Prep Profile St. Andrews

New England Recruiting Report | Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

The 2009-2010 St. Andrew's varsity basketball season is set to get underway this Sunday with a game against Blair Academy at the National Prep Showcase. It should be an exciting season as the Saints look to rebound from a disappointing 11-19 record last year while getting back into the hunt for the Class B crown, which they most recently captured in 2007. The schedule hasn’t changed much so the Saints will need to build team chemistry while learning how to play the aggressive St. Andrew’s style of pressing, trapping, running, and scoring.

The class of 2010 is led by six-foot-seven co-captain center Youri Dascy who has a chance to reach the 1000 point plateau this year in only his third season at St. Andrew’s thanks to his well developed low post game.

While the rest of the senior class may lack star power, they give head coach Mike Hart a solid core of complimentary players who will need to provide leadership for their team to be successful. Six-foot-four forward Eric Sherman is coming off an impressive summer and will help on the boards with his athleticism while Matt Newell will help space the floor with his shooting range while also making solid contributions defensively. David Curtis and Anthony Harden are two tough and hard-nosed kids who are also expected to contribute.

The class of 2011 is very exciting and will be looked upon to produce in a number of different areas. Point guard Myles Brilhante is one of the team’s co-captains and will run the show and trusted to distribute the ball to the team’s many scorers. Tops among those scorers is Syracuse bound combo-guard Michael Carter-Williams, who is as versatile as he is smooth, and gradually becoming more of a true point guard. Six-foot-five forward Michael LaPlante can also put the ball in the basket in a multitude of ways and is also the team’s high flyer.

Aboubacar Casse is a six-foot-five swingman who arrives in Barrington by way of Senegal and is already earning rave reviews with his defensive ability and knock-down jump shot.

The 2012 group may be small but should give the team a significant boost this year. Tom Garrick has improved greatly in the last twelve months and could crack the rotation with his defensive intensity. Highly touted swingman Ricardo Ledo will also be expected to put points on the board. Together, the two of them should provide added depth and solid support to the upperclassmen.

Coach Hart enters his 16th season wearing red and white and carries a 282-150 all time record. He will once again be ably assisted by John O’Shea who enters his 12th season at St. Andrew’s.

The Saints will play their typically competitive schedule, with a full slate of Class B games and entries into many prestigious tournaments beginning with this weekend’s National Prep Showcase, the Hoop Mountain Prep Classic, National Prep School Invitational, BABC Prep Classic, and the Hampton Inn & Suites Invitational at Findlay Prep in Nevada.

Ultimately, St. Andrew’s appears to have all the pieces in place to resume their place among the best in Class B but only time will tell if they’re able to put all of those pieces together.

“There’s talent but chemistry will determine how far we go,” says Coach Hart.