Spears earns spot on Class A all-state team
As a freshman at Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg High School in the 2020-21 season, Xavier Spears learned a lot about basketball and how to handle himself from teammate Aaron Bailey.
Bailey’s 2020-21 senior season resulted in him being named to the second team of the Class A all-state team by the Pennsylvania Sportswriters and he went on to play at Dickinson College
Spears learned enough from Bailey and worked hard on his own game to follow in Bailey’s footsteps as an all-state selection as a sophomore.
The 6-foot-2 combo guard, who averaged 17.9 points and four rebounds per game, was named to the third team of the 2021-22 Pennsylvania Class A Sportswriters all-state squad released on Tuesday morning.
Spears scored 376 points, including 27 in a 65-64 win over eventual Colonial League champ Wilson Area on Jan. 20. He also had 25 in a 71-68 loss to District 11 5A runnerup East Stroudsburg South.
He helped the Spartans go 17-8 and reach the District 11 Class A title game for the fourth straight year.
“I’m happy and feel very blessed to receive this honor,” Spears said. “A lot will come from being all-state and I’m ready for it.”
Spears helped Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg beat Strawberry Mansion from Philadelphia 75-48 in the first round of the state tournament before a 66-56 loss to District 3 champ Linville Hill Christian ended the Spartans’ season.
“It was a good season for everybody; we fell a little short of our goal but the entire season was good,” he said. “There are a lot of areas I want to improve on. I want to play at the next level and I just need to work on a little bit of everything.”
Spears started as a freshman and said he improved from one year to the next.
“I had a lot of good mentors last year, especially Aaron Bailey,” Spears said. “He really taught me a lot in terms of getting me ready for the next level and also playing with intensity and being a leader. He helped me a lot and I think I made a big step forward because of it.”
Spears said he played both guard positions and some small forward this year. No matter the role, he delivered.
“He’s an exceptional young man on and off the coach,” said longtime Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg coach Bob Mullen. “He’s a phenomenal shooter with tremendous range. Besides scoring, he improved as a facilitator as the season progressed.”
Mullen saw the strides Spears made between his freshman and sophomore seasons and has no doubt that will continue to get better entering the final two years of his high school career.
“He works hard in the offseason to improve his overall game,” Mullen said. “He continues to improve defensively, working on his mid-range game and posting up on the block.”
Spears said the highlight of the season was the win over Wilson.
“That was a fun game because they’re a really good team,” he said. “We like to play games against teams from bigger schools, teams that will help us get better. Even if we fell short, we know those games made us better. By beating them some of them we showed that we might be Class A, but we’re a good team.”
Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg also beat Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg North, and Pleasant Valley from the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, and Catasauqua, Palisades, and Moravian Academy from the Colonial League.
Spears is the latest Spartans player to receive all-state recognition joining Bailey, Sam Brown, Ty Mann, and Jamie Bercier.
He appreciates having Mullen as his coach the last two seasons. Mullen has been connected to Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg for more than 30 seasons and returned in 2015-16 after a five-year break.
“He just lets me play,” Spears said of Mullen. “He has taught me a lot and I’m thankful for that.”
The all-state teams will be released throughout the week on a class-by-class basis. The non-PIAA all-state squad was released on Monday. Class 2A team is set for a Wednesday release with the Class 3A team to be released on Thursday, Class 4A on Friday and so on.