Khalil Turner 6’6” Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter School (K Low Elite-Silver) – When you play at the 1A level in PA people tend to dismiss you because they think you don’t play any high level competition and in Turner’s case that assumption is wrong. Sankofa is situated in the Philly Pub’s ‘B’ division which happens to be the next best grouping of teams behind the 6 team ‘A’ division. And did I mention that they finished near the top of their division and made it to the quarterfinals of the Pub playoffs. Turner for his part was a leader on that team as a 6’6” ball handling PG who gets his teammates involved while also being a solid scorer in his ever expanding game. In their first foray into the PIAA playoffs they went out in round two to the eventual state runnerup Lourdes Regional HS in a game that their coaches said was the equivalent of laying the proverbial egg.
Turner has some obvious plusses to his game and while he needs some more refinement I believe he has a bright future ahead of him. He can handle the ball the ball very well even under pressure and he rarely over dribbles which is a plus. He controls the flow of the offense by being able to go to either side of the floor with a steady and measured dribble while surveying the court for weak spots in the defense. Khalil can also see over the D and pick up cutters and to direct the offense. He has a strong first step to get into te lane and he is patient enough to read the opposition then make the play he wants. His shooting stroke has improved a great deal since his Soph season and he has the added confidence to take the clutch shots in end of game moments. His mechanics are much better and he gets good lift to release his jumper whether off the catch or creating off the bounce and he has range beyond the three point line. As a passer he became steadier as the season progressed from leading a cutting teammate to timing his passes to beat defensive shifts and in doing so cut down on his turnovers. He is quite the willing rebounder as well with good instincts to see an opening and the athletic first jump to go get the ball. As a defender he can guard multiple positions digging in to defend on the ball with some grit thrown in. He excels in help defense situations and has the ability to close out and disrupt perimeter shooters.
While his shot has improved he does have moments when the bad form comes back if only for a half or so and he launches some off balance jumpers that have no chance of finding the bottom of the net but these hiccups don’t seem to last. He also has some turnoveritis from time to time where he simply throws some passes too high or wide but again these seem to be temporary and don’t effect his game in a negative way. His recruitment has been D-II heavy as the curse of the 1A team and the fact that not many are aware of Sankofa’s fine team has kept college coaches from seeing him play but recently he received his first D-1 offer from Hartford and with a strong showing this spring and summer with K Low Elite’s Silver team I fully expect the number of schools showing interest to climb. This young man is a talent for sure and he may have been a secret to those outside Philly but if he stays on his current course the cat will be out of the bag relatively speaking.