Imhotep Charter prospects lead all-state team

Posted: May 07, 2022

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the sixth in a series of seven daily boys all-state stories.

By Mike Gross, LNP News Group

Justin Edwards of Imhotep Charter is explosive, athletic, skilled and 6-foot-7, all the tangible gifts you’d expect in one of the top high school basketball players in the country.

Imhotep coach Andre Noble says it’s Edwards’ intangibles that really set him apart.

“It starts with his character,’’ Noble said of the Pennsylvania Sportswriters’ Class 5A Player of the Year. “We’ve talked about the key to his development being that he keeps being who he is as a person.’’

Edwards, a junior, led Imhotep to the Philadelphia Public League and District 12 titles and the 5A state championship. He averaged 18.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

He also made the Sportswriters’ all-state first team a year ago, and his dozens of scholarship offers include Kentucky, Villanova, Auburn, Virginia, Syracuse and Penn State.

Imhotep went 28-4 against a schedule that included national-class non-conference games and wins over Vashon of St. Louis, St. Francis of Baltimore and Florida’s DME Academy.

The state title was the school’s eighth. Noble is 442-96 over 18 seasons, averaging 25 wins per year. He was voted 5A Coach of the Year.

The Panthers had three players make all-state – Edwards and Rahmir Barno made the first team and Ahmad Nowell the second. All are back next year.

“I don’t think we necessarily peaked at (state tournament) time,’’ said Noble. “We were really rolling in January, when we played a number of national-type teams in a row. We’ll have to become a great defensive team, especially with the schedule we have lined up for next year.’’

Barno, a 6-foot junior guard, averaged 11.2 points, 5.3 assists and 2.1 steals. He made third-team all state last season, and has scholarship offers from Temple, LaSalle, Drexel, Hofstra, and Virginia Commonwealth.

Nowell, a 6-foot sophomore, averaged 12.5 points and made nearly 40 percent of his three-point attempts. He has offers from Kansas, Memphis and Auburn.

Rodney Gallagher, a 6-foot junior from Laurel Highlands, made the first team for the third time. One of the best pure athletes in the state, Gallagher also made all-state last fall in football, the sport he is likely to play in college.

Gallagher averaged 18.6 points, and led Laurel Highlands to a 27-1 record, the WPIAL championship and the state quarterfinals.

He has football offers from Notre Dame, Oregon and Penn State, and basketball offers from Penn State, Pitt, Florida and Illinois.

Jumping from the third team to the first is Ty Burton, a 5-10 sophomore point guard from Lampeter-Strasburg.

Burton averaged 21.2 points per game, shooting 56 percent from the field, 40 percent from the three-point arc and 89 percent from the foul line. His team went 27-1, winning the Lancaster-Lebanon League and District 3 titles.

Burton has an offer from Manhattan and interest from Ivy League schools.

Mike Wells, a 6-4 senior from New Castle, made the first team after leading his team to the 5A state final.

He averaged 22.4 points, including 41 in a state-tournament game, and finished a four-year varsity career with 1,932 points. Wells is a Youngstown State football recruit.

Among the state’s top sophomores and top big men, Archbishop Ryan’s Thomas Sorber made the first team after leading the powerful Philadelphia Catholic League in rebounds and blocked shots.

His numbers included 16.1 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game. Sorber has offers from Georgetown, Richmond and LaSalle.

2021-22 Class 5A All-State Teams

1st Team

Justin Edwards, 6' 7", junior, Imhotep Charter (Player of the Year)

Rodney Gallagher, 6', junior, Laurel Highlands

Thomas Sorber, 6' 9", sophomore, Archbishop Ryan

Mike Wells, 6' 4", senior, New Castle

Ty Burton, 5' 10", sophomore, Lampeter-Strasburg

Rahmir Barno, 6', junior, Imhotep Charter

2nd Team

Jalen Franklin, 6' 1", senior, Susquehannock

Ahmad Nowell, 6', sophomore, Imhotep Charter