At Pennsauken, Two Rising Sophomores Emerge in Ejani Shakir & Kahlil Ali

Pennsauken football coach Clint Tabb has seen the hype of many players and all he can say about rising sophomores Ejani Shakir and Kahlil Ali is that all the increasing publicity is warranted.

After standout freshman seasons, the recruiters know them well. Both have received offers from several Division I schools, including Penn State. One is likely to be recruited on offense, the other on defense.

“They are both as good as advertised,” said Tabb. “Not only that, but they are great kids who are honor roll students.”

Tabb certainly knows a prospect when he sees one. He starred at Pennsauken, which is located in southern New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia and about a four-hour drive to Penn State. Tabb played college football at Division III Rowan University and he knows all about the Pennsauken tradition. The school has sent eight players to the NFL, including Dwight Hicks and John Taylor, who both starred for Super Bowl winners with the San Francisco 49ers.

Shakir is a 6-foot, 180-pound receiver. In his first varsity season he exploded for 56 receptions, 861 yards and nine touchdowns. He also returned kicks and punts and truly excelled as punt returner with a 23-yard average on six returns that included a 90-yard touchdown in the Indians final game, a 44-15 win over Thanksgiving rival Bishop Eustace. He also had another punt return touchdown called back due to a penalty against Cumberland.

“I didn’t expect to have that kind of season,” Shakir said. “I just went out and played.”

He combines excellent speed with impressive route-running skills. Shakir was named a first-team freshman All-American by Max Preps. In addition, Max Preps stated that Shakir led first-year freshmen in receiving yards.

He comes from good football roots. His father, Hussain Shakir, played at the University of Minnesota before finishing his career at Rowan, located in southern New Jersey.

Tabb also coaches indoor and outdoor track at Pennsauken. While there was no outdoor season due to the coronavirus, Shakir excelled indoors, finishing 12th in New Jersey's Meet of Champions in the 200 meters with a time of 22.69 seconds. That time also was the second-fastest in South Jersey.

“I love the 200 because if you skip or mess up, you have time to recover,” Shakir said.

He said it is a test of endurance that also helps him in football training.

“It really helps working on my stride,” he said.

Shakir also ran a personal best of 6.72 seconds in the 55 meters and 53.56 in the 400 during the winter. Besides Penn State, among some of the other schools that have already offered scholarships are West Virginia, Pitt, Nebraska and Miami. He said he has never been to Penn State - and that it's way too early to narrow things down - but added that he felt honored to be offered by the Nittany Lions and all the other schools.

“It’s definitely fun to have people take notice and acknowledge you but there is some pressure because you have to live up to it,” he said.

Ali (6-1, 192) excelled as a safety where he had four interceptions, five passes defensed and 29 tackles. Later in the year he began playing offense and finished with 13 receptions for 278 yards and three touchdowns. He wasn’t expecting this type of progress as a freshman.

“It did surprise me a little bit because I didn’t see this coming this early,” Ali said. “But now that I had this kind of season it puts a bullseye on my back.”

In addition to Penn State, he's been offered by West Virginia, Boston College, Pitt, Rutgers, Nebraska, Miami and Maryland through the end of May. He said he plans to visit Penn State, but like Shakir, it’s too early to list any favorites.

Also, like Shakir, he comes from a football family. His father, Kareem Sr., was a high school quarterback who earned a scholarship to Temple. His brother, Kareem Jr., was a four-star recruit who signed with Temple. He transferred to Western Michigan and played cornerback last year.

This season Tabb says Ali could be competing for the quarterback job. At the very least, the Pennsauken coach is thinking of adding some packages that Ali could run.

“Kahlil is a natural leader,” Tabb said.

Ali also runs track, with the 400 being his specialty. His personal best in the 400 is 52.96 seconds. Ali was also a member of Pennsauken’s winning 4 x 400 relay in the South Jersey indoor Group 3 championships.

In addition, Ali ran personal bests of 7.02 in the 55 meters and 24.23 in the 200 meters.

Ali says it doesn’t matter where he plays come the fall. He just wants to contribute.

Both Shakir and Ali, along with just about everybody else, are uncertain what they'll be doing this summer in terms of football camps. In addition, Shakir had a number of track meets that he was going to compete in.

They're both training and waiting to see what happens due to the coronavirus pandemic. Both realize that they will enter this season with much more notice, and while there may be a bullseye on both, they insist that the publicity they have received will only make them work harder.

And in turn, those scholarship offers will likely continue to grow.

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