Growing up in the Boyle family, Brendan Boyle heard all kinds of stories about Billy McCaffrey from his father, Pat, who was a basketball teammate of McCaffrey’s at Allentown Central Catholic in the late 1980s.
In 2013 and 2014, Boyle, got to watch his friends Brian McCarthy and Jimmy Vaughan play on a star-studded ACCHS team that featured Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman. The young Boyle didn’t miss a game.
McCaffrey and Abdur-Rahkman are considered two of the all-time Lehigh Valley greats. Both of them are on a short list of local stars who repeated as first-team all-state selections, a list that includes Allentown High legend Bob Heffner and Palmerton great Bob Mlkvy, both honored in 1956 and 1957, and Larry Miller, the Catasauqua star who earned first-team honors in 1963 and 1964.
Now, Boyle finds himself on that list.
He has repeated as a first-team selection on the Class 3A team, which was released Thursday morning by the Pennsylvania Sports Writers.
In addition, Executive Education’s Kobe Magee repeated as a second-team selection.
The back-to-back first-team recognition is the latest and perhaps most special on a long list of honors for Boyle, who was named The Morning Call’s co-player of the year along with Pocono Mountain West’s Christian Fermin, and was also a repeat winner as Colonial League MVP.
“This is really cool for me to be on a list that includes Billy McCaffrey who I heard so many stories about from my dad,” Boyle said. “He was an unbelievable player and scored so many points [2,051] and then I got to see Muhammad play and he was also a great player.”
Boyle finished his Notre Dame-Green Pond career with 1,900 points, but lost several games as a junior to COVID-19 and was limited in his senior season by a fractured hand.
Despite playing limited minutes in several games, Boyle averaged 23.6 points per game along with 6.8 assists and 3.8 steals. He also led his team in taking offensive charges with 17 — the highest total in the 26 seasons his father, Pat, has coached at Notre Dame.
Boyle thanked everyone who helped make his career at Notre Dame a success and thanked the Vaughan family for helping him get started in the sport.
“Growing up, I was always looking up to great players and I have to credit a lot of my success to the Vaughan brothers who all played at Central,” he said. “I was best friends with Emily Vaughan and grew up playing with Jimmy, Jay, Sam, and Chris Vaughan. They were all older and really good players and they helped me get better.”
Pat Boyle said that as his coach and father he couldn’t be prouder.
“To make first-team all-state two years in a row is pretty amazing,” he said. “It’s a great way for him to cap off his high school career. I can’t think of anybody who works harder or who deserves it more.”
It will be an emotional time as Brendan Boyle, who also played on the tennis team, spends his final days at the school ahead of the June 4 graduation.
“It was emotional at our winter sports award ceremony and our athletic director [Amy Rogers] talked about me breaking Jeff Dailey’s all-time school record for points,” Boyle said. “That was a nice moment at that ceremony.”
Boyle said that he has already turned the page and is focused on his Kutztown University career. He has met his coaches and some of his future teammates and said he is finally healthy after suffering through hand and shoulder injuries.
“I think I am going to make an immediate impact at Kutztown,” he said. “I’m not going to say I am going to be the starting point guard, but I have a chance to get on the floor right away and I am excited about that.”
The 6-foot-5 Magee is also excited about continuing his career at Drexel after going 4-for-4 in winning district championships at Executive.
He averaged 15.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.5 steals and shot 52.5% from the field and 75% from the free-throw line in helping Executive go 14-8.
“Kobe was our first four-year player and a reason why we won four district championships,” Raptors coach Ray Barbosa said. “He is very deserving of this honor because he’s hard-working and very dedicated to the game. He got better and better each year. This past year, he became a great leader for us and at Drexel, he is going to take his game to an even higher level. We wish him well and we’ll be following what he does.”
2021-22 CLASS 3A ALL-STATE BOYS BASKETBALL TEAM
1st Team
Saraj Ali, 6’5?, senior, Loyalsock Township (Player of the Year)
Brendan Boyle, 5’11?, senior, Notre Dame-Green Pond
IV Pettit, 6’2?, senior, Devon Prep
Ty Barrett, 6′ senior, Troy Area
Patrick Haigh, 6’2?, junior, Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic
Makhai Valentine, 6’3?, junior, Steel Valley
2nd Team
Zion Stanford, 6’5?, junior, West Catholic
Easton Fulmer, 6’1?, senior, Franklin
Justice Shoats, 6′, senior, Holy Redeemer
Lucas Orchard, 6’4?, junior, Devon Prep
Kobe Magee, 6’5?, senior, Executive Education Academy Charter
Khalif Crawley Jr., 6’8?, senior, Math Civics and Sciences Charter
3rd Team
Bryce Epps, 5’11?, junior, South Allegheny
Adam “Budd” Clark, 5’9?, junior, West Catholic
Joseph Roth, 6’5?, senior, Ellwood City
Donovan Walker, 6’1?, junior, Aliquippa
Jacen Holloway, 6’3?, junior, Devon Prep
Shemar Wilbanks-Acqui, 6’3?, junior, West Catholic
Coach
Jason Fisher, Devon Prep
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