For much of Jerry Hunter’s tenure as head boys basketball coach at Westside, the old adage that says, ‘The more things change, the more the stay the same’ applies.
For the third straight preseason, Hunter’s Westside Patriots have a big state championship target on their backs. For the third straight preseason, Hunter has watched the lion’s share of his talent and scoring punch walk out the door, mostly thanks to graduation.
And for the third straight preseason, Hunter’s confidence remains unshaken because of the kind of program he’s built.
“The ingredients are different, but the recipe is the same,” Hunter said. “We’ve got some things that we still need to work with as far as toughness goes, but the recipe for our program and our success is still the same.”
Changing of the guards
This time last year, the narrative was how much the Patriots were losing. But then-senior point guard Demarco Middleton joined forces with Thomson transfer Lavonta Ivery to formulate one of the most dangerous backcourts in Georgia, regardless of the classification.
Surrounding them were guys like Jarious Adkinson — the high-flying junior who averaged 10.3 points and at least one or two highlight reel dunks per game.
But there were also guys like seniors Bobby Blackwell and Xavier Goss who weren’t prolific scorers, but players who knew well their roles. Don’t forgret Aldrion Jones, Keori Atwell, Javan Webb and Dontrell Jackson — guys who could’ve probably started for many other Class AA programs, but came off the bench to provide impactful depth for a repeat state champion.
Middleton, Ivery and most of the rest of the 2024 senior class are in college now. Javan Webb has transferred to Gray Collegiate Academy. But Jones, Atwell and especially Jackson are ready to take that next step as the pace-setters of a state champion pedigree program.
“It feels pretty good to get back out here with a new team, becoming the leader of the team, and to watch how everybody’s developing into their roles and getting ready for a new season,” said Jackson Monday during Westside’s first official practice of the season.
The 6-foot-2 point guard came of age late in his sophomore year, particularly during the state tournament run, proving that he had the chops to be a suitable heir apparent for the graduated Middleton as Westside’s floor general.
He had an active offseason where he competed in the Nike EYBL Peach Jam in North Augusta and led Westside to a 3-1 Atlanta summer session record — his first real action as Westside’s presumed starting point guard.
Aside from the work he did with his body to become stronger and more durable for the rigors of a full season as a starter, Jackson took great pangs to improve his perimeter game.
“Definitely, my jump shot is the most improved part of my game now,” Jackson said. “Last year, I was more or less attacking the rim all the time, so everybody knew how to defend me. But this year, I’ve been working on becoming a better shooter and forcing the defense to have to come up.”
You can thank coach Hunter for that. Jackson said the 5 a.m. workouts before school, Saturday practices and hours spent on the shooting machine helped him make those gains.
Maturity across the board
Hunter knows Jackson will be the trigger man for much of Westside’s success. But he’s pleased to see how other players have worked hard to elevate from role player to key player.
“Carston Bryant, Keori Atwell, Jamarcus Crawford’s going to be a good one,” Hunter said. “Aldrion Jones, and we’ve got Kenaz Henley coming back. He’s going to be tough. I think a lot of these are going to prove to be real tough.”
Henley, in particular, is an interesting story because he was a freshman on Westside’s first state title team back in 2022. He transferred to Cross Creek, then sat out a year and decided to come back to Westside.
“I think he’s going to be effective,” Hunter elaborated. “I think these guys have bought into their roles, understanding how their position works. Sometimes kids don’t care how it works. They just care that it works. But we’re trying to instill and build in them the will to understand how it works.”
Where’s Webb and Washington?
Speaking of transfers, Westside, despite its success, was not exempt from being bitten by the transfer bug.
As aforementioned, Webb, a 6-foot-6 inside presence for last year’s Patriots team, opted to transfer to Gray Collegiate in West Columbia, S.C. He averaged 8.1 points, 6 rebounds and a blocked shot per game last year, and was particularly impactful on defense when Westside went up against teams with substantial size.
Hunter says he’s learned to take a positive approach with the increase in frequency of athletes transferring to other schools.
“Transferring has become a common thing now,” Hunter said. “Kids have options now. They feel if they want to go get better, they can find different places to go. And I just always tell them, wherever you go, go represent the [Westside] brand. We were apart of your growth, so wherever you go, we want you to just as well there as you did here. We treat it like a kid going to college.”
The coach says his team will feel the void of Webb’s absence, but also believes both Webb and players like Aldrion Jones whom Hunter sees as someone to pick up that slack, will be successful this season..
“Webb helped us out a lot in his role. We’re so talented in certain areas, man, and I don’t know if he wanted more or didn’t have enough. It’s a small line between the two, but where ever Javan is, they’re gonna get a great kid who comes from a good family, and I think he’s gonna do well. As for Aldrion, I think AJ’s maturity is going to help him do well. He’s coming around. He’s a great kid with a great heart but struggles with his mistakes. So he’s a little hard on himself, but, man, he’s working.”
Another absence that Hunter will feel is from someone who never got the chance to suit up in Westside red, white and blue for a regular season game, though made his presence felt during the offseason and summer.
That player is 6-foot-5 point guard Rashund Washington. Washington came over to Augusta from East Laurens where he averaged 19.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game as a junior. Similar to Lavonta Ivery’s transfer path last season, Washington originally planned to head to Augusta Christian, but when that didn’t work out for him, Hunter and Westside received him with open arms.
But what Hunter called a “family matter” forced Washington to have to return to East Dublin.
“When it comes to the paperwork, everything was good to go,” Hunter said. “He was here on board, his father moved into our zone, it was legit and ready to go, but a situation happened with his father and family, so he had to go back home.”
Hunter was amazed at how Washington’s brief presence impacted the team.
“Just to see him learn so much of the fundamentals of the game while he was here was encouraging,” Hunter said. “Just to see him learn so much of the fundamentals while he was here, we were big on trying to develop his footwork, and he helped make us better while he was here. Westside, I knew, wasn’t his biggest destination. We were preparing him to go to the University of Illinois-Chicago where he’d gotten accepted, so this was just a stop for him, but we were glad to be a small part of his growth.”
Jarious Adkinson’s status
One big name that’s not going anywhere for Westside is 6-foot-2 senior guard Jarious Adkinson. Still, he won’t be immediately available for Westside when the Patriots open the season against Lakeside on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
Adkinson is still recovering from an ACL tear, and Hunter says it could be December before he sees the floor again.
“He’s recovering at a steady pace,” Hunter said. “So, naturally he wants to come back a little bit faster. But we’ve definitely got him on the clock. We’ve been watching him get up and down the court, practicing at times with us. He looks like he’s about 65 to 70%. But there’s a difference between being released to play and being unleashed. The release date will take care of itself, but even after being released, he has to get back to being ‘J2.’ But we’re going to be patient.”
Class AAA debut
As far as season goals, don’t look for a ton of four-peat rah-rah from Hunter. He’s saying the same thing he’s been saying the last three seasons.
“We just want to get a seed in the state playoffs,” Hunter said. “Just get in there. We’re a program now that understands it doesn’t matter what seed you get. We just wanted a seed. Before anything can grow, we need a seed to be planted. Last year, we got the No. 1 seed, we gladly accepted it and we planted it and it represented well.
“We always say we’ve gotta win five games in a row to win state, and that’s what we’ve bought into. And right now, these last three years, we’re 15-0.”
The journey to a fourth straight title may prove to be tougher than the other three, as Westside has moved up a notch to Class AAA.
According to Kyle Sandy’s preseason rankings, Westside checks in at No. 2 while Cross Creek is ranked No. 4. Cedar Grove tops the preseason Class AAA top 10, but perennial state power Sandy Creek is there at No. 5 and 2023-24 state runner-up Johnson-Savannah is 10th.
Circle Dec. 17 and Jan. 24 as the dates when Westside and Cross Creek meet up in a pair of Region 4-AAA clashes. But this newly constructed Region 4-AAA also features Richmond Academy, a state tournament team last season, and an energized Harlem Bulldogs squad with the return of coach Jeff Williams to the area.
Hunter says he’s expecting a definite uptick in intensity, but also says it shouldn’t be anything completely foreign to his guys.
“I think the physicality is gonna be a little different,” Hunter said. “Of course, all the teams are well coached. I think we’ll see a few more teams that match our aggression like the Thomsons and Butlers of the world in Class AA. We’ve always played up, but I tell our guys, it’s still high school basketball. We’re gonna respect 3A because we’re the new kids on the block. But it’s not where you’re from, it’s what you’re made of, so now, it’s up to us to see what we’re made of.”
