Boys’ high school basketball preview: York Prep Patriots playing for each other
York Preparatory Academy doesn’t belong to a high school sports association, league or federation. So what do the Patriots play for?
“Everybody would love to have a state championship,” said coach Frank Hamrick. “But honestly for us, it’s just a matter of can we help kids get where they want to get? If they go to college and get their degree - and some of those will be on a basketball scholarship and some won’t - but if we’ve got a kid that wants to play college basketball, that’s the focus. Help him get to the next level. And for the rest of them, every time they hang that diploma on the wall, that’s the banner.”
Hamrick has a talented boys’ basketball team this season, led by 6-foot-9 freshman D.J. Burns and junior scoring machine Tracus Chisholm.
Tennessee, N.C. State and Charlotte are a few of the schools that have visited York Prep to take a look at the big freshman; N.C. A&T and Winthrop have already offered scholarships. Burns is abnormally large for his age, but Hamrick lauded his left-handed touch with the basketball as well.
“His best shot would be short corner, 15 feet, he’s got really good moves around the basket, but without a doubt he is the best passing big man I’ve seen,” said Hamrick. “He has incredible vision.”
Burns plays the saxophone, sings, is an excellent public speaker and has great grades. His future - whether it involves college basketball or not - looks promising.
“He doesn’t need basketball,” said Hamrick.
There is plenty of talent around Burns, starting with Chisholm, a junior guard receiving recruiting interest from Division II and low and mid-major Division I schools. Chisholm has already scored over 1,000 points during his career at York Prep.
“He’s an efficient scorer, he’s incredibly unselfish and he’s an unbelievable competitor,” said Hamrick.
Jaron Williams, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, and Khali Clegg are other talented players that will contribute heavily to the Patriots’ team goals. Those include playing well at the USA National Prep championship in Myrtle Beach, a competition for unattached schools like York Prep, and competing against national power Oak Hill in the season finale in March.
The Patriots’ players come from all over the area, including more than a few that transferred in from Rock Hill public schools. To foster chemistry, Hamrick utilized an idea he picked up from his men’s group’s weekly meeting. York Prep didn’t practice on Thursdays during the preseason; instead the group went to one of the players’ family’s house for a bonfire.
There, the players and coaches discussed the five H’s: players told each other about their heritage, who their heroes were, heartaches they’d suffered, hopes they harbored, and the last and most important: who are your honies?
“We went through every one of those,” Hamrick said, laughing. “Lot of tears are being shed as they’re telling their story. Since then, that was kind of a springboard for us to go, ‘okay, now we can become a family and start playing - not to win - but playing for each other.”
Players to watch
4A: Japree Perry, Rock Hill (All-Area honorable mention, 15 points per game); Lance Crayton, Rock Hill (junior point guard started every game last season); Cameron Holmes, Nation Ford (13 ppg, All-Region 3-4A senior guard); Aaron Milner, Clover (6-foot-5 junior center); Brandon Joseph, Fort Mill (senior guard); Tanner Mitchell, Fort Mill (senior guard, All-Region 3-4A despite missing big chunk of time with injury); Myliek Durham, Northwestern (junior guard).
3A: Malik Williams, Chester (junior guard, second team All-Area, 19 ppg); Derion Kendrick, South Pointe (sophomore guard, 11 ppg, 4 rebs.); Pete Branham, South Pointe (6-foot-4 senior guard, All-Region 3-3A, 12 ppg); Nehemiah McGriff, Lancaster (All-Region 3-3A, All-Area honorable mention, junior forward, 12 ppg, 10 rebs.).
2A: Quantra Taylor, Indian Land (6-foot-8 senior center, committed to Wingate); Mark Morton, Indian Land (junior guard, All-Region 4-2A, 13 ppg, 3.7 asst.).
1A: Marcus McCullough, Lewisville (All-Region 3-A, 14 ppg, 4 asst.), Trey Keels, Lewisville (senior guard); Warren Sanders, Great Falls (senior guard).
This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Boys’ high school basketball preview: York Prep Patriots playing for each other."