Hakim Warrick

It was Friends' Central's first title since 1974.

For his efforts, Warrick earned All-Friends League, All-Mainline and all-state honors.

Even with his high school's proximity to the City 6, comprising Division I programs Penn, St. Joseph's, Temple, LaSalle, Drexel, and Villanova, none of those schools heavily recruited Warrick.

Syracuse was not initially high on Warrick, either, as Warrick was considered a last resort by the Syracuse coaching staff and was only offered a scholarship when All-American recruit Julius Hodge selected North Carolina State over Syracuse.

Hakim Hanif Warrick (born July 8, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player.

In his senior season (2000–2001), he helped Friends' Central to a 23–2 record and the Friends Schools League title with averages of 15.6 points, 13.0 rebounds and 4.8 blocks.

He played college basketball for the Syracuse Orange from 2001 to 2005.

Warrick appeared in all 35 games his freshman year, starting 19-straight games starting with a game against Binghamton, and remained there until Jan. 28, 2002 against Georgetown.

Warrick averaged 6.0 points and 4.3 rebounds and the Orangemen were 15–4 during that stretch.

However, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim had to promote James Thues to the starting lineup after DeShaun Williams struggled as the team's starting point guard.

Although the Orange missed the NCAA Tournament, Warrick played a key role in Syracuse's run to the NIT Final Four.

Warrick had 14 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high six blocks in the first-round victory against St. Bonaventure and against Richmond, Warrick had 15 points and 14 rebounds.

The Orange lost to Temple in the semifinal round 65–54.

Warrick finished with 12 points, going 2-of-12 from the free-throw line, including four key misses in the final minutes of the game.

Warrick started all 35 games in his sophomore year and was named the Big East Most Improved Player after more than doubling his scoring average from the previous year (6.1 to 14.8 ppg) and improving his rebound average by 3.7 boards per game (4.8 to 8.5 rpg).

He was also named to the USBWA All-District II Team and the All-Big East Third Team.

Warrick also played a large role in Syracuse's first National Championship.

In the Sweet 16 against Auburn and the Elite 8 against Oklahoma, Warrick averaged 14.0 points and 6.5 rebounds, and was named to the All-East Regional team.

In the semifinal against Texas, he scored 18 points.

However, Warrick is best known for his blocked shot in the National Championship game against Kansas.

Leading by three with under 15 seconds left, Warrick missed two free throws that would've sealed the game with Syracuse hanging on to a three-point lead, 81–78.

With 1.5 seconds left and the score still the same, Kansas' Michael Lee was wide-open from the baseline for a potential game-tying 3-pointer.

But Warrick used his long arms to block Lee's attempt and Syracuse captured its first ever national championship.

Warrick won an NCAA championship in 2003 and blocked a potential game-tying three-pointer in the title game.

Warrick was one of 16 finalists for the 2003 USA Basketball Men's Pan American Games Team.

However, he did not make the cut.

After Carmelo Anthony declared early for the NBA draft, Warrick became the team's top scoring option.

He led the team in scoring (19.8) and rebounds (8.6), and was named to the second-team All-America teams by ESPN.com and The Sporting News.

He was also a finalist for three national player of the year awards – the Naismith, Rupp and Wooden awards and was a first-team All-Big East selection.

Syracuse advanced to the Sweet 16 and in the second-round game against Maryland, Warrick scored 26 points and added nine rebounds.

Over the three NCAA Tournament games, Warrick averaged 22.3 points and 6.3 rebounds an outing.

Warrick continued his improvement in his final year, averaging 21.4 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.

He was named the Big East Conference Player of the Year and was a consensus All-American from the Associated Press, CollegeInsider.com, NABC, Rivals.com, Rupp Team and Wooden Team.

Warrick was selected in the 2005 NBA draft by the Memphis Grizzlies.

He played for eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Grizzlies, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Hornets and Charlotte Bobcats.

Warrick then embarked on an international career and played in China, Turkey, Australia, Greece, Puerto Rico, Lebanon and Israel.

Syracuse captured the 2005 Big East Championship.

During those three games, and one game in the NCAA Tournament, Warrick led Syracuse with averages of 22.5 points and 12.0 rebounds.

He played his final season in the NBA G League during the 2018–19 season.

Warrick played for Friends' Central School in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.