Rasheed Brokenborough

Brokenborough was born in Philadelphia and grew up in West Philadelphia, in the area that was previously known as "The Black Bottom": coming from a poor background, he was raised by his grandmother Beulah Brokenborough^[1][2] and he lived in a neighborhood where robberies and other crimes were frequent.^[3] He started playing organized basketball at a young age, attending George Pepper Middle School in Southwest Philadelphia,^[4] and went on to enroll at University City High School, where he started playing varsity basketball in his sophomore year. He primarily played in the small forward position during his high school career,^[5] and he averaged 25.8 points in his first year.^[5] The following season he posted averages of 24.0 points,^[5] 12 rebounds and 6 assists,^[4] and was a 2nd team All-City selection.^[6]

For his senior year of high school Brokenborough averaged 28.5 points per game, was named All-City 1st team and player of the year,^[6] and ended his career with a total of 1,774 points, which made him the all-time scoring leader at University City.^[5] He was considered one of the top players of the state of Pennsylvania,^[7] and one of the best in the nation,^[8] being named as a second-team Parade All-American.

During his high school career Brokenborough was recruited by Temple, Pittsburgh and Kansas: he committed to Temple in 1994.^[4] Brokenborough was diagnosed with a learning disability^[1] and his attendance at University City was inconsistent, so he did not take SAT preparatory courses:^[9] as a result, he did not obtain the required SAT score to qualify for a scholarship,^[10] scoring a 790 and an 800 on his two takes while he needed at least an 820.^[9] Therefore, he was not granted a scholarship and had to pay his own expenses for his freshman year at Temple; he also could not play for the basketball team, as the NCAA deemed him ineligible.^[9][11]

With support from the staff at Temple and the help of a tutor he managed to achieve the required grades, choosing a degree in social administration.^[9] He regained his eligibility and played his first year of college basketball in the 1996–97 season: he started 30 out of 31 games (the only game he did not start was the one against Minnesota during the 1997 NCAA tournament), averaging 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals in 37.7 minutes per game.^[12] He scored a career-high 31 points against Cincinnati on January 16, 1997, and he led the team in free throw percentage with 77%. He was also the second best scorer on the team behind Marc Jackson. At the end of the season he made the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team along with teammate Pepe Sánchez.^[11][13]

In his junior year he started all 30 games, but his averages slightly decreased: he recorded 11.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting a career-low 36% from the field in 31.9 minutes per game.^[11] His 11.8 points made him the second best scorer of the team behind Lamont Barnes. In his senior year he played a team-high 35.9 minutes per game, averaging 11.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.6 steals while recording career-highs in all the shooting percentages (his free throw percentage of 79.6% was the best of his team). He scored 22 points (with 4 three-pointers) against Xavier and played 4 games during the 1999 NCAA tournament, averaging 8 points.^[11] The NCAA denied him an additional year of eligibility, and Brokenborough had to end his college career after the 1998–99 season.^[9]

Brokenborough started 95 out of 96 games at Temple, and scored 1,255 points (35th all-time as of 2019,^[14] 22nd at the time of his graduation^[11]).