Prep Profiles 23-24 - Brimmer & May

Owen Carlson | Tuesday, December 26th, 2023

Brimmer & May, another member of both the elite NEPSAC-AA conference and the new elite NEBL conference, has started the year on a great note with a renewed roster filled with high-level returners and some big newcomers. They have already begun signing players to continue their basketball careers at some of the highest levels of Division I. Let’s take a look at the intriguing lineup for this year, as they also take part in one of the first NEBL seasons…

“Brimmer & May rolls out a young lineup powered by its heart and soul in 2024 Texas A&M-commit Andre Mills who has led them this season. Rutgers-commit Bryce Dortch has had big moments and impacted the team positively in important games.. Sophomore Windston Legentus has picked up a lot of Division 1 interest thus far with his offensive arsenal, and his underclassmen backcourt-mate Ladanion Payne is starting to see the same. Sophomore Cole Craffey has made some big shots down the stretch with Owen Haglund stepping up as well. Tom Nelson’s Brimmer team can play with the best of them once again.” -Dylan Thayer

3 Things You Need to Know About This Year’s Team

Two 2024s have already signed to Power-5 programs:

Headlined by Texas A&M-commit Andre Mills and Rutgers-commit Bryce Dortch, this class of 2024 could go up with that of just about any other team in the NEPSAC. 

Mills and Dortch are All-NEPSAC returners, as both earned All-NEPSAC Class-AA First Team honors after last year’s performance. Only three other players in the class of 2024 earned this recognition following last season.

Mills recently dropped 36 points in a comeback victory over Brewster (Prep) at the ZG Prep Classic. Even more recently, Dortch tallied 11 points and 7 rebounds at the BasketBull HoopsFest.

DaeMon Thomas is the team’s only other 2024, and the team’s only other upperclassman, as the team actually doesn’t have any 2025s. 

The underclassmen run deep…

Headlining the class of 2026 is Windston Legentus. He has received offers from FGCU, Boston University, Stonehill, Albany, and Bryant. He had 19 points and 6 rebounds in Brimmer’s first game of the season.

It doesn’t end there, as Cole Craffey has earned numerous standout honors for his performance throughout the season, including the ZG Prep Classic, the Scholar Roundball Classic, and most recently the St. Andrew’s Holiday Classic, charting 19 points and 5 rebounds, shooting 4/7 from 3-point range. 

Other notable prospects from the class of 2026 include Owen Haglund, who tallied 7 points and a key steal in Brimmer’s first win of the season, as well as Ryan Sserunkuma, who transferred to Brimmer from Newton South, where he played a significant role last season. 

There’s even more…

Headlining the class of 2027 is LaDanion Payne. Despite being a freshman, he received his first Division I offer from Albany just a couple of weeks ago. Earlier this fall, he was named to our list of the Elite 75 underclassman after his performance at the Elite 75 Frosh/Soph Showcase. 

Payne recently tallied 5 points to go along with a rebound and an assist at two different BasketBull HoopsFest games, which reflects the amount of talent he has to get through just to see playing time, but he also shot 100% from the floor through both games. 

Other 2027s include Cam Thornton and George Demeter. Demeter was another Elite 75 Frosh/Soph attendee who impressed our scouts with his performance at the event.

But it still doesn’t end there, as they even have a prospect in the class of 2028 who is worth noting. BJ Dawan-Abdullah has impressed simply with the fact that he is able to see any playing time at all as an eighth-grader on a team with high-major commits.

3 Questions Heading into the Season

Can they continue meshing? 

With a lot of talent on the roster, especially with such dominant players in the class of 2024, it will be interesting to see how they can all play together throughout the year. Andre Mills and Bryce Dortch have carved themselves out as clear leaders… can anyone else use this season as a chance to step up to their level?

Can a lack of 2025s hinder their success? 

This is the first prep profile we have done on a team who does not have any players in the class of 2025. How does this impact the leadership roles? Will the underclassmen have to prepare themselves to fill the shoes of these high-major commits? It will be interesting to see how the dynamic is affected by this difference. 

How will they compare to last year?

Last season, the Gators finished third overall in NEPSAC Class-AA after the regular season. They faced 6th-seeded Darrow in the first round of the playoffs, winning by a margin of 6. They faced a tough 2nd-seeded Worcester squad in the semifinals, which would ultimately be their demise by a margin of 21. Can this year’s squad make it to the championship? Where will they sit on our inaugural series of Coaches’ Poll National Prep Rankings by the end of the year?

So far this season:

The Gators currently have a 3-7 record at the time of this article’s writing, and they sit at 7th in the NEBL standings. This certainly doesn’t do them justice however, as they have only gone up against elite prep teams, and only one of their losses came by a double-digit margin. 

They have already gotten some big regional wins, including over NEBL competitor Brewster (Prep) at the ZG Prep Classic, as well as on the national/international stage, as they beat Fort Erie International Academy also at the ZG Prep Classic. This group has proven that they can compete with any out there.