Sharkey’s long road to success has paid dividends at Samford
It’s a long way from the Olney section of Philadelphia to Birmingham, Alabama. But then, Josh Sharkey has never been one for taking the short path.
For three years, Sharkey endured the daily commute from North Philadelphia to Archbishop Carroll in Radnor, in service of his academic and basketball careers. He knows all too well that the road from a place like Olney to greener pastures in any field can be arduous and winding.
So when he entered his senior year at Carroll with a lot of, “we’ll see” kind of responses from colleges, a lot of checks in the recruiting-site “interest” columns but scant few offers to secure his future, Sharkey decided to go with the school that had been after him the longest.
He’d be headed south, to Samford University and the Southern Conference. And he resolved that he’d do it without looking back.
“Samford was one of the schools that recruited me from the beginning,” Sharkey said last week. “I wanted to get out of the experience something new. I’ve done a lot of things here, and it’s something I take pride in.
“Coming from Philly, I wanted to do something different. There’s a lot of guys from Philly that go far away and transfer back home, but I wanted to stick it out here and stay all four years.”
One of the things Sharkey has done differently than many of his Philly peers is put together a college career that has exceeded the hype he created at Carroll. Sharkey, an AllDelco Patriots point guard, has compiled a stellar senior season in which he’s third in Division I in assists per game at 7.7, a signature flourish on a career that’s already exceeded
1,000 points.
It’s not bad for a 5-10 kid whose main interest out of high school, outside of Samford, was a chance to get into Penn and fight for a spot.
First the assists, since that’s how Sharkey has always measured his contributions to a team. He was surprised last year to find himself in the upper rungs of the national rankings, finishing tied for fourth in the 2018-19 season. Among those in front of him were No. 2 overall pick Ja Morant and Michigan State star Cassius Winston.
“After the season, I looked at that and wanted to make it a goal to be No.
1 on the list this season,” Sharkey said. “So it’s definitely a goal. I’ve always been a pass-first player, a point guard, so I take a lot of pride in that and creating for my teammates. Lot of credit to them because they’re making the shots. It makes my job easy.”
The national goals were necessary given the way Sharkey has rewritten the record book at Samford. Though he didn’t start regularly until his junior year (just 10 starts in his first two seasons combined), his
239 assists last year set the Samford single-season record. He owned the career assists (541) and steals
(203) records before his senior campaign began. And he’s also the team’s leader in scoring this year at 18.0 points per game.
Twenty-two games into his final campaign, Sharkey is 12th on the school’s career scoring list at 1,394 points. In Sports Reference’s lists of all-time Division I leaders, which date back to the 1985-86 season, Sharkey is 92nd in assists
(687) and 115th in steals
(260). His profile on campus is such that the Samford 2019-20 media guide features photos of Sharkey alone on the cover, and on page two, and on page four.
So yes, he’s made his way in the hoops world pretty well.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to those who saw him at Carroll. He tallied 990 points in four seasons (with his freshman year at Abington Friends) and led the Patriots to the state tournament three times, winning eight states games. He was one of the standouts of the
2015 PIAA Class AAA final loss to Neumann-Goretti, in which he tallied a double-double of 13 points and
10 rebounds.
About the only drawback on Sharkey then was his size, now listed at 5-10,
170 pounds. But even that he’s managed to hammer, through force of his will on the practice court, into a sneaky advantage.
“Me being undersized, there were a lot of people that doubted me, saying I’m not big enough,” Sharkey said. “That’s just fuel to the fire. That chip on my shoulder has helped me become the player that I am.”
It should be no surprise that a point guard who is such an adept facilitator is just as capable to use his connections in the basketball world to improve his game. His freshman class at AFS included close friends Lamar Stevens (an All-Delco at Haverford School before transferring to Roman Catholic) and Tony Carr, both standouts at Penn State.
His Carroll passes were aimed at four Division I players: Ryan Daly (Delaware/Saint Joseph’s), David Beatty (South Carolina/ La Salle), Ernst Aflakpui (Temple) and NBA regular Derrick Jones (UNLV). Dig into his AAU connections at Team Final and you’ll find NBA players like Lonnie Walker and D’Andre Hunter, plus Auburn’s Samir Doughty and Rhode Island’s Fatts Russell.
The most pertinent relationship to him, however, is family. Sharkey’s uncle is one Jameer Nelson, the revered Chester High alum renowned for his work ethic and turning an undersized frame into a stellar career of almost 900 NBA games. Sharkey’s cousin is Jameer Nelson Jr., a freshman at George Washington whose lanky and unbridled athleticism presents the kind of challenge Sharkey loves. These family ties have sharpened Sharkey’s game.
“I wish you could see our workouts, they’re great,” Sharkey said. “There’s a lot of competition. We push each other to be great in the weight room or in the classroom, in basketball and just push each other in life. I think that’s made us closer as a family. When I’m home, our workouts are very intense. Jameer (Sr.) preaches that, every time on the court, work hard and push each other. I think you’ve seen that in his game and seen that in my game.”
Beginning with a scheduled visit Wednesday night from Chattanooga, Sharkey had at least 10 games left in his collegiate career. The Bulldogs are 8-14, having lost six straight, and seem unlikely to make enough noise in the SoCon Tournament to make Samford’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 2000.
Sharkey, who missed three games, has Sacred Heart’s Cameron Parker (141 assists in 18 games, 7.8 apg) and suspended Michigan
guard Zavier Simpson (157 in 19, 8.3) ahead of him on the nation leaderboard.
Whatever transpires in the last six weeks of his basketball career, one thing is certain: In the array of Philadelphia luminaries who’ve reached the college ranks, Sharkey has made a bigger name for himself than most dream of.
“It’s amazing to see everyone doing well for themselves,” Sharkey said. “It’s a blessing. We’ve all come a long way, all different stories and great to see everyone.”
Ever the distributor, Sharkey even has credit to hand out to others.