Ken Scheuer, his wife AnnMarie, and I present the Jack Scheuer "VGH" (Very Good Hoops) Award to Villanova's Duke Brennan after the Wildcats defeated Penn 90-63 to win the Big 5 Classic championship. (Photo: Aaron Bracy)
By AARON BRACY
December 6, 2025
Big5Hoops.com
PHILADELPHIA — Ken Scheuer told Duke Brennan how proud his father, Jack, would have been to present the Jack Scheuer “VGH” (Very Good Hoops) Award to Villanova’s big man after he led the Wildcats to a dominating 90-63 victory over Penn in the Big 5 Classic Championship game.
As I listened back to Brennan’s answer and reflected on Jack, tears started streaming to my eyes–and still are now.
Here’s what Brennan said:
“Sometimes little things that aren’t on the stat sheet really help a team win. That’s perfect for this award, actually. Going out there and playing the game how it’s supposed to be played.”
Jack would love this answer. Jack wouldn’t love that the Big 5 Classic is at the Xfinity Mobile Arena and not the Palestra, but Jack would love this event.
Villanova’s victory capped a great day of basketball, highlighted by Deuce Jones’ three-pointer at the buzzer that lifted Saint Joseph’s to a thrilling, 70-69 win over Temple in the third-place game. If it’s not true, it sure seems that the Big 5 produces more of these moments than anywhere else.
Two years ago, it was La Salle’s Khalil Brantley hitting a half-court shot at the buzzer to stun Penn, which was then coached by Steve Donahue. Today, Donahue was on the winning side of such a shot.
“I just stay poised,” Jones said after the buzzer-beater capped a dominating stretch in which he scored the last 10 Hawks points in the final 1:55 to turn a 65-60 deficit into a one-point win.
The opener featured La Salle gutting out a 69-64 win over Drexel in the fifth-place game. It appeared as if the Explorers would run away with this one after the Dragons shot 25 percent in the first half and La Salle took a 41-22 lead at the break. But, as with most games in this storied city tradition, there was no quit in Drexel. The Dragons, using a 2-3 zone and three-quarter court pressure, willed themselves back into the contest, getting as close as within three points before La Salle held on.
Sandwiched between the games was the halftime ceremony honoring the latest Big 5 Hall of Famers, including Temple’s Dionte Christmas and Saint Joseph’s Carlin Warley. I caught up with both, and they told me how much of an honor it was.
The Big 5 is special. It binds generations in a special way. My relationship with Jack Scheuer developed courtside at many Big 5 games. I learned so much from him and so many others, not just about the game at hand, but about the history of this great tradition.
The Big 5 is special. It produces a city champion. Villanova got a banner hung at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday night. Winning helps winning. This victory will help Kevin Willard and the Wildcats in their quest to get back to prominence of the Jay Wright Era.
The Big 5 is special. It creates great games and memorable finishes. People will be talking about Jones’ shot on Hawk Hill for years to come. They’ll compare his finish in the final two minutes to Marvin O’Connor’s flurry at La Salle years back.
The Big 5 is special. It produces Hall of Famers who cherish their time playing in this great tradition, knowing that these neighborhood battles sharpened their games and helped make them into the players they dreamed of becoming.
The Big 5 is special. It needs to remain an important part of the sports fabric of the city. Will it ever be the same, with packed Saturday night doubleheaders of the Palestra where it took top billing in the city’s sports hierarchy? Highly doubtful.
But there is still a place for the Big 5. It is special.
It should continue to be celebrated so that we can remember Jack Scheuer and continue to honor his legacy and others who have been so important to it.
It should continue to be celebrated so that we can continue to crown city champions who take neighborhood bragging rights for the year.
It should continue to be celebrated so that we can be treated to more thrilling buzzer beaters like Deuce Jones’ phenomenal three-pointer.
It should continue to be celebrated so that we see the fight of a Drexel battling back with all they can muster in spite of a sideways shooting game.
It should continue to be celebrated so that we can honor the next crop of Big 5 Hall of Famers and remember all that they gave to their schools and all of us.
The Big 5 is special. Let’s keep it that way.
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Aaron Bracy has covered sports in Philadelphia for nearly three decades for various publications and as a freelancer for the Associated Press. His first book, A Soaring Season: The Incredible, Inspiring Story of the 2003–04 Saint Joseph’s Hawks (Brookline), can be ordered HERE. He is working on his second book, which will chronicle the memorable 2000–01 season of Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. It will be published in April 2027. Follow Bracy on social media HERE. Contact him at bracymedia@gmail.com.