Woodrow Wilson Boys
Woodrow Wilson Boys
Shooters galore , Eagles ready for run
By Dave Morrison for the register-herald
The goals have never changed at Woodrow Wilson . Championships . That ’ s everybody ’ s goal . Woodrow has a state-record 17 state championships to show that when it comes to basketball titles , Beckley means it .
From the Grey Eagle himself , Jerome Van Meter , and Preach Wiseman all the way through Dave Barksdale and now Ron Kidd , state titles have permeated the landscape at the school .
But it ’ s been a dry spell of late — the last title Kidd and crew won was in 2008 — and nobody knows that better than the coach .
But coming off a state tournament berth , Kidd feels confident .
“ Our expectations are always high , we never sell ourselves short ,” Kidd said “ The way we have kids who can shoot the ball , we feel good about our chances . We know Spring Mills is a good team ( beat Woodrow 60-41 in the state tournament ), I think Huntington and South Charleston are good and GW ( George Washington ) is always good . We have to be prepared to play every night . But we always feel like we have a chance .”
Woodrow averaged 63.2 points per game last year and shot 36 percent from 3 as a team ( 170 of 451 ) and shot 75 percent from the free throw line ( 269 of 359 ).
Kidd does return four players from the top six , including outstanding wings in Coby Dillon , Zyon Hawthorne , Jaylon Walton and Preston Clary .
Hawthorne , Dillon and Clary were the only Flying Eagles to play in all 25 games for the 15-10 state tournament qualifier .
Dillon , the leading scorer
52 • WV SOUTH BASKETBALL
Rick Barbero / The Register-Herald
Preston Clary , of Woodrow Wilson , goes in for a shot against Oak Hill defenders during the Class AAAA Region 3 , Section 2 game at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center .
on Woodrow ’ s state championship soccer team , returns after averaging 13.8 points and he had 80 3s . In fact , he has 585 points and 143 3s in his career .
“ As hard as Coby works , we know he ’ s going to shoot the ball well , and we need him to shoot the ball well ,” Kidd said . “ One thing he has developed over the summer is a shot fake and he is going to the goal . He ’ s creating his shot more . He doesn ’ t really need anyone to set him up .”
Hawthorne , whose brother Braydon recently signed with WVU , is a combo-type guard , and a shooter .
He averaged 12.4 points and had 32 3s .
“ I see Zyon having a big , big year for us ,” Kidd said . “ He ’ s a two-year starter . Started as a freshman , started as a sophomore . He ’ s going to have to shoot the ball extremely well . One thing we really need is for him to be an all-around player . He ’ s going to have to rebound , be a defensive stopper .”
Hawthorne has 482 career points and 53 3s .
Walton is a player who Kidd believes has yet to tap into his full potential .
The big man averaged 7.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game .
Being consistent is key for Walton .
“ He might play one quarter where people are looking at him and think he ’ s the best player in the state ,” Kidd said . “ The other three quarters you might not know he ’ s on the floor . He has to give us 32 minutes for us to be good . Over the summer he worked hard and that is what it takes .”
The X factor , or the glue , on this team will be Clary . The junior , whose freshman year was cut short by injury , averaged 7.3 points and 3.8 rebounds .
“ It ’ s in his blood to be good and I think Preston wants to be good ,” Kidd said . “ I think he can be the glue to our team . He has to do all the little things . He has to rebound , he has to hit the open shot , he has to make the tight pass . He ’ s going to have to guard people . He ’ s the glue to our team .”
AJ Thomas is vying for the other starting spot .
“ AJ came in and played well for us when some of our guys were sick ,” Kidd said . “ He played and started at Oak Hill and Princeton , and I think he was our leading rebounder at 5-foot-9 .”
Others who have impressed include J . W . Wynes , who had a 3 in the state tournament , 6-6 junior Owen Gunther , who continues to hone his game , zone buster Lucas Raney and first-year player Taylor Williams .
The team must replace Elijah Redfern , a Class AAAA first-team all-stater and four-year starter who is now starting for Bob Bolen at Glenville .
“ For any team it would be hard to lose a leader like that , a point guard who started for four years . That ’ s a big piece . And he ’ s proven that by going to Glenville and starting or playing big minutes .”