Redfern , young Eagles ready to take flight
By Dave Morrison for the register-herald
Woodrow Wilson coach Ron Kidd cut right to the chase .
The 2021-22 season was not acceptable by any stretch , much less the lofty standards of one of the state ’ s premier programs , 16-time state champion Woodrow Wilson .
A 5-17 record beside Woodrow Wilson does not sit well with Kidd , entering his 23rd season as the head coach at his alma mater .
“ It was a season I felt like the kids came in , each and every day and worked hard , but with the talent we had that wasn ’ t the expectations for our team ,” Kidd said . “ Hopefully , this year we are going to be a lot better than last year .”
And speaking of talent , the Flying Eagles have one of the state ’ s best players , and arguably the best player , in junior Elijah Redfern .
Last season Redfern scored in double figures in all 22 Woodrow Wilson games and finished the season averaging 21.1 points per game . There are few things Redfern can ’ t do on the basketball court . He had 12 games with 20 or more points including eight of the last 10 and the final four , which ended with a last-second 68- 67 loss to Princeton . He had 29 in that game .
“ I think hands down he is one of the top players in
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Jenny Harnish / The Register-Herald
Woodrow Wilson ’ s Elijah Redfern eyes the basket against Greenbrier East Dec . 17 , 2021 , in Fairlea .
the state ,” Kidd sad . “ We ’ ve got a few but he ’ s at the top . We expect leadership from him . He ’ s going to have to score . He ’ s going to have to rebound . He ’ s going to have to do it all for us .”
Redfern will be running the point , meaning everything will go through him .
“ He ’ s going to be the leader , he ’ s the head of our team ,” Kidd said .
Brayden Hawthorne , a 6-6 sophomore , will make a bit of a position switch . He was a shooter , content to spot up last season . He had 22 3s last season and had a career-high 20 in a late season victory against Princeton , the last win of the season for Woodrow .
“ He ’ s got to put some meat on those bones ,” Kidd said . “ But we expect big things from him . For us to be real good he has to be a rebounder . He has to go inside and mix it up . He spotted up more last year but he ’ s going to have to be in both worlds . We ’ re still going to let him go outside because he can shoot the ball and he can handle the ball . But we need him to rebound for us this year . If he does the dirty work as we call it , we have a chance to be real good .”
Jaylan Walton returns after making a few starts . The son of Mario Walton , he averaged three points per game .
“ He was in a car wreck before school let out in the spring , so he didn ’ t play summer league , but he lost some weight and he ’ s running the floor better , jumping better ,” Kidd said .
It is the youngest Woodrow Wilson team since Woodrow dressed six freshmen back in 2002 .
But this is an exceptional group of young players . As many as five or six freshmen could end up dressing .
“ They bring a winning attitude to our program , they want to win , they want to get better ,” Kidd said . “ They come from a winning program , Park Junior High , and Beckley Stratton wasn ’ t bad last year . They like winning . They got the taste of winning . Any time you get the taste of losing , losing becomes easy . They keep saying , ‘ We ’ re not going to be like last year coach , we ’ re going to be better .’” It starts with Coby Dillon . “ People don ’ t realize behind closed doors the kid works ,” Kidd said . “ He ’ s one of the old-school players , he might be dribbling the ball down the street or taking the ball to the movies with him . He works extremely hard . He does that and it pays off for him .”
Dillon , like Redfern , is a combo guard , a point by trade . Kidd likes the versatility .
“ Last year when Redfern got ( in foul trouble ) we didn ’ t have people we could shuffle around and run that point ,” Kidd said . “ This year we do have that . This year we feel if Redfern gets in trouble or things aren ’ t going right , we can switch ( Redfern ) to two and Dillon can run the point .”
Preston Clary , the son of Woodrow Wilson great Tink Brown and Zyon Hawthorne , younger brother of Brayden , are also freshmen likely to see action immediately .
Kellan Hefferman who played in four games and scored 10 points and Drew Fitzwater , a sophomore who was forced into limited varsity action last season , are both back .
John Collins is a junior who missed last year with heart problems but has been cleared and is back on the court .