They're both from the Philadelphia area, they grew up best friends, were high school teammates, and have gone through the pre-NBA draft together this year.
No, they're not the much-publicized duo of Gerald Henderson and Wayne Ellington. They're the oft-forgotten pair of Stefon Jackson and Dionte Christmas.
Both grew up in hardscrabble Philadelphia neighborhoods and attended different public high schools - Jackson went to Martin Luther King High, and Christmas attended Samuel Fels - before going to the now-defunct Lutheran Christian Academy, where they became best friends. The two starred on a team that sent 12 players to Division I colleges.
Jackson went on to play at University of Texas-El Paso, while Christmas stayed home, attending Temple. Four years later, the players are hoping to hear their names called tonight.
"I've put in so much hard work since I was young to get this opportunity," said Christmas, who had 19 workouts with NBA teams and is projected as a second-round pick. "I'll be heartbroken if I don't get selected, but that doesn't mean my dream of playing in the NBA is over."
The two have been in constant contact in the days leading up to the draft, talking to each other about workouts and sharing information. The two have more than just a prep school in common.
"It's tough, and we have a lot of critics," said Jackson, who worked out 10 times, including twice for the 76ers, and is projected to go late in the second round or not be drafted at all. "People don't give you respect because you come from a smaller school, but a lot of times they are the better players because they don't have the talent around them and they can't hide behind other people's talent."
Harsh criticism is nothing new for Jackson and Christmas. It started during playing days at Lutheran Christian.
In February 2006, less than one year after the two led the school to a high national ranking, reports surfaced that the school was not legitimate, quickly acquiring the reputation of a "diploma mill."
In March 2007, Lutheran Christian was added to the list of schools that the NCAA declared null and void by refusing to accept academic transcripts. That, in effect, terminated the school's existence.
Jackson and Christmas, who became best friends at the school, say Lutheran gave them a second chance out of Philly public high schools and that they would never have had the opportunity to attend college and perhaps play in the NBA.
"When I was there, everything was running smoothly; everything was by the book," Christmas said.
"It was shocking to see someone hurting the name like that because Lutheran did a lot for kids and got them off the streets to play basketball and to [go to] college," Jackson said.
While Henderson (Duke) and Ellington (North Carolina) were heavily recruited out of Episcopal Academy before going on to become rivals on Tobacco Road, Jackson and Christmas didn't get the same attention from national programs. They were looking for a Division I school to take them in.
The two had planned to attend La Sall,e but last-minute reluctance from Christmas steered him toward coach John Chaney and Temple, while Jackson ultimately settled on UTEP.
"We definitely wanted to go to school together, and La Salle really wanted us, but it came down to having a better relationship with the players and coaches at Temple," Christmas said. "It was just a better fit."
Once at Temple, it soon became apparent to Christmas that he had a lot of work to do before hitting the courts.
He spent the summer prior to his freshman year taking classes full time in order to become eligible to play, and he struggled his entire freshman year maintaining his academic eligibility.
"It was tough," Christmas said. "Coming out of Lutheran and a public school, I wasn't as prepared as I should have been. I had to make sure I was on top of everything, and Coach Chaney and the rest of the coaching staff were on top of everything. I had tutors and everything. It was one of the toughest things I had to go through in college. It made me stronger; that's when I knew I was becoming a man. I don't think a lot of inner-city kids coming from public schools to a college like that would be able to do that."
In his sophomore season, Christmas saw his scoring average soar to 20 points per game, the highest in his four-year career at Temple. "I was doing well individually, but I wasn't getting noticed because we weren't winning," Christmas said. "That's what guys like Mardy Collins told me. To get noticed, I needed to be a leader and win, so that summer I put even more work in."
