Khalif Wyatt spent countless hours working on perfecting his shot over the years.
“In the summer, I would go to the gym and just shoot,” the Norristown senior said.
He shot so much his arms and shoulders would hurt, but Wyatt is reaping the dividends for his efforts.
At the 1:29 mark of the second quarter of Tuesday night’s District One AAAA second round game against Bayard Rustin, the Temple University-bound sharpshooter raised up from beyond the arc for a three-point shot.
“That’s his trademark,” Norristown coach Mike Evans said.
As the shot fell through the net, the celebration began. The basket propelled Wyatt over the 1,000-point plateau. The game was halted to acknowledge the accomplishment as Wyatt presented the commemorative game ball to his father.
“I know a lot of good scorers in high school basketball had a thousand points, and I knew if I wanted to call myself a good scorer, then I would score 1,000 points,” Wyatt said. “I felt like I accomplished something real big.”
Making the accomplishment even more remarkable is the fact that Wyatt reached the milestone in just two-and-a-half years. He played junior varsity for more than half of his sophomore season before seeing limited varsity minutes late in the season.
Once he earned a spot in the starting lineup, he never left.
Over the past two seasons, Wyatt- a second team all-state selection last season - has averaged in the neighborhood of 20 points a game. Last year, he was the go-to player on an Eagle squad that advanced to the state championship game where he singlehandedly kept Norristown in its 81-77 loss to Chester with a brilliant 28-point effort, which included six treys.
“I knew he always had the talent,” Evans said. “He was a good kid, and he had the talent. It was just putting in all the effort and hard work and making it pay off.”
This past summer Wyatt was a member of Nike Team Final, a squad of high school stars that included Lamar Patterson of St. Benedict’s, Life Center’s Dion Waiters and Neumann-Goretti’s Andre Gilette. He saw the country with Team Final, traveling to Georgia, Florida, Virginia and North Carolina with the elite AAU squad.
“I played against lot of the best people all around the country, and I was measuring myself up against them,” Wyatt said. “Once I figured I could play with the best players, that elevated my confidence.”
And the young man who has been playing basketball since joining Norristown PAL when he was seven years old because – in his own words – he ‘never played football, so it had to be basketball’ is elevating Norristown’s program to new heights as well.
Wyatt, according to Evans, is not only a special basketball player but a special person as well.
“Kids love to be around him, coaches love being around him,” the Eagles’ coach said. “He’s funny, he’s always relaxed. He keeps the pressure off because he always brings a smile to everybody. If you’re tense, he will crack a joke or say something. He’s a great kid.”
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