Coming out of Practice: Ragsdale Tigers

I spoke with Ragsdale head boy’s basketball coach Craig Shoemaker this afternoon and here are a few of the things we talked about…..

There are at least five football players that have not come out of basketball practice yet, and they will not join the team until the football team wins the State Championship or at some point when the playoffs are complete.

Those five, are young men that must be ready to play key roles on the Tigers team that hits the court in 2009/2010. Tyquan Roberts at 6’6, is the first name that you will recognize and he should be on the way to a break-out season.

Kalik Parker, 6’5, will give the Tigers more height on the inside and Parker is steady on the football field, but he may be more of a long-term factor on the basketball court. D’onovan Smith is averaging over 100 yards per game rushing for the Ragsdale Tigers football team, but defense is where he will help the basketball team the most. Smith is a player and he could start for Coach Shoemaker.

DeShawn Shouse is another kid that will surprise you with his backcourt range, roaming between the 2G and a kick-out/swing-it to me, with the spread on the wing. Kick it is usually a football term for the football team, but with Shouse and Seth White, it will mean for the 5’7 PG Beniah Wise to kick it out or swing the ball to either side and into the hands of Shouse and White.

Luke Sonricker is another player that Coach Shoemaker is looking to for help and depth, that is if the senior Sonricker decides to come out for the team after he recovers from his football injury. There still is a stong possibility that Sonricker will join the basketball team.

Roberts, Parker, Smith, Shouse, and even Sonricker could all go a long way toward making Ragsdale a much deeper team this year, after the loss of several players from last season’s squad.

We mentioned Beniah Wise at point, White at the wing, and Brandon Pressely is ready to start up front with Tyquan Roberts and Kalik Parker with big Devante Fletcher in the middle at 6’7 and Pressley may be the Tiger that is ready to impress when he gets accustomed to his new teammates…

Fletcher is a big wide-body and Ragsdale doesn’t have a busload of those this year, but they do have kids that are hungry and players that have a work ethic that will will heat up the gym with the end-of-practice sprints, just as much as the 10-foot jumpers…..

Ragsdale must be ready to lace them up for real soon, with their season-opener coming up November 23 at Eastern Guilford…..

If the football players are not back with the team yet at that point/stage of the season, then we will have to go with:
PG Beniah Wise
WG Seth White
F Brandon Pressley
C Devante Fletcher
*****The other forward TBD…..*****

When all the football players are with the team you have a crew that is eight-deep with:
PG B. Wise
WG S. White
WG/2G D. Shouse
2G D. Smith
F T. Roberts
F B. Pressley
F K. Parker
C D. Fletcher:Big and strong and showing the most improvement on the court in preseason…..

Coach Shoemaker said this team is working as hard as any crew he has had even though you have a pure mix and match of Varsity and JV slots up for grabs until the football reunite with the regulars…..

The real weakness with this team is mere fact that the overall talent level has dropped off from previous Tiger editions, but all that could change, depending on how hard this team is willing to work.

Coach Shoemaker expects this team to challenge for the Conference Title once all the players are together and he also looks for this unit to really start coming together as a team, once they hit the Pizza Hut Invitational Tournament. That will be a set team goal, “Pizza Hut or bust”…….

You get the feeling that there are no real superstars on this upcoming 2009/2010 Ragsdale Tigers boy’s basketball team, but you also get the feeling that this team is willing to work hard enough to overcome whatever obstacles that stand in the way of that 4-A Conference Title.

Northwest Guilford, High Point Central, East Forsyth, Southwest Guilford, and Glenn are the only things that stand in the way of the Tigers and those dreams/goals.