Next big things: Middle-schoolers making a difference on Midlands high school teams
Cam Scott may be an eighth-grader, but he doesn’t play like one. Just ask Ben Lee, River Bluff High School’s boys basketball coach.
Lee got a chance to see him up close Jan. 28 when the 6-4, 157-pound guard scored a game-high 20 points in Lexington High’s 51-27 win over River Bluff on Jan. 28.
“Cam has the savvy of a veteran varsity player,” Lee said. “He plays without forcing the issue and lets the game unfold. It’s really impressive to see. He is very skilled and can do a lot of different things on the floor. You would never guess that he is an eighth-grader.”
Scott, who moved from New Jersey to South Carolina when he was a toddler, isn’t the only middle-schooler making a big splash on the Midlands basketball scene this year. On the girls’ side, River Bluff’s Samira Khalil and Camden’s Joyce Edwards are playing roles in their team’s success despite just being in eighth grade.
Scott, who goes to Pleasant Hill Middle School, takes a bus to Lexington High each day after school. One of his goals this year was to make the varsity squad and he has been welcomed with open arms by his teammates and coaches.
Scott doesn’t look like a typical eighth-grader but there are sometimes signs that show his age. After a game against White Knoll last month, Scott emerged from the locker room sporting a SpongeBob back-pack.
On the court, he has veteran demeanor about him to go along with the shooting and ball handling skills. Scott had 29 points in a game earlier this season and was MVP of the Modie Risher Classic in Charleston after scoring 22 points in the title game against Burke on Dec. 30.
“He is a mature kid. … extremely gifted but very cognizant of what he needs to work on,” first-year Lexington coach Elliott Pope said of Scott. “He has the length and athleticism. He’s got the scoring ability and we are going to hone that. He is one of those guys when you first look at him, a weight room and lot of hard work and that is a potential McDonald’s All-American coming down the pike in a couple of years.”
Khalil is averaging 13.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists and has been a part of River Bluff’s big turnaround this season. The Gators are 14-8 and tied with Lexington for the lead in Region 5-5A after going 0-21 last year. But the addition of Khalil and White Knoll transfer JP Wilson have changed the team’s fortunes.
“I heard about Samira as soon as I got this job three years ago,” River Bluff coach Jewell McKinney said. “People were telling me about this young girl who was coming. Then finally getting to watch her last year — you could see she was ahead of many girls at the middle school level. It was clear to many people she was ready to come up this year.
“I got to see clips of her this summer from AAU. She was making plays well above the middle school level. Watching her make those plays against that competition, it was clear she was ready.”
The 6-foot-2 Edwards is in her second year of varsity for the Camden Bulldogs and is averaging 20.5 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.9 blocks a game this season. Her numbers are up from a year ago when she averaged 13.6 points and 4.3 rebounds a game.
Edwards is getting interest from several Division I schools. She picked up an offer from top-ranked South Carolina in the summer and she has been to three USC games this season. Gamecocks assistant Jolette Law and Clemson coaches were there to see Edwards play against Keenan last month in the matchup against the Raiders’ Milaysia Fulwiley.
“I was a little nervous last year (playing against varsity) but now it isn’t that bad,” Edwards said. “I just got to stay working, stay humble and not let it get to my head.”
Camden coach Natalie Norris began hearing about Edwards’ talents since she began playing rec league in Camden and said it was a “no-brainer” to pull her up to the varsity squad last season.
“She is head and shoulders above most of the kids. This is the right place for her and certainly made a difference for our basketball team,” said Norris, who played at South Carolina from 1992-96.
Edwards’ game is versatile. She can play inside and also out on the perimeter handing the ball. Norris raves about Edwards’ love of the game and work ethic. She said the eighth-grader is in the first one in the gym and last one to leave.
Norris remembers driving through town and seeing two people outside in the rain playing basketball. It was Edwards and her father working on her free throws.
“That epitomizes who she is and I think the sky’s the limit for her,” Norris said. “Before all is said and done I think she will have an offer for almost everyone in the country.”
Edwards is one of four middle-schoolers who see playing time on Camden’s roster with eighth-grader Zyasia Carter also in the Bulldogs’ starting lineup.
Middle school athletes playing on the varsity level is becoming more common, especially with the amount of travel sports kids play in the offseason. According to South Carolina High School League rules, middle school athletes can play with high school teams in all sports but football, wrestling, lacrosse and soccer.
It isn’t as common in boys’ basketball — especially at a big 5A school like Lexington — but it has been done recently. Irmo point guard Dylan Williams started two years ago as an eighth-grader; and Josiah James played in eighth grade at Porter-Gaud in Charleston. James is now a freshman at Tennessee. Former Lexington coach Bailey Harris doesn’t remember playing any middle school players on varsity in his 32 years as coach before retiring last season.
But Harris knew there was something special in Scott and tried unsuccessfully to get him moved up to the Wildcats’ junior varsity squad last year. So when Pope took over as Lexington’s coach last spring, Harris told him that one of his priorities should be to make sure Scott was on the varsity roster.
“He’s been every bit as good as advertised,” said Harris, who is the new director of basketball at Ben Lippen but still attends some Lexington games.
The word is already out about Scott and his ability. Pope said he has fielded calls and interest from some colleges.
Teams also game-plan against Scott. Against White Knoll earlier this month, the Timberwolves used their defense to try and slow down Scott. White Knoll held Scott to just four points, but he was able to help out in other ways in the Wildcats’ 43-42 win Jan. 14.
In the rematch on Jan. 31, Scott came back with 18 points in the 52-41 loss.
“I take it as a compliment and as a challenge,” Scott said of teams game-planning against him. “I know I will have to handle adversity if I want to make it to bigger stages. This is just the beginning.”
