Boys basketball: DeKalb pushing comfort zones of standouts Davon Grant, Sean Reynolds

DeKALB – With a young core of standout players, this summer has been all about growth for the DeKalb boys basketball team.

For 6-4 sophomore Davon Grant, that means playing more on the perimeter. For shooting guard and reigning Daily Chronicle player of the year Sean Reynolds, it means working more on bringing the ball up the court.

And for everyone, it means hitting the weight room and becoming more physical.

“It’s been kind of rocky. But I feel like it’s been a very good adjustment for me, helping me expand my game so we have more diversity, and I can help out the team more on the offensive end.”

—  Davon Grant, DeKalb basketball

“Honestly, I’m very glad at where we’re at, but we’ve still got room for improvement, especially with since we’re a younger team,” Grant said. “Less seniors, more sophomores and juniors.”

Grant averaged 14 points and seven rebounds per game, shooting 60% from the field and mostly playing inside on his way to earning a second-team selection on the Chronicle’s all-area team.

This year, coach Mike Reynolds said his game has expanded during the summer season.

“Just this weekend he was bringing the ball upcourt some,” Mike Reynolds said. “He played from some of the perimeter spots, some of the guard spots. We certainly don’t want him to be doing only that. We want to just continue to evolve his game, and he’s getting bigger and stronger and faster, if that’s even possible. But he’s certainly continuing to get stronger there.”

Last season, Darrell Island was the team’s main ball handler, but he’s since graduated. Mike Reynolds said that Island handled the ball 80-90% of the time, and know a lot of that load will fall to Sean Reynolds, who finished averaging 15 points, four rebounds and three assists per game.

“He’s learning to score in different areas and add a little variety to his game,” the coach said of his son, who shot 40% from 3-point range. “I think it’s the physical strength, the stamina, the conditioning. He played almost 30 AAU games, and now he’s gonna play 20 to 30 in June and then we’ll be back on the AAU scene. So he’s played a lot of basketball, but he hasn’t given up the strength and conditioning stuff.”

Sean Reynolds, a junior guard, said the summer is the perfect time to test out these new skills.

“I think it’s a good learning experience, especially in the summer,” Sean Reynolds said. “Games don’t really matter as much, but we’re all trying to get better. For me, handling the ball handling, all the pressure, I know my name will get called for playing point guard in the season, so it’s pretty good.”

Grant said even though there’s been some growing pains, he’s been exciting to expand his game.

“It’s been kind of rocky,” Grant said. “But I feel like it’s been a very good adjustment for me, helping me expand my game so we have more diversity, and I can help out the team more on the offensive end.”

That kind of flexibility can be really important for an undersized team like the Barbs.

“Since we’re a very small team, we can’t really compete with people in size and physicality, so you have to beat them with speed, hustle, grit, aggressiveness and all that,” Grant said. “Having multiple people to do multiple things or really benefit us.”

Mike Reynolds said the Barbs have used their slate of summer games to push players past their comfort zones of last season.

He also said the team has worked hard in the gym this year. Eric Rosenow has bulked up a lot, he said, and is playing more on the perimeter. Senior Brayson Barnhart would have been a rotation player last year but tore an ACL. Juniors Marquise Bolden and Justin O’Neal have jumped up from the sophomore team and are fighting for rotation minutes as well.

But Grant and Sean Reynolds are the top two returning scorers, and the coach said he’s like what he’s seen so far.

“Sean and Davon, they played certainly a full AAU spring schedule, traveling all over, and so we’ve tried to limit them sometimes during games and some different things,” Mike Reynolds said. “But their games are developing and growing. They were our two leading scorers last year. They’re back, and they’re still only a sophomore and a junior. So there are still growing pains. But those guys certainly are leaders, and they’ve done a lot of things to continue to get better. They certainly both have bright futures.”