Phil Khosah’s basketball journey started like many others, with a ball and hoop at the local YMCA when he was just 3 or 4 years old.

“I played basketball since I was really young,” Khosah said. “But honestly, I was more into baseball. My dad sat me down and said, ‘You’re picking one. You’re going with basketball.'”

But, basketball wasn’t a tradition in the Khosah household.

That meant Khosah had to develop his game from scratch. He often worked out alone since nobody in his family could help him work on his game.

“My parents are both from Africa. My dad played soccer. They didn’t know anything about basketball,” he said.

Once in high school, Khosah skipped out on the freshman team because the roster was too big and minutes too few. Instead, he decided to train privately with a mentor he called his “guru.” Khosah said his guru taught him everything he knows about the game.

Khosah suffered two broken fingers in his junior year of high school, but his first major setback came during COVID-19. He went up to dunk, landed on concrete, and tore his ACL right before AAU season.

Most kids would have quit, but Khosah didn’t. He kept playing and waited three months to get surgery. When he finally had surgery, he recovered in four and a half months.

“The doctors told me it was the fastest ACL recovery they had ever seen,” Khosah said.

When he finally came back, Khosah made an immediate impact. The day he got cleared, Khosah’s team had a game. He showed up late to shoot around and told his coach he was ready to play. Khosah was not expecting many minutes, but he went in and scored nine points in three minutes.

Phil Khosah was told 9-12 months recovery after a torn ACL. Tonight he made his return just 5 1/2 months later & scored 9pts in 3 mins. (@KhosahPhilemon) @PCC_Hoops @WPIALBasketball @TribLiveHSSN @overtime @espn @SportsCenter @BleacherReport @SLAM_HS pic.twitter.com/GNFSMrV76r

— Prospect Media (@prospectmedia_) February 10, 2021

That moment stayed with him. After that game, Khosah performed well in following practices and earned his spot in the starting lineup. When it was time for playoffs, Khosah’s knee couldn’t stay healthy, and he ended the season with a leg that was unable to fully bend.

Khosah ended up finding his game during the AAU season. While playing against high Division I talent, he realized that his game was a lot stronger than he anticipated. Khosah held his own on the court, giving him a boost of confidence.

There was one game that changed his mentality. Khosah played a team with four Division I commits and three Division I coaches on the sidelines. He scored 17 points and 10 assists and felt comfortable. At that moment he knew he could really play basketball.

Just as Khosah committed to Penn State as a student, Division I schools started calling. Schools like UCF, North Dakota State, Navy, and Harvard were all looking at Khosah, telling him to reclass and that he had a strong chance of being recruited.

Khosah wanted to, but his family didn’t understand.

“My parents were like, ‘Why do you want to hold yourself back? You’re not stupid,'” he said. “They didn’t grow up in this basketball world. Reclassing didn’t make sense to them.”

Once Khosah arrived at Penn State, the game of basketball became distant.

“Quickly, the game was off my mind. But losing it made me love it even more,” Khosah said. “I wasn’t watching teams anymore. I was breaking down individual players. How they move. How they shoot. How they use their hands, their feet, their eyes.”

Khosah kept training. He was in the gym two to three times a day, working hard to find his opportunity.

To be able to make a liveable income after college and pursue his basketball dreams, Khosah taught himself how to day trade.

His friends were the ones who motivated him to start posting on social media. They made him take his shirt off in a packed gym and told him to get used to cameras — this was when Khosah’s content creation journey began. His first series was called “Road to a 40-Inch Vert.”

Watch on TikTok

During a pro run that summer, tragedy struck once again for Khosah. He went up for a layup, came down wrong, and tore his other ACL. It was an immediate flashback to his first injury.

Khosah cut everybody off and was told by the doctors that he probably couldn’t play basketball again. Khosah kept the camera on and shifted the direction of his content to show the world how he recovered.

Khosah found himself going to the gym late at night just to lift. He would crutch around campus and the gym put 225 pounds on the barbell, and film all of it to post online.

Watch on TikTok

That’s when content became a calling. Khosah was receiving messages from others who suffered the same injury asking him for advice, and it made him realize that he wished there was someone out there when he was going through this to watch and learn from.

Content gave Khosah motivation, but he didn’t want to be known as the ACL recovery guy forever. Although tearing two ACLs did teach Khosah something — you can do anything if you put your mind to it.

One night, Khosah sat and asked himself what was one thing he wanted to do but was too scared to say out loud.

“The answer was simple. I want to be an NBA player.” Khosah said.

He grabbed his camera and headed to the gym. Khoash was too nervous, so he didn’t tell anybody. He hadn’t played basketball in over a year, and at first, he was scared to jump when shooting in fear of yet another ACL tear.

The video Khosah recorded sat on his phone for over two weeks. He finally convinced himself to post the video “ROAD TO NBA.” That night, Khosah posted the video, threw his phone across the bed, and went to sleep.

“I was tossing and turning all night, thinking everyone was going to clown me,” Khosah said.

Khosah woke up the next morning to 30,000 views and 2,000 new followers. He said the craziest part was that he was receiving a lot of support. Every single comment was love.

People were not just watching, they were invested. They wanted to follow his journey and see where it ended up.

Khosah made his mission clear. He told people he was not hooping anywhere, but he was going to start from scratch and work his way through the system.

His friend told him he was crazy for posting that to the internet. But for Khosah, it was never about going viral or getting attention from random people. He said the video could’ve gotten 1,000 views and he still would’ve kept going.

“If I can change one person’s life, get one kid up to go chase his dream, my job’s done,” he said.

Since then, Khosah has seen his impact grow. He’s had people tag him in their own journeys.

Still, behind the camera, Khosah is grinding and making real moves. He’s working out with a member of Chris Brickley’s team soon. He talks to NBA players all the time, and Dwyane Wade’s brand even sends him shoes.

Khosah is currently solving the game and looks at himself as a “basketball junkie that can actually hoop.” He hopes to gain enough knowledge to pass it down to the next generation.

“My series is really about that, where I mess up, you learn,” he said. “Where I figure it out, you add it to your game.”

Khosah still aspires to play in the NBA, college, G League, or overseas. He still wants to hoop at the highest level and is ready if Mike Rhoades ever comes calling.

Khosah understands the work it takes to come back. After coming back, his shot was double motion. People in his comments were calling it out. So he dove in and studied what makes a great jumper. Khosah took the feedback and fixed his form.

“The best way to get better is to have more eyes on your game,” he said. “Everybody has an ego, but someone might see something you miss. You take it, you fix it, and then you pass it on.”

He tries to teach his followers new techniques, even if they may not work for him. He made a video about shooting with your fingertips like Jared McCain but says it doesn’t work for him. Khosah still posted the video because even though it didn’t work for him, that doesn’t mean it won’t work for someone else.

Now, Khosah is focused on how individuals play the game. He learns from NBA trainers, watching how the pros move, lift, and train. Khosah has videos on that too, so people can see how it’s really done.

His platform has become a mix of two passions, chasing his own dream and helping others chase theirs.

“It’s not just about me,” he said. “It’s about inspiring the next generation and making sure they know, you can really do this.”