Dunn Sets the Mark
New London High School’s Providence bound guard Kris Dunn continued to make headlines this weekend.
Going into Friday night’s game at Norwich Free Academy, Dunn needed 31 points to eclipse Tyson Wheeler’s mark as New London’s all-time leading scorer.
Even that lofty number turned out to be well within the six-foot-three guard’s reach. Dunn tied the mark with a free-throw at the end of the third quarter and then had a breakaway attempt early in the fourth. While most young players would have looked to emphatically punctuate their new record with a dunk, Dunn showed his typical class and grace, laying the ball in to break the school record.
"Kris has been a classy kid for four years at New London," NFA coach Neal Curland told The Day’s Mike DiMauro. "Our league is very proud of what he's accomplished. He'll wave the flag for the ECC in the Big East.”
Wheeler, who is currently an assistant coach at Fairfield University, played for the University of Rhode Island before playing professionally in the NBA and Europe. A notable supporter of Dunn over the years, he wasn’t able to be in attendance because Fairfield had a home game on Friday night.
"From the first moment I saw Kris play at Bennie Dover (middle school), I knew he had a chance to be one of the best ever at New London,” Wheeler told DiMauro earlier in the day. “I'm very proud of him. Records are made to be broken."
As for Dunn, he could potentially now set his sights on scoring his 2000th career point, which remains a possibility before the season ends, but true to form New London’s leader only has one more thing on his mind.
“The only thing I’m thinking about is winning a state championship,” he told DiMauro.
Kris Dunn