Stewart, alpha male at Prince Tech, becomes top attraction
There are two pieces of advice for teams and players tasked with slowing down Prince Tech junior Kazell Stewart.
Don’t jump, and most importantly, good luck.
Don’t jump, because Stewart, a 6-foot-4 swing man for the Falcons (8-1), has freakish athleticism which he can — and will — use to fly into the lane, elevate for a dunk and embarrass opponents if they try and stop him.
Good luck, because Stewart can do it all. He can lead his team in scoring, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks on any given night. He averages 25.3 points per game, 15.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 4.6 steals and 2.9 blocks. That includes a 42-point, 21-rebound game against Bloomfield. A 33-point, 20rebound, 10-assist game against South Windsor. He recorded 14 total steals in back-to-back games against Cheney Tech and Vinal Tech. He scored 17 points in 14 minutes against the latter, before hitting the bench for the rest of the game.
Nine games into the season, and no one has proven to be able to slow down the multitooled offensive and defensive weapon that Stewart is on the court. His coach, Kendall May, has seen talent at Prince Tech: Delshawn Jackson Jr. led the state in scoring last year. His father, Delshawn Sr., averaged 32.5 points in 1998. He knows what greatness looks like, and that’s why he’s constantly driving Stewart to be better. The 42-point, 21-rebound performance is great. But Stewart didn’t make a single three, and missed five free throws.
“All of those things, as a coach, are the things I get on him about,” May said. “Every time he goes to the free throw line in practice, the whole team claps and screams ... ”
Stewart finished May’s sentence. “Overrated,” he said.
May treats Stewart differently than his teammates. It’s not new, either. May has always held his stars to a higher standard than the rest. He did the same with both Jacksons, Phil Starks, who went on to play at Western Connecticut, and Antonie Holder, who went on the play at Elms.
Now it’s Stewart’s turn to be the alpha dog, as May phrased it, and feel the pressure of his coach and teammates. Stewart knows he’s been meant for this role ever since he got to Prince Tech as a freshman, and with Jackson Jr. now playing for Jim Calhoun at St. Joe’s, the floor belongs to him.
“With him being the alpha male, there comes a scoring responsibility,” May said. “When you become an alpha male on the team, it means you have to be dominant in all positions. At this point in time, scoring and rebounding is Kazell’s responsibility. If he doesn’t lead us in both of those categories every night ... ”
Stewart jumped in, again. “I didn’t do my job,” he said.
It would be impossible to discount the job Stewart has done this far. He has been let loose by May, and has done so without a position. He’s being molded into a combo guard, in hopes of playing basketball at the Division I level after high school. Against smaller schools in the CTC, Stewart can thrive as a center, but has the speed and “freak athleticism” as he called it, to blow past defenders on the wing.
“I feel that naturally, at any point or time in the game, whenever I need to, I just can take over at any spot,” Stewart said.
Classical undefeated and on the rise
There are just three undefeated teams left in the Greater Hartford area: Division I powerhouse East Catholic, defending state champion Cromwell, and the Gladiators of Classical Magnet, who look like the team to beat in the NCCC at 8-0.
On last year’s Classical team which made the Division IV tournament, seven seniors saw playing time. Senior Robert Simmons, who has been the Gladiators’ standout player thus far, was the only one on this year’s team who saw the court much last year.
“When you think of the state tournament last year and the conference tournament, Robby is the only returner who saw the court,” coach Reggie Tucker said. “We had seven other seniors on that team. Due to graduations and guys transferring, these guys have waited their turn, these guys are carpe diem - they’re seizing the moment.”
Games to watch
East Hartford at Manchester, Friday, 6:45 p.m: A pair of ranked teams in The Courant’s area poll go head to head, as JJ Jernigan and the Hornets (6-3) travel down the road to Manchester to face the Indians (8-1), who are led by the balanced attack of Dashon King and Logan Tomlinson.
Newington at East Catholic, Monday, 6:45 p.m: Newington has started the season strong at 7-3, and will look to be the first team to beat No. 1/2 East Catholic (7-0), led by Joey Reilly, Matt Knowing and Jaylin Hunter.
Platt at Windsor, Thursday, 6:45 p.m: One of the early surprises thus far, Platt (8-2) will face No. 2/3 Windsor (7-1) with the chance to pick up a crucial CCC win.