Marvin O’Connor is many things to many people.

For some Point Breeze diners, he’s a purveyor of classic Philly cheesesteaks via his ‘Fresh Works’ hoagie location. For some Philadelphia-area AAU girls, he’s a coach, a trainer, a mentor. To most, however, Marvin O’Connor is known as the city legend that scored an astonishing 18 points in 57 seconds to help St. Joseph’s beat the La Salle Explorers in the winter of 2001.

“We’re talking about 18 points in less than a minute,” O’Connor said. “Bro, that’s video game shit.

You’re talking about a local guy, a Philly guy, was able to do something like that. You know when I knew it was official? Bill Walton was doing a game, we were playing Georgia Tech. Bill Walton said, ‘This Marvin O’Connor kid just last week, he scored 18 points in less than one minute.’ And then he followed it up with ‘Man, even Wilt Chamberlain didn’t do that.’ I said man, that’s official.”

Just as O’Connor made NCAA history through that iconic performance, he similarly sits in the Philadelphia Big 5 record books — though less formally — as one of the only players in the league’s storied history to transfer directly from one Big 5 team to another.

O’Connor, a highly-touted senior from the athletically-renowned Simon Gratz High School, fielded a plethora of offers from notable programs across the nation. There was no question he would soon sport a major division one jersey, the question was which one.

When the decision was ultimately made that O’Connor was going to stay local, the destination became a lot more obvious.

“Coming out of high school, I’m one of the top 50 players in the country,” O’Connor said. “If I’m going to stay home, I’m going to the biggest show in town.”

That ‘biggest show in town’ was not the annual Mummer’s Parade nor a classical symphony rendition at The Mann Center, and it most certainly was not La Salle, Penn, St. Joe’s, or Temple.

Of course, the biggest show in town refers to a prestigious university that physically resides outside of city lines, one in the lush suburbs known locally as the “main line” and known nationally today as home to true blue-bloods of men’s college basketball. O’Connor had announced his commitment to join Steve Lappas and the Villanova Wildcats.

However, upon arrival at Pavilion, O’Connor quickly realized that mainly nothing was lined up for him on the main line. Joining a talented group of guards, surely not uncommon for Villanova programs, O’Connor, who expected major freshmen minutes, was sidelined behind future pro John Celestand and sophomore guard Brian Lynch. Additionally, O’Connor found himself both in disagreements with Coach Lappas and disharmony with the style of offense ran famously by Villanova.

“I didn’t look at some of the details that as a 17/18-year-old kid that you should be looking at,” O’Connor said. “I wasn’t looking at who was already there. I wasn’t looking at the fact that they run a motion offense that didn’t fit my style of play. I thought, I’m a Philly kid, I’m player of the year, and I’m going to step into this role. I didn’t see all that, and I paid for it a little bit.”

O’Connor similarly said that high school kids often fail to realize that, at the next level, you need to reinvent yourself. As a free-flowing, ball-dominant guard, O’Connor was a pure scorer. He also tended to wear his emotions through the non-existent sleeves of his jersey, a physical player that wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty to secure wins. A type of player that you want on your team and one that you don’t want on the opposition.

In fact, it was this type of passion and tenacity that lead some local media personnel and opposing coaches to write off O’Connor as a nasty player — as O’Connor recounts to me was similar to how many deemed LSU’s Angel Reese after defeating Caitlyn Clark and Iowa this past season.

“For all the people who grew up how I grew up, and come from where I come from, they completely understand,” O’Connor said. “If you come from a different background, you may look different because that’s not what you’re accustomed to. The same thing that I was doing on the collegiate floor, I was doing in the playground.”

After a somewhat rocky launch into college basketball, O’Connor decided a fresh start was the right option for him. When the season ended, he would pack his bags for a long and arduous 6.9-mile trek to City Line Avenue where legendary coach Phil Martelli was patiently waiting for a player of O’Connor’s caliber.

“I learned from it,” O’Connor said of his first year at Villanova. “I was able to make the move down the street to be on the other side of the Holy War. When I got here (St. Joe’s), I had a different kind of appreciation because of what I just went through.”

O’Connor was an instant playmaker with the Hawks. He was given the keys to play the way he wanted, play the way that got him to be such a highly-touted recruit in the first place. Martelli, known to many as a player’s coach of sorts, seemingly was just the right coach to embrace a player like O’Connor.

“He treated me like a man,” O’Connor said. “I was allowed to voice my opinion and things of that nature. Even if he disagreed with me, he allowed me to grow. Some coaches have a ‘Just do what I tell you’ kind of thing. I don’t do well in that — ‘Just run the play’ — Well, hold on, I saw this or I’m trying to do this. I was being aggressive on this play. That’s one of the things he allowed me to do.”

While Martelli’s support and guidance were definitely instrumental to O’Connor’s success, it was truly his own maturation and work ethic that sprung him into an elite player. His own dedication and growth lead him to become one of Saint Joe’s best ever, a 3-time All Atlantic 10 selection, a SJU and Big 5 Hall of Famer, and a player that averaged over 26 points a game in 2001.

O’Connor still lives and breathes Philadelphia basketball. In fact, during my interview with him, he sat on the sidelines of Saint Joes’ practice gym in Overbrook. He looks forward to the upcoming year of hoops where there’s more promise on Hawk Hill this offseason than ever in Coach Billy Lange’s tenure.

“I’m trying to help out even with the local recruiting,” O’Connor said. “I’m trying to help build this thing back up. I’m a Saint Joe’s guy through and through, whether we got 20 wins or three wins, we’re going to try to figure this thing out.”