Senior C.J. Washington hopes helping Tompkins make the state tournament will draw more interest from colleges.
Tompkins senior remains unsigned but draws more attention with play in past two games
Tuesday’s practice turns into a diligent session of drills mixed with a small dose of lightheartedness at Tompkins’ gym.
Even then, the Falcons have people stopping by to offer congratulations and wish them good luck.
Coach Bobby Sanders said 500 T-shirts commemorating the team’s playoff run were sold in a day.
Call it Tompkins Fever in south Katy. It’s warranted for the first Katy ISD boys basketball team to earn a state tournament berth and the lone Houston-area representative in San Antonio this weekend.
Seniors like C.J. Washington will soak it in, realizing immortality is two wins away and everything is in place for a memorable ending.
Nearly everything, at least. Washington hopes an abundance of college offers are also two wins away at most.
“I’m waiting on that,” Washington said. “I’m trying to get that, too.” Common story
Washington is an ongoing story, especially in the Houston area — the overlooked and unsigned senior showing out in the middle of a historic playoff run. The regular signing period in basketball, however, is still one month away.
Washington’s last two games have at least turned more heads. He scored 23 points in the regional semifinal win over Deer Park and added 20 against Alief Taylor in the Region III-6A title game — both teamhighs. If Jamal Bieniemy (Oklahoma signee) and Kristian Sjolund (Georgia Tech) carry Tompkins, Washington’s added dimension has made the Falcons the statewide power they always believed they could be.
“We play our best when he’s the best player on the court and he’s scoring and he’s doing what he does,” Bieniemy said. “He’s one of the best players in the city for sure.”
So is Cypress Falls senior point guard Nigel Hawkins, who emerged as a key player on the 2016-2017 Class 6A state championship squad and was named the title game MVP. Hawkins kept pace for Cypress Falls this year but is still unsigned.
Tristan Ikpe is in the same category. Before the Deer ran into Tompkins, they were one of the postseason’s better stories as surprise regional semifinalists. Ikpe is a big reason why.
If Ikpe were 6-7 or 6-8, Deer Park coach Darren Chandler believes his standout 6-5 forward would’ve already signed somewhere. The intangibles are already there, but Ikpe is a classic tweener — not quite tall enough for college coaches to play at power forward and not really in the mold of a small forward. It shouldn’t outweigh what he can bring to a college program, and it hasn’t completely.
Chandler said he’s taken calls from college coaches about Ikpe after the team’s playoff run. Ikpe could’ve slipped through the cracks for a number of reasons.
Talent gets lost in a city the size of Houston. Bieniemy noted that may be one reason why Washington is overlooked. And even though Ikpe’s AAU credentials are solid, Chandler said he could’ve been used differently during summer ball than he was in high school. Chandler believes the high school system can be closer to what’s run in college, but it’s not always prioritized by recruiters.
“At the same time, I think colleges put so much emphasis on April and July,” Chandler said, referring to summer ball. “They’ve lost a little bit of touch with the high school coach about what we do from November to February – March in our case.” Size an issue
It seems Washington can find more than a few in his shoes.
He, too, is somewhat of a tweener. Sanders said college coaches consider the 6-4 Washington’s size to be awkward for a wing and his position is somewhat ambiguous. He could also be a point guard. It’s what makes Washington a tough cover for posts and guards alike.
Sanders said the ambiguity with Washington and where he can play on the court should be seen as versatility — an advantage and not a hindrance. Still, Sanders said Division I and junior college coaches have inquired about him.
Much like Ikpe’s run, Washington hopes Tompkins raising a first-place trophy in San Antonio will be too hard to ignore then.
“That helps, and Jamal keeps me motivated, too, saying if we make it all the way, that’s what’s going to get me there,” Washington said of encouragement from his teammate. “That’s what keeps me motivated.”