Mapp grew up on the 1400 block of South Bancroft Street. His father was killed when Mapp was just two-years-old. Desperate to avoid repeating his father’s fate, in 1995, Mapp’s mother, Jamillah, brought Mapp to the nearby Marian Anderson Recreation Center. He was 5-years-old.
“Growing up in South Philadelphia, there wasn’t really much to do,” Mapp added. “I grew up with a single mom. She wanted me to be active and get out of the house.”
“Some years, there were a lot of problems with gangs,” his mother said. “But he never got involved in gangs because I kept him busy.”
He joined the Anderson Monarchs, a mostly African-American inner-city baseball team, during their first full year in existence. Mapp received his first taste of organized sports with coach Steve Bandura guiding the team.
“That first Monarchs team I had, there weren’t a lot of dads around in that group,” Bandura said. “We spent a lot of time together. We did a lot of things outside of games and practices.”
When he went to high school, Mapp realized that he was’t athletic enough to make it as a professional athlete. But that didn’t stop him from pursuing his dream of working in sports.
While playing for the Monarchs, Bandura insisted that Mapp – along with all the other players – had to do well in school. Mapp attended Conwell Middle Magnet School at the time and then went to Central High School.
While at Central, Bandura got Mapp a job as the Phillies bat boy. It was at that time when Mapp discovered his love for dissecting sports on a deep level. While normally the Phillies offered bat boy jobs for two years, Mapp was so good that they gave him a video coordinator job immediately thereafter.
Mapp started Temple University in 2006, and became student manager for the basketball team in his sophomore year. In his junior year Mapp assisted Dwayne Killings, who was Temple basketball coordinator. Around the time of his promotion to video coordinator. When Mapp graduated with degrees in sports and recreation management and business administration in 2009, he assumed Killings role after Killings left to work in D-league basketball. Mapp also received his Masters degree in sports and recreation management in 2013.
Mapp’s ability to adapt to unfavorable situations, and his obsession with sports, helped him prosper. After his successful stint as Temple’s equipment manager, the former Monarch became Fran Dunphy’s assistant video analysis coordinator for five years. While he has since been promoted to the director of Temple men’s basketball operations, it was through Mapp’s diligent homework and quick reactions to in-game situations that he landed his current role.
“There was one summer that we put him as a recruiting coach for us,” Dunphy said. “We had lost one of our guys for the summer, and he stepped right in and did a terrific job from the recruiting aspect of things. He’s got a real good feel for the game, but I think he’s got a real good feel for people.”
In his previous role as Temple’s assistant video analysis/administrative coordinator, Mapp oversaw game film, while acting as liaison between Dunphy and his players for distributing key information that could be used to make the team better.
On one particular occasion, Mapp’s work was recognized by Dunphy at a press conference. Against UConn, the Temple graduate saw that UConn’s star point guard Ryan Boatright was constantly getting open on the perimeter. Dunphy overheard Mapp discussing double-teaming Boatright and in the second half the Owls came from behind to beat UConn.
“It was just a suggestion that he made and I was thinking about and as soon as I heard it, I thought it must be a good idea if Raheem was thinking about it, Dunphy said.”
Mapp is unsure of his future, but is confident he wants to be involved in basketball in one role or another.
“I’m not sure exactly what I want to do with sports,” Mapp said. “I would love be a professional or college coach, hopefully in Philly. But you never know where life takes you.”
– Text, video, and images by Sam Botwinick and Steve Godwin.
