Cyclones’ May steps in, steps up
Kyle Pennington wasn’t hired at Russellville until the summer of 2018, but that was more than enough time for him to understand what he had in guard Donyae May.
Yet, the third-year coach felt he needed to pull something extra out of his 6-0 junior this season, so he did what many other high school coaches would do they saw extended potential in one of their players — he challenged him.
“Last year as a sophomore, he came in and played a role for us,” Pennington said of May. “I sat him down and told him that we didn’t really need him to score as much, just really needed him to be a point guard and facilitate to all these guys. But at the end of that season, he started really scoring for us, and I always knew he could do that.
“This year, I really challenged him to keep making plays for others but also to put the basketball in the hole more. There have been times in games where I literally have to say, ‘Donyae, we need you to score the ball.’ He’ll look at me and just kind of smiles.”
Smiling is the last thing on the minds of Cyclone opponents when May turns it on offensively for Russellville, which clinched a third-consecutive 5A-West conference championship with a 65-57 victory over Alma on Friday night.
“I just want to go out there and do anything I can to help my team get wins,” said May, whose 16 points against the Airedales helped the Cyclones (17-6, 11-1) win for the 13th time in their last 15 games. “I want to go out and make sure I get my teammates in the right position to score the basketball. And then we they need me to pick it up the scoring, I’m going to do that. Just whatever I need to do, I’m willing to do it.”
There hasn’t been much that May hasn’t done for Russellville as it heads into the final stretch of the regular season. He’s averaging 18 points, 6 rebounds 4 assists and 2 steals and beginning to draw recruiting interest from Division I schools.
Pennington sensed that May would be in for big year based on the make-up of his team. Russellville lost current Tennessee Tech freshman Taelon Peter to graduation but did have a two-time all-stater in Trey Allen returning. With a standout like Allen, who averaged more than 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists last season, Pennington figured teams would be prone to shift their attention toward him.
That’s when players such as May could take advantage.
“You could see at the end of last season that he started to score more when teams did that,” Pennington said, referring to opponents honing in on Peter and Allen. “Everybody keys on Trey, and rightfully so. He’s on his way to being a three-time, all-state player. But with the guys we had returning, we knew Donyae would have more opportunities to score.
“He’s had some big games, as has some of our others like Savion Brock and Grayson Sims. It’s definitely made us a better team overall.”
If there are teams out there that still had doubts about May’s ability or importance to the Cyclones, he’s put those to rest during conference play where he’s increased his scoring average by four points while maintaining his rebound and assist numbers. He admits that there isn’t anything in particular that gets him going or forces him to do things out of the ordinary over the course of a game.
Instead, he insists he does the same exact thing he implores his teammates to do before the Cyclones step onto a court.
“I just tell those guys to go out there and have fun,” he explained. “Just play your game because it’s nothing new. If you know you can do it, just make it happen. It’s hard at times, though, because with so much going on, you don’t really know when your last game will be.
“So I want everyone to go out and play that game like it’s your last. And to be honest, we haven’t even played our best basketball yet. We had a few games where things just didn’t go our way.”
Among the handful of games that haven’t swayed in Russellville’s favor included a memorable Jan. 26 date at Vilonia.
“It was the perfect storm,” May said about his team’s 7872 loss to the Eagles on Jan. 26. “We were up by like 18 in the third quarter, and things just kind of fell a part. We had guys foul out, and [Vilonia] got going. They started making everything.”
The rematch, however, went differently seven days later when May notched a career-high 37 points in a 64-54 Russellville victory.
Performances like those are what Pennington has gotten use to seeing out of his Cy- clones during his tenure. He’s also growing accustomed to watching May put together big scoring nights on the regular.
“I think everybody really knows what Donyae can do now,” he said. “I think he’s definitely took people by surprise early, but I don’t think it’s a secret anymore.”