Is This South Kent’s Year?
SOUTH KENT, Conn. – South Kent will have a decidedly different look when it comes to personnel this year. A year after having a roster full of big bodies and a little thin on guards, head coach Raphael Chillious has a guard-oriented team that will give him several options and has a lot of interchangeable parts. After watching his team work out, it’s not hard to believe him when he says this may be his best team as he enters his fifth year at the 84-year old school that sits right on the doorstep of the state of New York.
Besides the personnel mix, South Kent also has a good mix of classes. They have several post-graduates, as is typical, as well as seniors, but there are several juniors who will play good minutes and the team’s best talent is a sophomore, Philadelphia native Dion Waiters.
Waiters was the first player in the gym on this day, and in watching him play, one is led to believe that was no accident. He was terrific, scoring all day on drives and mid-range jumpers and the occasional three-pointer, while also handling the ball and finding teammates. Best of all, he did it while not trying to do too much, with his scoring coming in flow and not from forcing something that’s not there. Waiters has already committed to Syracuse.
The point guard spot will likely start with Tacoma, Washington native Isaiah Thomas, who returns for his second season at the school. Thomas sat on Saturday with a sprained ankle, but he’s shown what he can do already as a scoring point guard and his body has matured as well. The Washington commit will be backed up primarily by Virgin Islands native Stephen O’Reilly and Virginia native Chris Rooths, the latter of whom may also see time at shooting guard. O’Reilly is a solid defender with good quickness and a good body, and he can really thrive in a press as he can put pressure on a ball handler 94 feet away from the basket. Rooths didn’t play as well as O’Reilly on this day, but will be in the mix as a more offensive-minded guard. They might also add another transfer at the position.
Waiters will be joined on the wing by several players who are capable shooters. Junior Maurice Creek (6’4″ SG, Oxon Hill, MD) will be one option once his transfer completes and he arrives, which will be soon. He’s getting plenty of high-major attention from schools near his hometown. Classmate Dominique Farmer (6’1″ SG, New Britain, CT), the only player on the team from Connecticut, is a good athlete with a solid body, and he showed a touch from mid-range during the workout.
Junior Jin Soo Kim (6’9″ SF, Korea) returns for his third season and appears ready to break out. Kim is long and very skilled offensively, shooting it well and making several good passes while also mixing in a nice driving layup on one possession. Chillious is happy to see that he’s much-improved at the defensive end, using his long arms to get more deflections to disrupt the offense. He’s still very thin and has a slight frame, but he has put on some weight since last year.
Two more wings who will get plenty of time are Kieran Ramsey (6’5″ SF, Valley Village, CA) and Kyle Mayers (6’6″ SG-SF, Hamilton, Ontario). Ramsey is well-built and shot the ball well from long range in drills before going to the basket during the scrimmages. Mayers is a very athletic lefty with a good body who looks like a good role player. He didn’t stand out much in this workout, but he got a few baskets after getting loose balls and will help this team.
Also on the wing is Jervan Jackson, another native of the Virgin Islands, who shows a nice feel for the game and is an excellent student. Before his day ended early with a foot injury, Jackson was getting better as the day went along as an active wing who can handle and pass the ball. On several occasions, he found an open teammate with a good pass, and the 6’5″ wing wasn’t afraid to do some work close to the basket with rebounds and driving baskets.
The frontcourt will be in good hands to start, led by Assane Sane. The 7’0″ native of Senegal has all the tools to be a star, as Chillious says he’ll be “the best big man in prep basketball”. He only went through drills on Saturday, as he suffered a concussion a week earlier and had not been cleared to play, but he gave a taste of what he could do there by running the floor and showing quick inside moves. Rutgers commit Christian “Beast” Morris will also play inside as a likely starter. He’s big, thick and physical, absorbing contact inside when he gets the ball and tough to stop when he gets it close to the basket because he uses his big body so well.
Papa Fall (6’8 PF, Senegal) is long and has a ways to go physically, but showed some skills at the power forward spot. He ran the floor well and hit his share of mid-range shots, including several from the elbows during the drills.
That the open gym workout was impressive without three key players illustrates the depth on this team. The plethora of guards and wings gives Chillious several lineup options, and he intends to use all of his options with his personnel. He’s very optimistic about this season, and after seeing his team in action, one can see that he has good reason to be.
