So you’re a New Yorker (New Yawww-kkkk—aaah) and you love watching good ‘ole fashioned b’ball. And no. To the outsiders who think it starts in the NBA or even college basketball baaaaaaabbbyyy, with apologies to ESPN’s Dick Vitale and CBS’/Knick excitable broadcaster Gus Johnson, that’s not where the saga begins for these players you come to appreciate.

It starts for these kids with hoop dreams of getting out of the inner ghetto. Ballin’ on the outdoor courts and practicing more than AI.

Basketball has been referred to as the city game here in NYC. We love our good ball. Though lately, there really isn’t a whole lot to cheer for as I’ve digressed in past entries in this space.

If you’re pondering where you can find a good game worth checking out, it’s at the high school level. Catholic city powers such as Rice and St. Raymond’s churn out future college stars who may or might not be good enough to make the NBA. There’s also public school power Lincoln which produced Coney Island’s Finest AKA Stephon Marbury.

His cousin Jamel Thomas could play a little too when they teamed up for a PSAL title in 1994-95. Thomas went onto a solid four-year career with Providence but never got his shot in David Stern’s league. It wasn’t because the older brother of ex-Railsplitter star Sebastien Telfair didn’t improve his game but cause he was a ‘tweener due to his 6-6 215 pound frame.

While at Providence, he developed into a solid forward who increased his scoring and rebounding averages every year finishing with 22.0 PPG and 7.3 RPG in his senior year grabbing All-Big East honors. Thomas worked on his outside shot which wasn’t really in his repertoire back in the ‘Splitter days. He could even step out and knock down the trifecta.

Problem was he couldn’t do it consistently and was undersized which probably was the biggest reason for not being able to stick in the NBA. He got into only 12 games with Boston, Golden State and the Nets before heading overseas. At last check, he starred for Beskitas Cola Turka in the Turkish League averaging close to 15-per-game in 2006-07.

I was able to track down a classic NCAA Tournament Elite 8 game between Providence and eventual 1997 champion Arizona in which Thomas nailed a trey from the left wing to force OT. Had another former NYC product God Shammgod (Shamgod Wells) not forced a jumper off a steal instead of taking the rock hard to the rim, maybe the Friars upset the Wildcats instead of falling in two overtimes to eventual NBA star guard Mike Bibby.

For more on Shammgod who came out of Providence too early playing just a couple of years, I discovered a good forum with discussion on the talented point guard with the killer crossover.

Don’t believe me? See for yourself.

Coming Next: More untold tales including some of NYC’s best that we caught