Move to Class 4A results in history for Mickey Leland
All-boys college prep in playoffs for first time after years of 6A play
Houston ISD’s Fifth Ward-based, all-boys college preparatory made the most of a puncher’s chance.
Mickey Leland, competing against Wharton at 3 p.m. Saturday at Delmar Fieldhouse in the Class 4A Region III boys basketball bi-district round, is in the playoffs for the first time.
The team spent its first three years as a punching bag in HISD’s Class 6A district, routinely one of the toughest in Houston. The Knights won a combined five games as 6A competitors. This year, they’re 12-9 overall and 10-7 in their first year in all-HISD District 23-4A.
“The best part of my job has been watching my seniors,” said fourth-year Leland coach Byron Shelton.
“Those guys were with me as freshmen who’ve been playing 6A basketball and competing and playing hard and being in games but really only actually winning a few of the games a year. HISD 4A is still a tough league, and we have those growing pains, but just being in every game has been life-changing for the kids.”
The playing field never was even in 6A. Leland holds approximately 500 students between sixth and 12th grade with half the enrollment in high school. The school features a curriculum entirely made of advanced placement classes. It is the only all-boys school in HISD, the state’s largest school district.
Leland, which opened in August 2011, has long sponsored middle school athletics but is still in its infancy in the high school realm. This season is its first competing in soccer, for example.
And there is a major difference in weekly contests against 18-6A’s Bellaire (with a student en
rollment of 3,458) and league games against Kashmere or Furr in 4A.
Leland was forced to compete in 6A for its first three years because of the UIL’s concept that a magnet school — where anyone can apply and be admitted — could have a competitive advantage. Strake Jesuit is in a similar spot as a private school competing in the UIL’s 6A class.
It’s not apples to apples, though. Leland is in HISD, which features open enrollment at its other campuses. Shelton noted when Leland only featured middle school athletics, the school’s basketball program would lose talented players to other HISD schools that offered high school basketball.
Leland lobbied with the UIL to get moved to 4A, and the UIL obliged during district realignment last February.
As Shelton mentioned, it’s not like Leland chose an easier route. The Knights’ 4A district opponents still have larger enrollments. HISD’s 4A district still features state power Yates and other solid programs, too.
Leland needed a play-in to get into the playoffs this year. It was tied for 23-4A’s fourth and final spot with Furr, which had won the two regular-season games. Leland won the play-in by one point to advance to the postseason.
Class 4A gave Leland a chance. Now three seniors in Nick McFarlane, Jaedon Baxter and Shane Bennett can experience the postseason before graduating. Junior point guard Morgan Hayes has been essential for the Knights as well.
“Pressure-wise, my guys, we’ve already won,” Shelton said. “That Furr game was the game with all the pressure. Now, my guys are floating. They’re playing with house money now, and they know it. Everybody is light and easy and ready to play.”
Other underdogs
Katy Taylor, winner of its first district championship in 26 years, meets Bush at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Merrell Center. … Goose Creek Memorial, facing Nederland at 7 p.m. Monday at East Chambers High School, achieved its first state ranking (No. 24), has its highest district finish (second) and most district wins (14) in school history. … Boosted by a district win over Atascocita, C.E. King meets Pasadena at 6 p.m. Monday at La Porte High School. Pasadena has not won a playoff game since 1992.
The favorites
Yates, having a quieter season compared to its string off 100-point performances in 2019-20, is still Houston’s favorite in 4A at 21-1. … Led by Bryce Griggs and Tyrone Baker, Hightower (16-2) looks to get back to the 5A state tournament. … Ramon Walker, who has committed to the University of Houston, leads Houston’s topranked 6A team in Shadow Creek (No. 6 in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Rankings).