John Jefferson
Inset: Slain high school basketball star Noah Scurry (Instagram/WPVI). Background: The scene where Noah Scurry was murdered (KYW/YouTube).
A 17-year-old basketball star from Philadelphia who had the highest SAT score in his class and was set to graduate this year was gunned down Tuesday in an alley behind his house as he left with his mom for school, police say.
“He probably would’ve had offers to play basketball at colleges across the country,” Monique Braxton, a spokesperson for the School District of Philadelphia, told local CBS affiliate KYW. “It’s just a life senselessly cut short.”
Noah Scurry, a senior at Samuel Fels High School in Feltonville, was shot multiple times outside his house on the 5000 block of Rorer Street at around 7:15 a.m. Tuesday, according to police and relatives. A GoFundMe launched by Scurry’s cousin for his mother and grandmother says he was “on his way to school” when someone opened fire on him as he was getting into his mom’s car. The suspect is still at large.
“He was one of the top students in his school achieving the highest score on the SAT college placement test out of his entire grade,” his cousin, Breanna McGlynn, wrote in the description for the GoFundMe.
“He had such a clever mind with such an infectious smile,” McGlynn said. “His love for basketball was always with him, ever since he was a young kid. He was playing on the school’s basketball team, being scouted for colleges. Only 17 years old, with so much life ahead of him.”
While details about the shooting are still unclear, school officials have confirmed that Scurry was getting ready to head to the Samuel Fels campus before he was shot. He was reportedly transported to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
“The principal, coach, players, classmates, peers are distraught,” Braxton told KYW. “This is unimaginable for them. This student was about to graduate.”
While he was most known for his basketball skills, Braxton and others say he also made an impact with his attitude and passion for learning.
“When you saw him around, you know, he brought good energy to everybody,” sophomore Taitiana Jasinski told local ABC affiliate WPVI.
“He was really smart,” said sophomore Mohammed El-Faki. “Whenever he entered a room, the room always lit. It was always a smile on someone’s face when he was anywhere around them.”
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According to the local sports site City of Basketball Love, Scurry and the Samuel Fels basketball squad were “off to a stellar campaign” in the 2024-2025 season heading into January, with Scurry — who is listed as a guard — leading the way as the team’s top scorer as of Jan. 4, per the site. The school canceled one of its games scheduled for this week after learning about Scurry’s shooting death.
“The whole school seemed upset,” El-Faki told KYW. “I saw people crying. It was just traumatic.”
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