High-school football star Torian Phillips of Port Richmond on Staten Island is headed to Syracuse University in the fall of 2009. (RJ Mickelson/amNY)
By Max J. Dickstein
From the fields and courts of New York they came: Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig, Sandy Koufax and Whitey Ford of the major leagues; NFL quarterbacks Sid Luckman and Vinny Testaverde; NBA greats Bob Cousy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bernard King.
Here is amNewYork’s selection of five of the brightest young prospects emerging from today’s New York sportscape.
FOOTBALL
Torian Phillips, Staten Island
New York’s top football recruit may find himself challenged at Syracuse this fall. But Big East competition is what Phillips wants out of his full-ride scholarship.
“I want to see how fast the comp level is,” said the two-way star, who led Port Richmond (13-0) to the Public Schools Athletic League title last fall as a running back, defensive back and return specialist. “I heard it can sneak up on you.”
While the Orange plan to use Phillips on defense, he rushed for 1,486 yards and scored 34 touchdowns as a senior for the Red Raiders, including a record-tying four TDs in the championship game.
“I like scoring touchdowns,” Phillips said. “But defense is good because when you stop a touchdown, sometimes it feels better than scoring.”
This winter, Syracuse sent the 5-foot-10, 175-pounder a workout plan to help him add some college-level bulk. (He aims to add 10 pounds.)
“Torian is a better kid than he is a football player,” said his coach at Port Richmond, Louis Vesce. “I’ve never had an All-Star like that — the best player in the city — conduct himself so well. He did it all very humbly, didn’t ever put himself above the team.”
BASKETBALL
Lance Stephenson, Brooklyn
A Coney Island phenom in the tradition of Brooklyn-born guards such as Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair, Stephenson is a 6-foot-5, 210-pound swingman with preps-to-pros flash and talent.
The 18-year-old already has national exposure. Long ranked as a top college recruit, Stephenson has been featured in two documentaries, including an Internet-only production at BornReady.tv that offers an unstinting, 20-episode chronicle of Stephenson’s junior year at Abraham Lincoln High School. It lays bare his raw emotions and ability, as well as the enormous pressure on him.
In March, Stephenson led the Railsplitters to a record fourth straight PSAL Class AA boys championship. He averaged 31.9 points and 12.8 rebounds as a senior and became the state’s boys career scoring leader.
Stephenson has dithered about his college choice recently (Arizona and Maryland seem to be the most probable destinations). Wherever he ends up seems likely to be a one-year stopover before Stephenson makes himself eligible for the NBA draft.
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Check the runner at first. For the first time in years, chances are good he’ll be running.
