Sacred Heart High School boys basketball ran off the first three of their four straight state championships from 2014-2016, and Mustapha Heron, Ty Flowers, Malik Petteway, Charles Fisher and JT Riddick were integral parts of it.
Now all of them are making an impact in college, be it Division I, NAIA or the junior level. Here’s more about each player, where they are, and how they’re doing so far:
Mustapha Heron
St. John’s University has picked up a tremendous transfer from Auburn University, and his name is Mustapha Heron. The junior was granted a waiver by the NCAA to play this season — Heron transferred to be closer to his mother, who is battling health issues — and he is already showing what he can do.
Through two games, Heron is averaging 20.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in 32 minutes. He is shooting 50 percent from the floor (13-26), 44.4 percent from three-point line (4-9), and 68.8 percent at the foul line (11-16). Heron makes St. John’s a legitimate threat in the Big East Conference and the NCAA overall.
Ty Flowers
Flowers transferred to LIU-Brooklyn from UMass-Amherst, following the path of his head coach Derek Kellogg. After sitting out the 2017-2018 season, the redshirt sophomore has started the first two games this season and is averaging 12 points and 5.5 rebounds in 21.5 minutes. He has made nine field goals, including four 3-pointers. Flowers has four blocks and has passed out six assists.
One issue for Flowers has been foul trouble. He has eight personal fouls in two games, and he fouled out of one of those games. At 6-foot-9 with a long wingspan, Flowers brings some much-needed size to an LIU team that was picked third in the preseason Northeast Conference poll.
Malik Petteway
Speaking of the NEC, that’s where you’ll find Petteway, who is a senior at Robert Morris University. He has played in both games and is averaging 5.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 16 minutes. Petteway has made five of his eight field goal attempts and has blocked three shots.
The Colonials are hoping to have a healthy Petteway for the 2018-2019 season. He played in 13 games and made four starts last season before missing 20 of the last 21 contests due to injury. In those 13 games Petteway played, he led or tied for the team lead in rebounds in seven games. Petteway had three double-doubles in 2017-2018, and he tied for the most rebounds in a game with 14 and most blocks with three.
Charles Fisher
Baker University (NAIA) of Baldwin City, Kansas, has played three games so far, and the former defensive standout Fisher has been a leader for his new team. He has started all five games and is averaging team-highs of 7.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists. Fisher is the team’s leading rebounder as a 6-foot-1 guard.
Fisher has four steals and one blocked shot in five games. He is averaging 4.4 points per game, has made nine field goals and all four of his foul shots. Fisher, who is a junior, was previously at Louis and Clark College.
JT Riddick
The former Sacred Heart big man found his way to Santa Maria, Calif., and Allan Hancock College, and he is in his second season on the West Coast. Riddick scored 21 points and was 9-for-9 on his field goal attempts in just 14 minutes of play against West Hills Lemoore on Nov. 3.
Riddick had a major impact on Hancock’s postseason run in 2017-2018 as a freshman. He averaged five blocks per game as the Bulldogs made it to the Elite Eight of the community college state tournament. Riddick played in 24 games as a freshman and averaged 3.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks. Hancock is hoping for more from their 6-foot-9, 195-pound forward.
Statistics and information compiled from the team website of each athlete.
