketball. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages.