- January 14th, 2006, 11:19 am
#4
We're apparently expressed some interest to this senior up in Maryland:
Boys' basketball: Southern's Wayson a tall order for foeshttp://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bi ... _13-31/HIG
By JAMES PETERS, For The Capital
Ever since he can remember, Southern senior center Robert Wayson has towered over his peers on the basketball court. Nothing's changed since his arrival at the Harwood school, either, not with Wayson standing 6-feet, 7-inches.
"I've always played since I was five years old and I've always been a little bit taller," Wayson said. "It adds a lot of advantages because with everyone else being around 6-4, I have three inches and I can just out reach them and I can get a shot off better. I try to use length to get an advantage in blocking shots and things like that."
Instead of relying solely on dominating with his size, however, Wayson has developed other skills, particularly on the offensive end, during his three-year varsity career at Southern. And that's why he is one of the county's best big men and drawn interest from several schools at both the Division III and Division I levels, including Liberty University and Eastern Kentucky.
"I've just seen a tremendous change in his work ethic," said Southern coach Ray Bowen, who has coached Wayson for three years, including as a freshman on the junior varsity team. "His strengths are that he puts his mind to things: being a better rebounder, being a better post player and having great post moves and he's working on his shot. He's just come on a long way with those aspects of his game.
"With the type of offense we're running this year, Robert has a very nice 12-15 foot jumper outside the paint area and we've given him the green light to do that because he has a nice touch around the paint area."
Wayson fully showcased his versatile game Tuesday night when the three-year varsity player guided the Bulldogs to a 58-49 win over host Glen Burnie (9-3) by producing a triple-double with 18 points, 10 rebounds and a mind-boggling 10 blocks.
He scored in the post, on dribble drives and on a variety of jump shots inside and just outside the free throw lane. His blocks included several drive attempts by the Gophers against Southern's mix of 2-3 and 1-3-1 zone defenses.
"He really hurt us," Glen Burnie coach Mike Rudd said after that game. "We had a hard time stopping him the whole night."
So have others as Wayson produced 16 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in a 68-58 win over South River (3-9). He poured in 16 points in a 56-52 victory against Huntingtown, knocked down 20 points and snared nine rebounds in a 62-51 loss to Severna Park (6-5).
Against Calvert, Wayson had perhaps his best game of the season with 24 points and 13 rebounds in the team's 60-58 victory. He also contributed 14 points in a 59-57 win against Arundel (4-8) and 12 points in a 59-55 victory against Meade (4-8).
"I thought he was fantastic," said first-year Arundel coach Tim Poole said. "He's a very big shot blocker and he can step out and hit jump shots. He's not just a big rebounder. He can do just about anything they ask him to do. He wasn't just a low-post player, that's what I was impressed with."
Wayson, who plays AAU basketball nearly year round, is averaging 14.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and roughly three blocks a game, helping Southern jump to a 9-3 record. The Bulldogs compiled eight wins all of last season, finishing at 8-14, including exiting the playoffs in the Class 2A quarterfinals to Calvert.
"It's very nice to have someone that tall," Bowen said. "Not many teams in the county have someone that tall. It's definitely an advantage and we take advantage of that. That's why we've basically revolved our offense around him and he is a key to our offense and when he's hot, everyone else is hot."
The one time he wasn't "hot," the Bulldogs struggled to a 60-29 loss to Old Mill (11-1) in the final of the Marrick Builders Tournament at Huntingtown High in December. Playing against perhaps the county's toughest front-court performer, 6-8 senior center Rodney Stokes, who is averaging 10 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks a game, Wayson produced six points.
Despite that loss, plus a recent setback to Annapolis, Southern is on pace to have one of its finest seasons to date and both Wayson and Bowen hope it concludes at the University of Maryland's Comcast Center, the site of the state basketball playoffs.
"We want to go to Comcast Center, got to states," said Wayson, who is being recruited to play either small or power forward in college. "We feel we've got a good chance to win regions this year with the team we've got. We're playing hard together and we've all come together for one team instead of playing separately like we did last year."
Bowen added: "We want to be one of the top Southern teams in Southern history. That's our goal. There are four state championships on those banners (in the school's gymnasium) and we'd really like to make it No. 5."
To do that, Wayson will have to continue to play "big."
"I want to have a great season, help the team, make first team (all-county) and hopefully be the player of the year," he said.
- No Jumps-
Published January 13, 2006, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2006 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
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