WILBRAHAM, Mass. – Back in July, Wilbraham & Monson Academy looked like its quick rise since Chris Sparks took over the program was poised to reach a high point. Two big-time prospects, both good friends and travel teammates, had committed to come to the school. In the end, one went back to the public school he attended his first three years and the other opted to go to college instead of a post-graduate year. While the projections for this team won’t be the same as they were in July, the Titans will still put a good team on the floor, albeit one with a little less size.
Leading the way will be three main point guards, starting with Jaylen Brantley (5’9″ Jr. PG, Springfield (MA)), who returns for his second season at the school. A consistently good point guard for the BABC program the last couple of years, he’s always calm and can just as easily burn a defense with several three-pointers as he can by finding teammates. On Sunday, his mid-range game was on display.
Robinson Vilmont (5’9″ Sr. PG, Malden (MA)) returns for another season as well. He has a good body and is a capable scorer at the point, and on Sunday he made a nice steal and layup on one play and later drove toward the low block before stopping and hitting a tough jump hook. He will share time there with Mayodo Lo (6’3″ Sr. PG-SG, Germany), who has good size and isn’t jet-quick but was effective on Sunday.
Don’t be surprised if Vilmont and Lo see some time off the ball as well. A few players will vie for minutes at that spot when one of the point guards isn’t there, with Mike Boornazian (6’3″ Sr. SG, Portland (CT)) being the best shooter of the bunch. He doesn’t lack athleticism, but he’ll make his mark by hitting shots like the long jumpers he hit on Sunday out to three-point range. Kamali Bey (6’3″ Jr. SG, Springfield (MA)) missed Sunday’s workout due to illness, but figures to get a lot of minutes as he tries to get back on track after missing a year of action.
There is plenty of depth at this position, as Mike Mendes (6’1″ Sr. SG, Wilbraham (MA)), a safety on the football team, returns from last season’s team, and Alex Ramon (6’2″ Sr. SG) joins the team. Ramon, a native of Spain who plays on the soccer team, sat out Sunday’s workout with an Achilles injury but was in the gym watching. The Titans also have Brandon McKenna (6’3″ Sr. SG) and Darnay Gray (6’3″ So. SG) available.
Another player who did not work out on Sunday is another BABC product who should get some minutes on the wing, Joey O’Connell (6’5″ So. SF, Hatfield (MA)). A solid glue guy and the only true small forward on the roster, O’Connell had a soccer commitment but will be with the team when the season gets going.
The frontcourt has some talent, although the best prospect wasn’t in the gym on Sunday as Djery Baptiste (6’10” Fr. C, Haiti) was playing in a travel team tournament. Baptiste impressed at the New England Elite 75 Frosh/Soph Edition last month and has a lot of potential. Another freshman, Marcel Pettway (6’5″ Fr. PF), has a good frame and already a relatively mature body. He’s not a bad athlete, and later in the workout got a few stickbacks, but he’ll have to either grow more or become more of a wing at his height. Mark Overdevest (7’1″ Sr. C, New Zealand), who spent the past two seasons at Montverde Academy, has a good frame and looks to be more of a stretch big man than a true post player. Not the quickest player inside, he appeared to be lacking energy on Sunday morning, attributable in part to recovering from an illness as well as a recent water polo game. Sadiq Adedeji (6’9″ So. PF-C) was not at Sunday’s workout but will be in the mix as well.
There is enough talent up front to complement the guards, even though two of the three main players up front will be freshmen. The experience is in the backcourt, where it matters most, and in more ways than one with several holdovers from last year’s team among them. That bodes well, and in a Class AA that may be more wide open this year it may add up to a year of contention for Sparks’ team.
Alex Ramón was a member of the Spain u17 NT last year averaging 7.4ppg at the World Championships. He was twice top scorer at the Spanish u18 Nationals, and if he’s healthy he should be a prospective target for specially academic oriented schools (Ivies, Patriots, Davidson, etc etc).
Hey there, Alex Ramon has commited to Colgate.