Passions change from soccer to basketball for West Lafayette center Kevo St. Hilaire

WEST LAFAYETTE — The ball came at the opportune moment for junior West Lafayette boys basketball 6-foot-10 center Kevo St. Hilaire.

St. Hilaire had set a screen for sophomore point guard Ben Werth against Harrison on Jan. 5 and patiently waited at the left block as the defensive attention shifted away from the post towards the right wing.

Werth delivered a crisp bounce pass directly into the secure hands of St. Hilaire who threw down a two-handed slam dunk late in the fourth quarter. An exclamation point to a satisfying night for West Lafayette, which beat its rivals from Harrison 61-54.

Offensively it wasn't the best of nights for St. Hilaire who mustered four points.

But he found ways to contribute by grabbing 11 rebounds using his length and spacing to block and contest shots. St. Hilaire's contributions have been a huge booster for West Lafayette, which stood at 9-5 overall entering Friday.

St. Hilaire is averaging 9.5 points per game, 7.6 rebounds per game and2.7 blocks per game this season.

"Kevo has worked really hard during the offseason," Werth said. "He was in the gym almost every day. He realizes he's 6-foot-11, he's lanky and guys can't match up with him."

A young man with extreme stature who is finally starting to tap into his potential as a late bloomer in basketball.

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The truth is, being a star basketball wasn't always in St. Hilaire's plan.

St. Hilaire had towered over his classmates since the third grade. And while being a star athlete was always in St. Hilaire's plans, soccer was his first love. He had been trained by his father Andy who had been born and raised on the Caribbean archipelago island country of Dominica.

St. Hilaire didn't start playing organized basketball until he was in the sixth grade.

"I thought I was going to go pro at soccer not basketball," St. Hilaire said.

St. Hilaire grew to 6 feet by the sixth grade and kept getting progressively taller. He grew seven more inches between the seventh and eighth grades. The major spurts reduced the speed and agility St. Hilaire needed to play soccer, forever tying him with basketball.

"I just got a little too slow for it," St. Hilaire said.

Transitioning between sports started cumbersome for St. Hilaire.

Even with his impressive size, St. Hilaire still had to learn the game and was years behind teammates and opponents who started playing their first organized games in kindergarten.

He was clumsy, awkward and wasn't very good at catching the ball at first. To make matters worse, St. Hilaire spent large periods between the eighth and 10th grades being unable to compete because of injuries.

St. Hilaire sustained a fractured navicular bone while running cross country in the eighth grade. The fractured navicular bone, an injury caused by a broken metatarsal at the top of the foot above the big toe is a common injury among basketball players. The injury has affected the likes of Michael Jordan and Joel Embiid.

A slow recovery process caused St. Hilaire to slip behind with his basketball development.

He rebroke the same foot and suffered the same injury in the ninth grade while running track to get in shape for basketball.

But St. Hilaire wouldn't allow the injury to cause him to spiral towards mental disarray. He kept a level head, went to physical therapy and became stronger as a result.

All the inner doubts, being forced to stay on junior varsity and watching from the sidelines have spun itself into St. Hilaire becoming one of the top centers in the Greater Lafayette Area.

St. Hilaire isn't just a dunker. He can catch from the post and use his pivot foot to score using a repertoire of hooks with both his left and right hand and is developing a jumper from the free throw line.

"I'm just trying to play basketball to help my team," St. Hilaire said. "Whether that's me being the main scorer or not."

St. Hilaire's overall improvements have added a layer in the paint to compliment the guard play of Werth, junior Benny Speaker and sophomore Drew Whitlock.

Being the unwieldy man on the floor who couldn't handle pressure is no longer on St. Hilaire's label. Teams have to scout both his athletic ability and the way he can pass the ball and shift defenses.

Each time St. Hilaire touches the ball, he's likely getting fouled even if the referees don't call it.

Playing with composure and grabbing after rebounds and loose balls has gained St. Hilaire the appreciation and admiration of his teammates.

"(St. Hilaire) has the hardest job on the floor by far," Whitlock said. "He touches the ball and there's instantly two guys coming from other places. He handles it so well and he's gotten so much better."

"His work ethic is one of the biggest I've ever seen."

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: IHSAA boys basketball: West Lafayette's Kevo St. Hilaire hits stride