Ken Manfredi-Franklin High School

The West Reading-Sacramento Basketball Cultural Exchange is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Ken Manfredi has been able to experience this unique program as both a player and coach. He was on the Sacramento All-Star team that came to Berks County in 1990. They ran into a star-studded West Reading squad that included Donyell Marshall and Del Savage of Pottstown. Marshall scored 1,581 points at Reading High and went on to spend fifteen seasons in the NBA after a stellar career at UConn. Manfredi told me that the gym was packed for that summer league matchup 32 years ago. He said, “We were floored. We got ran out of the gym. I think we lost by 25-30 points. It was a wake up call.” Manfredi, who played at Division II UC Davis from 1992-‘96, compared Marshall to Kevin Durant due to his wingspan and shooting ability. He has been coaching high school basketball since 2000. Manfredi is the head coach at Franklin High School in Sacramento. He previously coached at Redwood, Elk Grove, and Monterey Trail. He brought a young team to the Reading area this week. Three of his ten players had never been on a plane before. Only two of them had visited Washington, D.C. prior to this experience. Manfredi emphasized that the trip has been terrific. “The hospitality that Mr. Kuhn and the whole community have set up with Reading, West Reading, and Berks County; it’s been fantastic,” he said. Ed Kuhn is stepping down as the full-time director of the West Reading Summer League after this year. Adam Ressler will take over the West Reading-Sacramento Cultural Exchange program. Franklin faced Exeter, Wyomissing, and Conrad Weiser during this past week. The Wildcats met the West Reading All-Star team on Saturday morning. Bryce Gumby, a rising sophomore at Berks Catholic, poured in 19 points and splashed five 3-pointers in a 72-64 victory for West Reading. Mark Rajnath of Schuylkill Valley added 13 points and Keith Neal from Oley Valley had twelve. Rising senior Aydan Claro finished with a team-high 14 points for Franklin, including eleven in the fourth quarter. Coach Manfredi’s son, Treyson, provided twelve points and seven rebounds. Kason Johnson, an all-league selection this year in the Delta League, also had a dozen. On Saturday night, the Wildcats lost to Berks Catholic 56-46. The Saints trailed by two points at halftime. Franklin cut a double digit deficit to three in the fourth quarter before coming up short. Manfredi and I discussed the style of play on the West Coast versus the East Coast. He mentioned that teams in Berks County tend to be more physical, while the brand of basketball in California is more up-tempo. The Franklin team got to check out New York City on Sunday. They’ll head back to Sacramento on Monday. Hopefully, their return flight is a little less adventurous!