Hornets pushing to ‘be the best we can be’
There’s been some state-title talk around Bryant High School this fall, and not just with the football team, which has been ranked in the top five since the preseason. Hornets basketball players have been vocal about their team’s chances to make it to Hot Springs, despite no recent track record of that kind of success. “We have talked about [a state title] some,” said Hornets coach Mike Abrahamson, who is in his eighth season at Bryant. “It is not something I would like to set as a goal as a do-or-die thing because it is hard to do. Every team that wins one has to have some luck, but we definitely feel like we can play with anybody in our class. We need to be the best we can be, and the rest will take care of itself.” Junior point guard Khalen Robinson, 6-1, 170, knows what it takes to win a title. He helped Episcopal Collegiate to the Class 3A championship as a freshman before transferring last year. Robinson averaged 15 points and 3.4 assists per game last season. He is the Tri-Lakes Edition 2018 Boys Basketball Player to Watch. Robinson is attracting heavy interest from NCAA Division I schools and has scholarship offers from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma; the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg; and Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. He is trying to be the only player in the Abrahamson era to sign with a Division I program out of high school. Kevin Hunt attended prep school and junior college upon graduation from Bryant and now plays for DI McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Senior shooting guard Rodney Lambert, 6-2, 180, is the only senior who started last year. He averaged 8 points per game. “He is a good creator and plays well in transition,” Abrahamson said. “He is very explosive.” Junior Treylon Payne, 6-2, 170, who teamed up with Robinson at Episcopal two years ago, enrolled at Bryant in the fall. Payne, who scored more than 1,000 points in two seasons at Episcopal, is also a college prospect, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette recruiting writer Richard Davenport said. “He is really good,” Abrahamson said of Payne. “He is not quite a point guard, more of a pure scorer. He scores in every way possible. He has great body control and handles the ball well with a point-guard mentality. He drives and finishes well around the rim.” Sophomore guard Camren Hunter, 6-2, 155, averaged 7 points per game as a freshman last season, and Abrahamson calls him “a college player.” Junior guard Colby Washington, 6-2, 170, is making a bid for more minutes in the backcourt this season after battling injuries. “He is super athletic and solid in all areas,” Abrahamson said. Junior point guard A.J. Jenkins, 5-7, 150, adds depth, as do sophomores Kayleb West, 6-1, 160; O.J. Newburn, 5-9, 155; Aiden Adams, 6-0, 160; and freshman Khasen Robinson, 5-9, 140, the younger brother of Khalen Robinson. Junior Jonathan Hall, 6-4, 190, is the tallest Hornet and roams the paint with high energy, the coach said. He has a knack for offensive rebound putbacks. “He is a blue-collar guy who has improved a lot since last year,” Abrahamson said. Little Rock Central junior transfer Patrick Martin, 6-3, 180, will also see time in the paint and “is one of the only guys on our team who can block shots,” the coach said. “We are not very big,” Abrahamson said. “We may get a couple of football players who could improve our depth, but we are going to have to offset our lack of interior presence with speed. We are not going to be playing games in the 40s. We are going to push the tempo and play an exciting brand of basketball.”