SOUTH KENT, Conn. – The hottest day in New England in two months was spent well west of Boston, starting at the South Kent School. It was so hot, head coach Kelvin Jefferson opened up all the doors to the gym, and not because he wanted everyone a stone’s throw away from there to come and see his team. In fact, because of the heat and resulting condensation in the gym, he and his assistant were constantly manning the floor to keep it somewhat dry, and the players worked out for less than an hour on Wednesday.
There wasn’t a player whose shooting would make for a punchline involving the heat, but the Cardinals’ strength is clearly on the perimeter and especially at the point guard spot, which is never a bad place to be strong.
The best player on the floor on a day when few stood out was Schadrac Casimir (5’9″ Sr. PG, Stamford (CT)), who might get the nod to start at the point. Always a solid offensive player, he shot the ball well from long range and finished the break well on Wednesday, and with good scoring options around him he should be a solid playmaker.
By no means does Casimir have a lock on the position, however, as Tremont Waters (5’10” Fr. PG, New Haven (CT)) should also get plenty of minutes and will get the attention of many college coaches. Already known to coaches since he’s been playing on the travel circuit for a while, on Wednesday he drove often with success, at times to score and other times to dish to a teammate. His body has a long way to go, but the tools he already shows are reason to pay attention to him over the next few years.
Arell Hennings (5’7″ Sr. PG, Seattle (WA)) is a diminutive floor leader with a good body for his size and he will compete. He will be in the mix at that spot as well.
Off the ball, Jordan Strawberry (6’2″ Sr. PG-SG, Los Angeles (CA)) stood out above others and may also see occasional minutes at the point. The younger brother of former Maryland guard D.J., he has a good frame and hit a number of mid-range jumpers on the afternoon, some of them coming off the dribble. Ryan Sweeney (6’6″ Sr. SG-SF, Summit (NJ)) hit several three-pointers off the catch and will find a role in the offense. Hiroto Yamaki (6’3″ Sr. SG, Yamagata (Japan)) showed some range on his jumper and also made a nice scoop shot on another drive, and he should see some minutes as well.
The Cardinals will have a couple of good candidates at small forward, starting with holdover Zach Brown (6’7″ Sr. SF, Spring (TX)). The Wichita State commit is still more upside than finished product at this point, as he’s athletic and his body still has some maturing to come. He rebounded well but still needs to develop the skill package offensively. Romello Walker (6’6″ Sr. SF, Ft. Lauderdale (FL)) is a lanky wing who has some good scoring tools but really needs to add strength, which was evident on a couple of plays. One time on Wednesday, he came up lame after a knee-to-knee collision with another player, but he stayed in the game.
In addition, Jules de Courtenay (6’7″ Sr. SF-PF, Brisbane (Australia)) could see time on the wing, and he showed some good skills there that included range on the jumper and finishing the break. What stood out with him is that he competes, and it showed on the boards as well. One player who joins him is Dusan Perovic (6’8″ Sr. PF, Podgorica (Montenegro)), who played well early but wasn’t as much of a factor later on. He has a good body and showed that he can score in close not only from posting up but also on a nice runner in the lane. Christian Foxen (6’8″ Sr. PF, Rocky Hill (CT)) has a slight frame but didn’t shy away from the action inside, making a short fade-away with contact and getting a stickback along the way. Albert Christensson (6’8″ Sr. PF, Lund (Sweden)) has a good frame but a body that’s not there yet, and he had his moments on the afternoon.
All of the power forwards appear to have some ability to face the basket offensively, which in theory gives Jefferson a lot of options for their offense.
Jefferson isn’t worried about scoring with this team. Many coaches stress defense, but with the scoring options this team has there is plenty of reason to look at other areas. If a rebounder emerges among the forwards, they will see plenty of minutes, and the point guard spot could be impacted by who defends the best since all of the possible players there have something to offer on offense.
The Cardinals have good talent and a lot of experience as a team loaded with post-graduates. They appear to have enough parts to be a contender in the always competitive NEPSAC Class AAA, starting with strength at the point. With solid play there, the Cardinals can function as well in the cold days of winter as they did on the hot late summer day of the visit to the school.
