Dewar Expanding His Role At Calabasas High

Based on Callum Dewar's rapid improvement on the summer basketball circuit, it appears the senior guard could end up playing a much larger role next season for Calabasas High, which is reinventing itself without standout Jordan Coleman and three other starters from a Marmonte League champion team.

"Callum is one of the more experienced players we have here, and if we're going to win games, he's must do a lot for us,'' Calabasas coach Jon Palarz said. "His game has gotten better this summer, and honestly, we like what see.''

Dewar is not likely to duplicate the production lost with Coleman on his way to play at the University of Hawaii. But he has had a solid summer, making it onto the all-tournament team at the War on the Floor two weeks ago and averaging 15 points per game last week at the Simi Valley tournament.

 "Dewar is a heady little player, I was impressed with the way he played,'' Simi Valley coach Ryan Moore said. "He does a lot for Calabasas, and without Coleman in the mix, they're going to need Dewar to keep it up.''

The 6-foot-1 Dewar, who can play both guard positions, has been a consistent contributor the past two seasons. He worked his way into the starting lineup toward the end of his sophomore year and as a junior averaged 5.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 28 minutes  as the Coyotes made an unexpected run to the CIF-Southern Section Division I quarterfinals.

"I feel like I learned a lot, especially from Jordan,'' Dewar said."I think I'm finally ready to show what I can do out there on the court.''

Dewar must continue to improve and take on more of the scoring load, as will the returning players Lenard Gorokhov Nick Justman and Daniel Regan. Whether they do or not remains to be seen, although Dewar appears to be most ready to do so.

He'll have the opportunity when the Coyotes return to practice on Sept. 1.

"Callum's numbers might not have been off the charts in the past, but there's no reason to think that he's not capable of doubling his statistics as a senior,'' Palarz said. "Let's put it this way, he's going to have the chance to do big things. ...

"It's next to impossible to replace all of the guys we lost, but with Callum around and prepared to hopefully lead us, we're not in terrible shape. If he plays up to his potential, we think he can emerge as a reliable presence. We need him to step up for us and would be surprised if he didn't do it.''