LV Basketball - The Prophet

Mohammad with Dat lambert
at a game last year. 

Basketball season is over for us in the Lehigh Valley. Despite valiant efforts from several local high schools, we came up short in the state tournament. But we have someone known is basketball circles as The Prophet. He has led the Michigan Wolverines into the Final Four of March Madness. A few short years ago, he was the floor general for the Allentown Central Catholic High School Vikings.

I first met Mohammad and his dad, Dawud, during youth football, believe it or not.When kids are younger, they play everything.

Dawud, currently the basketball coach at Lehigh County Community College, also coached my grandson in AAU ball. He put together a team that also included Central's Jay Vaughan, Sammy Vaughan and Kevin Kern. It included Emmaus' Zach Sabol, Easton's Trevor Storm, Parkland's Jake Bartholomew and Logan Rindock, Becahi's Ryan Young and Whitehall's Mikey Esquilin. Unlike most AAU coaches, who rely on run 'n gun and teach kids to be selfish, Dawud taught fundamentals. Every single kid he coached turned into excellent ballers. He also came to a lot of the summer games and would tell players like Dat what they are doing wrong and how to fix it.

Dawud is a natural mentor. His son claims that everything he knows about basketball, he learned from his father. I believe him.

Mohammad is named, not after The Prophet, but Mohammad Ali.

"It's a tribute to Ali. It's a tribute to my son. It's a tribute to me and what I feel is important. He wasn't a perfect man by any means -- none of us are. But his genuine concern for others and who he was stood up here (raising his hand above his head) at a time when people would not dare to say what he was saying.

"As a child growing up in the late '60s and early '70s, Muhammad Ali was among other African-American sports figures I admired, but he was my favorite. I was the child of a single parent, a mother, and there were very few examples of African-American men who were strong and tough. He was that man. I was enamored with him."

Mohammad is an Allentown kid who excelled. He was able to overcome adversity and succeed at Central. He was told he wasn't good
enough to play in a top division I school. He has scored over 1,000 points at Michigan.

I hope The Prophet is a symbol of things to come for Allentown youth. As their circumstances improve, so will Allentown.