Sir’Dominic Pointer scored 23 points in Sunday’s win for the Sean Bell All-Stars. (erin edwards)
Raheem (Rah) Wiggins wants to make it clear: he’s not an AAU coach.
His hat tilted sideways at a 45 degree angle, his baggy jeans grazing the ground just above his bright orange and blue sneakers that match his Jose Reyes jersey, he certainly doesn’t quite fit the mold of an AAU basketball coach. He does bark at his players and argue every minute call with the referee like one, but Wiggins doesn’t pretend nor does he crave to be one.
The MRI operator from South Jamaica rarely coaches high school players – the city’s unlimited summer streetball circuit is his backyard – but he has a knack for getting the best out-of-state prospects to play on his team since he entered the Sean Bell All-Stars into the famed iS8 19-and-under tournament last spring.
Unlike his previous two times in iS8, the Sean Bell All Stars – named after the Queens man who was fatally shot by plain clothes police officers on the night before he was supposed to be married in November, 2006 – haven’t been a playoff flameout.
Sunday, the squad – which counts All-American and Pittsburgh commit Khem Birch of Notre Dame Prep; Louisville recruit Angel Nunez, a Bronx native; Kansas prospect Naadir Tharpe out of Brewster Academy (Mass.); and St. John’s recruit Sir’Dominic Pointer out of Quality Education in North Carolina – bested New Heights-Kimani, 95-82, to reach the semifinals of the 60-team tournament.
“People in my neighborhood tell me if I don’t win I’m like [John] Calipari – I get all the talent, but I don’t get it done,” he said. “If I win, I’m the black Bobby Knight.”
Wiggins tends to be hard on his players in the tournament, demanding all-out effort at both ends of the floor. He doesn’t often call plays, letting his talent showcase itself.
“It’s cool, he lets us play, get up and down,” said Pointer, who scored 23 points in Sunday’s win. “He yells a little bit, but after the play it’s over.”
A basketball fan all his life, Wiggins had been going to iS8 for years. He never considered entering a team until last spring – the 10th anniversary of Sean Bell’s death – when he had access to three stars Jelan Kendrick (Memphis), Melvin Ejam (Iowa State) and Eric Ferguson (George Southern) that “opened doors for everything else,” he said. Wiggins used to coach DDA in the summer streetball circuit, but created the Sean Bell All-Stars as a way to remember his good friend.
“iS8 is my neighborhood, it’s where I grew up, I always wanted to do this,” he said. “Last spring I felt the time was right. I took a liking to it and I kept putting a team in it.”
Wiggins doesn’t talk to his players at iS8 about Bell until the tournament is over. Many of them are not familiar with the case since few are from the area, but he does want them to know who they are playing for.
“I tell them, everything we’re doing is for a great cause,” he said. “He as very instrumental on all my teams, he came to my games. If you’re not gonna do anything else, in memory of Sean Bell, give it 110 percent and leave it all out on the floor.”
As for the out-of-town talent, Wiggins says he doesn’t pay a nickel for any of them to fly into the city on weekends. He gets them to play through connections with their high school or AAU coaches. Plus, iS8’s high level of competition and unique atmosphere, Wiggins says, sells itself. Contrary to popular belief, his loaded teams aren’t ready-made.
“It’s harder for us because there are a bunch of players that never played together,” he said.
Wiggins has brought them together slowly and has Sean Bell just two wins away from an iS8 crown. It would be the perfect segue into his busy summer.
“It would mean a lot,” he said of the prestigious tournament. “That would be real big to me.”