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Banks to join SCC Braves' lineup sooner rather than later
SIKESTON -- A huge question mark hung over the Scott County Central basketball program when news spread about their leading scorer possibly not being able to play his senior year.
No need to worry, head coach Frank Staple said. Larandis Banks will be on the floor. But not right away, however.
"It's one of those things where we're waiting it out," said Staple. "It's looking positive that he will be able to come back and play. It's looking good right now that it will be pretty soon."
Banks, a 6-0 senior who led the Braves to a Class 1 quarterfinal game a year ago, was hit with the devastating news of possibly ending his basketball career because of blood pressure complications. According to Staple, regulating his problem will be the key.
"Once that gets to where it needs to be he'll be fine," he said. "He's on the up-and-up and it's looking good for him right now. Thank God it's nothing life threatening and, obviously, you want to be cautious."
Finding out about the news hit Banks, who has only been able to shoot around and simply be involved with his team during practice so far, like a ton of bricks, according to Staple.
"At first it was very hard for him," Staple said. "He was kind of scared because when they first found something out, he didn't know if he'd be able to play again. That's really hard on a kid especially for someone who loves the game as much as he does. Now that he's gotten information about it and sees that he's going to be alright, he's been in good spirits given the circumstances."
The earliest the Braves might expect their leading player, who averaged 19.8 points per game for them, would be next week.
"He won't be back for the Riverbend, but it could be anywhere from next week to the next couple weeks," said Staple. "I'd say definitely look to have him back before Christmas."
Without Banks in the early going, Staple still believes they have a solid group to help pick up the slack.
Without departing seniors Jaylen Porter, who was their second leading scorer who averaged 15.1 points a game, Tyler Masters and Chris Brown, the Braves will see plenty of Jeffrey Porter (Soph., 6-0), Cameron Blissett (Sr., 5-11) and Kendall Blissett (Sr., 6-3) on the floor.
They also return Matt Blissett (Jr., 6-2) and Javonta Daniel (Jr., 6-2) who moved up from the jayvee ranks late in the season.
"Those are guys that we moved up from jayvee and they really contributed," said Staple. "Now, they have another year of experience under them."
Juwan Owens (Sr., 6-0) and Trevion Moore (Jr., 5-9) are also expected to see minutes.
"I think we have a good combination of guys that fit our system well," Staple said. "We have a lot more experience this year and experience goes such a long way. We didn't have very much experience last year. We have several faces whose ready to contribute and should be able to go out and play on any given night."
Staple enters his second year as Scott Central's head coach after serving as an assistant coach three seasons prior. Although expectations are the same, Staple says he's fit in to his head coaching role with the school.
"One thing about Scott Central is that the expectations are always high," he said. "I love that. I love being at a place where they expect you to win. The experience really helped me a lot last year and this year I'm more calm and seeing the bigger picture."
He'll have some help from the sidelines from a former head coach.
Former Sikeston head coach Fred Johnson, who last coached the Sikeston boys team in 1998 and went on to coach the girls for one year for the 2005-06 season, has joined the Braves staff as Staple's assistant coach. Johnson also has ties with the Bravettes basketball team winning two state championships with the Bravettes as their head coach in 1982 and 1984. He guided the girls team to an 88-2 record from 1981-84.
"He's been a blessing to me to just kind of guide me and help me along the way," said Staple.
The Braves are confident they have the pieces to make yet another run at a Class 1 state championship.
Preseason polls do to. They have the Braves ranked second in the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association/MOsports.com preseason poll.
It's something Staple, and Banks, looks forward to.
"He's like a ticking time bomb waiting to get that release," said Staple. "I think he's going to do some special things this year."