You know Attucks is always tough. Always gritty. Always will battle. What does Attucks have up their sleeve for the 2021-22 boys basketball campaign? In Open Gym practice, it looks like the answer is plenty.
Most of it was on display this day despite a few missing or injured pieces. Jalen Hooks is back, and looks bigger and even more comfortable. Clemson is in the building to watch him. Marian is also on hand. Among others, they should be watching senior guard BJ Smith, who averaged 12 points last year as a junior. He’s bully ballin’ to the hole and getting to the rack with ease. Another senior guard Willie Mays directs traffic and makes plays in scrimmage. The scrimmages are feisty and competitive. Make a shot to win the scrimmage game? You have to go to the free throw line to really ice it. Miss the free throw, the shot doesn’t count, and you keep playing. Gotta make free throws, right?
“The kids are competing, and we have spirited practices”, says head coach Chris Hawkins. “No shortcuts with how deep we are. Everyday is a battle and the kids come ready”.
What’s new at Attucks? Senior guard JJ Louden is here now from Pike. He will help a lot with leadership, toughness and defense. “The practices have been real competitive everyday here, which is helping us grow as a team”, he says. Louden holds an offer from Canisius College, a division I program in Buffalo. Also new for the Tigers is 6’7″ freshman Dezmon Briscoe. He is hard not to notice as soon as you come into the gym. He looked real comfortable already playing with the veterans. He’ll play immediately. Senior Christian Nunn, a highly regarded wing, is here now as well from Liberty Christian. And sophomore guard Ron Rutland II is here from North Central. Rutland’s father (also named Ron) is the all time assists leader and Top 10 all time in scoring at University of Indianapolis and had a decorated overseas career. The younger Rutland looks to be cut from the same mold.
Mix in senior James Lewis, junior Sincere Floyd, sophomores Demetrius Jenkins and Jacson Payton with the rest of a solid core and you have the makings of another Top 10 finish. Or, is the ceiling higher? When they broke the huddle, “state championship” was in the chant. The Tigers won the state title in 2017 and the city title in 2020 for the first time since 1959 under Hawkins.
“Our teams will always play hard, compete for championships, graduate and go on to college to play at different levels”, says Hawkins, who won the Class 3A title in 2017 in his first year with the program. “We pride ourselves on being the underdog. We are on the same level as your traditional 4A powerhouses. Come here and you will win, graduate, and have an opportunity to play at the next level”. The track record has been formed with multiple players now playing at the next level, including 2019 Indiana All Star Sincere McMahon (now at Winthrop) and 2017 state champion Nike Sibande, who is now at Pittsburgh.
The Tigers are preparing to first get the City title back and to win at state title. Can they do it? They look loaded enough to compete for it.
