Changes in Store for Bishop Loughlin B-Ball

Rebuilding on the fly is a fact of life in high school sports, where last year's position of strength becomes this year's question mark.  But even by those standards, the Bishop Loughlin Lions represent an extreme case.

Last year, the storied Fort Greene program came within a hair's breadth of winning the prestigious CHSAA Class AA title, succumbing in the championship game to Christ the King in a triple overtime instant classic.  The Lions were led by a veteran core of stars, the most notable of which, power forward JayVaughn Pinkston, was New York City's only McDonald's All-American.

But those stars have scattered.

Pinkston, a dominant power forward, went to Villanova as one of the nation's most prized recruits. (Sadly, he was suspended for the season after an off-campus altercation.) Silky-smooth shooting guard Brendan Frazier is now a starter at Fordham University.  Point guard Kareem Canty, another Division I talent, transferred to a prep school in Maine.

What's remained at Claremont Avenue is a green team that returns just one player – guard Davonte Dunham – who saw significant varsity minutes last year.  Dunham is one of two seniors on a team that has three freshmen and consists mostly of inexperienced juniors.  Not surprisingly, the Lions are off to a slow 2-4 start.

Because of his team's youth and lack of star power, second-year Coach Ed Gonzalez is emphasizing a fundamental, team-first style.

"Pinkston was our go-to guy, but now we'll run a lot more sets and try to go up and down a little more.  Playing team basketball and instilling the fundamentals is very important," he said.

Dunham, a 6-2 guard with a natural scorer's mentality, will shoulder much of the scoring load this year having recently returned from a broken ankle.  He will be joined in the backcourt by a talented but raw group of guards including the freshman trio of Khadeen Carrington, Elisha Boone, and Devyn Wilson. 

The Lions are not only young, they are small.  Their biggest players are junior forward/center Travis Charles and Junior guard Joel Angus, both of whom stand around 6-foot-4.  That's small by the standards of the CHSAA Class AA, in which teams like Christ the King, Rice, and St. Raymond's routinely send multiple players to Division I programs.

Gonzalez came to Bishop Loughlin after a successful 13-year run at All Hallows in the Bronx, another CHSAA Class AA team.  He said he embraced the challenge of building a program from the ground up.

"I inherited those kids last year, but I'm an advocate of building a program.  Those that know me know that's what I do."

He acknowledged that it would take time to bring his young team up to speed, but he hopes his team comes into its own in time for the CHSAA Playoffs, which every team in the league makes.

"I look at this as all scrimmages now," he said.  "Everyone wants that instant gratification, especially after the year we had last year.  But I tell my kids, 'We're playing for the playoffs.'"