Sabres’ Randle ready for shift to QB
Star kick returner takes on new position
Trent Randle, whether he is playing football or basketball for Schalmont, has always been one of the smallest competitors around. He has heard from opposing teams that he would not be able to get the job done, yet Randle has always proven otherwise.
The starting point guard on the Sabres basketball team that captured the 2020 Section II Class B championship, Randle has also been a fixture on the gridiron and is about to embark on this fourth and final season for coach Joe Whipple. He will also be playing a new position as the team’s starting quarterback.
Last month, Randle signed his national letter of intent to play football for coach John Evans at Division II Mansfield
University. It was a special moment for Randle and Whipple, seeing the 5-foot-9, 145pound star achieve his dream of playing a sport in college.
“I am very happy for him,” Schalmont boys’ basketball coach Greg Loiacono said. “He was torn between the two. He got an opportunity to play at the next level.”
“I have been undersized my whole life, which is kind of weird because my brother (LJ)
is 6-4,” Randle said. “Me being the underdog and his younger brother — the smaller brother — is something I have always taken personal in some type of way. People can look down on me as much as they want, but I am working as hard or harder than them to reach my goals.”
“I am so proud of him,” Whipple said. “I have been coaching Trent since he was in the third grade. Just watching him grow up and progress to the leader he is on the basketball court and the football field, he has always played with a chip on his shoulder. He has proved you don’t need to be 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds to play in college. He has really worked hard to put himself in that position to play in college. His parents have done a tremendous job with him and we are blessed to have him at Schalmont.
“He is really going to pave the way for guys that typically thought they did not have the size to play football.”
Randle has been a standout at both receiver and running back. As a junior, he earned Times Union Small School firstteam honors as a kick returner. Randle returned three kicks for touchdowns, including an 82yard kickoff return for a score in a 14-6 Section II Class B semifinal loss against Schuylerville.
As he has previously with such running back stars as Vince Gallo, Nick Gallo and Jake Sanford, Whipple decided to shift
Randle to play quarterback in the Sabres’ spread attack.
“I am very excited,” Randle said. “It is definitely nerve-racking some people would say, but I am ready for the job. I have worked very hard during the offseason and I think it is going to pay off.”
“He has done a great job. The amount of film he has watched is amazing,” Whipple said.
The coronavirus pandemic altered the 2020 fall season and shifted it to be contested during Fall Season II. During the times when they could not be together, Whipple utilized technology to help mentor Randle as he learned his new position.
“Coach knows this along with the other people that have coached me that I am a really big film-head, so even last year as a receiver and running back I knew all of the plays like the back of my hand,” Randle said. “I have been looking forward to this a lot. I definitely missed football season in the fall.”
“We would go through things each night on what he has to do and he would come back the next day and it is already fixed,” Whipple said.
Unlike sports contested during the fall and winter, Fall Season II will conduct sectional playoffs.
“The basketball season was condensed and we weren’t really playing for anything,” Randle said. “Having a chance to play for a sectional chip has us locked in and ready to win it.”
“He just loves playing the game and his infectious attitude and all the enthusiasm he has carries on throughout the team,”
Whipple said. “He is just a great leader.”
Randle is ready to produce some special things in his final scholastic season. He wants to bring the Sabres back to the top of the heap in Class B, especially to honor his football coach.
“Coach Whipple is a game-changer in my opinion,” Randle said. “He has helped me mentally and physically. He is very team-oriented and Schalmont is really a family. I can run into people from the 2014 team or 2013 team that both went to the (Carrier) Dome and they are still raving about coach Whipple and what he did in their lives. He is a special person and his impact is great.”
James Harden had 40 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds for his 11th triple-double of the season, leading the Brooklyn Nets to a 124-115 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.
The Nets were without fellow All-stars Kyrie Irving (groin) and Kevin Durant (hamstring) and newcomer Blake Griffin (knee).
Harden was 13 of 27 from the field and 12 of 14 at the line. When he wasn’t shooting, he set up open teammates driving to the basket, often for dunks and layups.
Harden hit a runner in the lane to tie it at 96 early in the fourth. That started a 13-4 run that included Harden’s 3-pointer and another layup that pushed it to 109-100.
Kings 121, Wizards 119: De’aaron Fox scored 28 points and hit a jumper over Bradley