Antonio Jardine is feeling reflective tonight. It’s near 10 on a Monday night in late March, and the kid known as ‘Scoop’ is sitting in his grandmother’s home on Fifth Street in South Philadelphia, fresh off another three hours logged at the gym.

‘No sir,’ Jardine said. ‘I never knew basketball could take me this far. I always loved basketball, but I wasn’t playing as much before. I wasn’t working at it until I met Rick really.’

Eighteen blocks away on 23rd Street, Rick Jackson, Jardine’s teammate at Neumann-Goretti High School, is arriving home from the same workout. It is a rare moment apart for Jardine and Jackson – best friends and teammates since meeting on the mundane, cracked-concrete courts of Chew Playground on 19th and Washington Street in South Philly the summer after seventh grade.

In time, basketball will take this duo far away from the dilapidated apartments and storefronts of their home neighborhoods.

In just 11 days, basketball will take Scoop and Rick on an eight-hour plane ride to France where they will represent the United States in a weeklong international tournament.

Four and a half months from now, basketball will take Scoop and Rick on a free ride four hours north to Syracuse.

***

Way more important to the 6-foot-2 Jardine and his frontcourt counterpart than where they are going is the fact they are going together. After all, they made a promise to one another back in ninth grade.

‘We used to watch college basketball all the time together,’ Jardine said. ‘One day back in ninth grade I just told him, ‘Yo, one day it’s going to be me and you.’ And we decided then we were going to go to college together. We planned it all out.’

Next year, Jardine and Jackson, ranked 76th and 48th, respectively, by Scout.com, will fulfill that pledge when they come to Syracuse. Despite their common South Philadelphia upbringing, the two took immensely different paths before coming to Neumann-Goretti together three and a half years ago. Jardine struggled finding a way to stay out of trouble; Jackson needed help finding his way on the basketball court after getting a late start. Yet since becoming friends and teammates, Jackson and Jardine have found stability and success both on and off the court.

‘They really trust each other and rely on each other,’ Neumann-Goretti head coach Carl Arrigale said. ‘You see some players don’t want to go to the same school because they get tired of sharing the spotlight. That was never the case with these two guys. They were always both of each other’s biggest fans.’

Over the course of three years as starters, Jackson and Jardine became the face of Neumann-Goretti basketball, a traditional Philadelphia Catholic League powerhouse. The two led the Saints to back-to-back Catholic league titles in 2005 and 2006, and fell one win short of another crown this year.

On the court, the duo appears to be perfect complements. Jackson is the workhorse – his sturdy, square, 6-foot-8, 235-pound frame ideal for sealing off rebounders or finishing in traffic. The left-hander averaged 15 points this year, and while his offensive skills are still developing, he matured enough to become a consistent low-post threat his final two years of high school.

Jardine is the foil to his teammate – the lightning to Jackson’s thunder. Converted from a shooter to a point guard upon arriving at Neumann, Jardine still exhibits what Arrigale terms a ‘burglar’ mentality – taking frequent chances on defense and scoring in bunches on the offensive end. As a senior this season, he averaged of 19.1 points per game.

Watching Jardine play, there’s still the remnants of a flashier version of a younger Scoop – the one that was a fixture on the playgrounds of South Philadelphia just a few short years ago.

***

Discipline.

It used to be an issue for Jardine back before Neumann and before Jackson, when Jardine was drifting in and out of various Philadelphia middle schools. The always extroverted and excitable Jardine was kicked out of three separate schools, the last in eighth grade.

The expulsions came for different reasons – mainly fighting and frequent run-ins with teachers and school officials. But more concerning was that Jardine’s negative behavior extended beyond the classroom as well.

‘He kept trying to get out on the streets,’ Jardine’s mother, Antoinette Cook, said. ‘It was hard for him. Growing up here, all he’s seen are guys hanging on corners, doing drugs, doing negative things. That was really all he knew.’

There was always basketball for Jardine, but before he got to Neumann-Goretti, his talent was little more than a schoolyard bragging right. Cook recalls how her son used bet money on games of one-on-one. When he won, which he frequently did, Jardine would use the money out on the streets.

‘I was following a really bad crowd back then,’ Jardine said.

Still, his basketball prowess earned him high status among the playground regulars of South Philadelphia. His talent was enough to catch the eye of Arrigale, who saw Jardine play in the summer league at ‘The Chew’ before Jardine’s eighth-grade year. It was the same team that Jardine and Jackson first played on together.

Arrigale was only interested in Jardine on the condition that the guard cleaned up his act. Midway through Jardine’s eighth-grade year, Arrigale gave Jardine an ultimatum.

‘We sat him down and said if he didn’t straighten up, to not even bother coming,’ Arrigale said. ‘To his credit, he could have gone either way, he buckled down and he did better in school and he’s never been a problem his four years here.’

Jardine learned discipline on the basketball court, too. He made the transition from a selfish scorer to point guard during his freshman season after recognizing the point position was his fastest path to varsity basketball.

Jardine showed in his freshman year he belonged in a game against city-rival Cardinal Daugherty, which was led by current NBA guard Kyle Lowry. Jardine entered the game in the fourth quarter with Neumann behind by double-digits and led a scoring barrage, shooting the Saints back into the game. Jardine even hit a shot to put his team ahead in the waning minutes before eventually succumbing to Lowry’s side.

In the following offseason, Jardine said he worked out with his coaches in the gym, as well as in pick-up games with Lowry and Philadelphia native and NBA guard Jameer Nelson.

‘My game just started transforming,’ Jardine said. ‘All the stuff (Lowry and Nelson) taught me, I just started to do it in games. Just playing with them helped me through my whole high school career.’

As much as anything, Jardine admits those hours in the gym helped him stay off the street and away from the crowd he had associated with before.

Jackson played a role in that area, too. The soft-spoken, laid-back personality of Jackson perfectly complimented that of the outgoing, fun-loving Jardine. Jackson helped to keep his friend in check, and their friendship provided Jardine with an alternative to his previous group of friends.

‘We were always together,’ Jardine said. ‘We had every class together. We practiced and played together. After school he’d come over to my house. We just bonded right away.’

***

Discipline was never as much of a problem for Jackson. Unlike Jardine, Jackson was able to avoid the negative temptations of growing up in a frequently crime-stricken area.

What Jackson also avoided for most of his life was basketball. The oversized kid from 23rd Street didn’t play organized basketball until seventh grade.

‘My dad made me start playing basketball,’ Jackson said. ‘Before that I didn’t even like basketball, I liked playing football. And at first I wasn’t very good at basketball, so I didn’t like it too much.’

Jackson, who was 6-foot-2 by the time he was in eighth grade, had an inherent advantage in his size, and after a few months on the court, basketball began to grow on the former tight end. So much so that he decided to play in a summer league – the same summer league team at ‘The Chew,’ where he first met Jardine.

In many ways Jackson doesn’t know much of basketball without Jardine by his side. Yet Jackson has worked hard to catch up to his friend in terms of on-court ability. While Jardine’s mailbox was filled with recruiting letters early in his high school career, Arrigale recalled that Jackson didn’t receive the same attention as a freshman or sophomore.

‘When they made that pact, they were so far away ability-wise,’ Arrigale said.

Yet Jardine saw enough ability in his friend to make their promise, and Jackson took care of the rest. The forward has consistently performed against big-time opponents.

During his sophomore year, Jackson shut down current Memphis forward Shawn Taggart in a victory over high school basketball powerhouse Mt. Zion Academy in North Carolina, who that year also featured current Kansas star Brandon Rush.

‘Rick went toe-to-toe with Taggart, who was 19 or 20 back then and a huge prospect,’ Arrigale said. ‘He really outplayed him as a sophomore and helped us beat a great team in their own backyard.’

Today Jackson no longer lags behind his teammate on the court. Jackson even earned national recognition this year, being named fourth-team All American by Parade magazine.

Despite the influx of accolades and attention he has received, Jackson remains humble. Jackson is the first person to stress that his game goes hand-in-hand with Jardine.

‘Our chemistry shows,’ Jackson said. ‘He knows when I want the ball and I know when to get him the ball. It just shows in how we set picks for each other and different things like that.’

Seeing how they have matured together during the past five years, it’s not surprising Jackson and Jardine never wavered in their decision to go to school together.

So when Jardine first caught the eye of SU head coach Jim Boeheim his sophomore year, Neumann-Goretti coaches made it clear to the Syracuse contingent that Jardine and Jackson were a package deal.

By the same token, when schools fawned over Jackson after Jardine signed his letter of intent to go to Syracuse on Sept. 28, 2005, Jackson had to avoid the onslaught of recruiters trying to lure him.

‘When Scoop was on the phone with Coach (Mike) Hopkins and Coach Boeheim telling them he was coming, Rick had Connecticut, Georgetown, Wake Forest and Virginia all in the gym with him,’ Arrigale said.

Jackson committed to Syracuse a week later – delayed only so his parents could visit the school before their son signed.

Jardine and Jackson choose Boeheim and Syracuse over Connecticut, Georgetown, Wake Forest, and North Carolina State – all of which made offers to both players.

Jardine said it was Boeheim specifically who struck a chord with the tandem.

‘Coach Boeheim made the difference,’ the guard said. ‘He was old school and just real honest with us all along. He didn’t pressure us or make any promises.’

In committing to Syracuse together and fulfilling their pact, Jardine and Jackson have overcome all the obstacles of the past five years together – from the playground challengers at The Chew to their rivals in the Catholic league.

Next year they will turn their attention to Syracuse and the Big East. Just like they have for the past five years, they will take it all in by each other’s side.

‘Where we’re from, a lot of people try to pull these kids apart,’ Arrigale said. ‘There are a lot of people who give these guys a hard time for no reason, and they’ve always been there for each other. I’m glad they’ll be there for each other next year, too.’

Published on April 9, 2007 at 12:00 pm