Aberdeen boys basketball backcourt trio waited in the wings, now it’s time to take center stage
Bill Jones held a basketball pressed firmly against his left hip as he addressed his team during an early afternoon practice last Monday. He pulled his right hand from the pocket of a gray hoodie. Jones raised it to the sky, his fingers sprawled out, mimicking the placement of bolded words on a page cutting through the air of Aberdeen’s gym.
“We’re not good enough to play like we did last year,” Jones told his players. Referencing the presence of a reporter visiting practice, his brief monologue concluded with a striking, “That’s the headline!”
Jones, now in his fourth year coaching the Eagles, bears no reservations in addressing the turnover between last year’s group and this year’s: talent lost to graduation, lack of varsity experience entering this year and their early season rebounding woes.
But in these moments of charge –– and peeking at the nonconference schedule he mapped out to include powerhouses Loyola Blakefield, Dunbar and Parkville –– it’s clear Jones sees the potential in a roster with one returning starter and a newly anointed backcourt trio.
Last year’s Aberdeen team was at times a mystifying viewing experience. The Eagles senior backcourt of Tylan Bass, Ty’Seaun Rodgers and Artarus Brown were among the most fearsome in the county, if not Maryland, combining for an average of about 50 of the team’s 80 points per game.
Bass was the do-it-all scorer and Aegis Player of the Year. Jones called him a “once-in-a-lifetime type” point guard who could drop 30 on a given night. Rodgers was the team’s consummate 3-and-D guy. Meanwhile, Brown’s scoring ability complemented his bullish defense. His knack for pulling the ball off the rim 8.9 times per night as an undersized forward rounded off an up-tempo offense that, at times, left Jones welcome to sit back and admire.
Darion Parris uplifted that trio more as the season wore on, culminating in a string of four 20-point playoff outings. He’s Aberdeen’s only returning starter; the lanky-armed link between squads and a prototypical stretch forward with big-game experience.
Together, they overpowered area teams, finishing 22-5 with one conference loss. Aberdeen bulldozed to the 3A state playoff final four. In the regional title match against Edgewood, Bass, Rodgers and Parris hit five 3-pointers — each. Days later they crawled out of a 16-2 hole in the state quarterfinal to beat Wilde Lake.
Bass, Rodgers and Brown were equally menacing assignments in practice, a long-term benefit for their backcourt successors: junior Austin Carter and seniors Justin Franklin and Jomar Camacho.
“Austin and Justin would come in a little bit and Jomar didn’t play much at all [last year],” Jones said. “So we would have discussions about, next year –– now this year –– is going to be their turn. Their practices were their games. They were a very good second team for us last year and they pushed those guys knowing this year all three would be put into a position where they’re highly counted on.”
Carter was frequently assigned to Bass, who talked trash the whole practice and backed it up. “Artarus tried to bully me,” Franklin said with a reflective laugh. Camacho could only laugh now thinking about his time spent suffering through Rodgers’ ceaseless physicality.
“We knew if we could compete with those guys,” Carter said, “it would prepare us to compete with anyone.”
Now, a changing of the guard.
Carter stepped into Aberdeen’s point guard role. He defends top scorers and is “a heck of a shooter,” according to Jones. Franklin is a slasher and scorer who can hover around 15 points per game. What Camacho lacks in size he makes up for as a 3-point shooter and with his ability to read the floor.
Alongside this new trio, Parris’ role has evolved into tougher defensive assignments while more often playing with the ball in his hands. Most notably, he’s stretching beyond his quiet nature to at times be the team’s leading light.
“Sometimes I’ll look at my assistant and be like, ‘Did he just say something?’” Jones said. “He’s talking, he’s instructing, he’s helping and it’s been great for him.”
That’s the shift from a reliance on the previous regime, to a new group led in part by Aberdeen’s lone constant. Couple Parris’ experience with a group prepped by nightmarish practices and you have a lineup ready to hit the ground running.
“We go down to Kenwood our first game,” Jones said, “and I think sort of a lightbulb went off for a guy like Justin to say, ‘This is easier than it was last year in practice.'”
Then there was the 63-60 win over Fallston. It was the new trio’s second varsity start against a Cougars team that returned eight players. A duel in which Aberdeen’s inexperienced crew could have easily folded. But they didn’t, a credit to those who came before.
Aberdeen enters the holiday week 4-2 before facing Dunbar Tuesday.
Its only county blemish thus far, the root of Jones’ moment of frustration during Monday’s practice, came from an 89-58 blowout loss to C. Milton Wright. The Eagles collectively recorded 10 rebounds. Mustangs forward Dylan Sander had 21 by himself (and 31 points, the precise score differential).
Aberdeen of a year ago relied heavily on its rebounding strength with Bass leaking out to create an advantage upcourt. They feverishly pushed the pace.
Times have changed.
Which is why, after writing his own team’s headline for this season, Jones turned to a 3-on-3 rebounding drill. He held every player accountable for a missed boxout or tipped ball.
“This year,” Jones said, “We’re coaching every second of every practice every day and in the games. It’s a lot more coaching going on when we’re not quite as talented as we were last year.”
It’s a mountainous task to replicate the collection of talent in blue and gold from a year ago. Although the three who have stepped in to fill those shoes, are undoubtedly better off for having been there. And it swells the chip on their shoulders.
“Nobody besides our locker room believed in us,” Franklin said. “We just got to stay confident.”
