By Gavin Raath

28 February 2007

greatlakeshoops.com

Flint Northern has a lot of cracks.

I came into this season believing that they would be one of the better teams in the city and their conference, or at least better than Midland and Mount Pleasant in the SVL. However, with a record under .500, it’s clear that those projections were off the mark.

So I was wrong, it’s not the first time.

But after their narrow victory over city rival Flint Central a  couple weeks ago, I began to look closer. Where are all the players from last season?

Last year, the top player at Northern was arguably 6’1” junior Darrius Brady, however you won’t find this athletic slasher in a Viking uniform. He’s across town at Hamady dominating the GAC.

Their top post player from last season was 6’5” rebounding-extraordinaire Demarcus Polite, yet this would-be senior is nowhere to be found on the court.

With these two on the floor, there is no question in my mind that Northern would be a much better team. But Flint Northern basketball is full of would-be scenarios. Like last season, the Vikings had a very talented player in Adam Allen, twin to SWA’s 6’5” forward from last season Adrian Allen, who would have likely been an All City selection, yet he was ineligible.

Another guy that would have helped is current Flint Northwestern 6’4” senior Marcus Green, another transfer away from Northern.

So due to these missing players, Northern is forced to put younger players in the spotlight like 5’11” sophomore Da’Chawn Glover and 6’1” sophomore Cymiahn Williams. These youngsters have stepped up, but they can’t replace the benefit of experience that those other players would have offered.

Many commentators on the subject simply rest with the belief that things are cyclical and that Northern will be back to their once level of greatness with these young players.

I for one disagree. Guys like Glover and Williams are going to be very good, but would they be on the floor if those aforesaid players were on the roster – not likely. And will these players even be around to inherit their greatness – if history is any indicator, that’s also not likely.

Northern always seems to be plagued by transfers and ineligibility. Glover has already experienced that this season for disciplinary reasons. But look at some of the potential players from this past decade: Brandon Dunbar, a 6’6” bouncy forward that had division one interest, but settled at division two. Eronje Walton, an athletic 6’2” wing that did well at Kalamazoo Valley CC after transferring to Beecher. Takais Brown, a 6’8” starting center at the University of Georgia and transfer to Flint Central. Kevin Tiggs, a 6’4” star at Mott CC that is now being recruited by high division one programs that never dressed his senior year for eligibility reasons. There is Greg Hamlin, a 6’7” high-flying forward for Mott CC, who will likely land at a low-division one school, that was nowhere to be found on a Northern roster sheet over the past few years. And Brandon Stephens, a 6’5” sharp-shooting forward that was instrumental in eliminating Northern from the playoffs while at Carman Ainsworth. Here we’ve got six division one caliber players that never made an impact for Flint Northern.

What’s even scarier is to imagine that those five guys would have been on the same team as 6’6” All American Matt Trannon, 6’5” Cleveland State star J’Nathan Bullock, 6’5” one-time Northwestern University player Gary Lee, 5’6” ultra athletic point guard Michael Leslie, 6’1” one-time Mott CC guard and freak of nature Paul Johnson, 6’2” brahma bull Parris Burt, 5’4” quintessential point guard Embry Pope, 6’7” Saginaw Valley State and later Alma forward Anthony Naylor and 6’6” athletic forward Keyon Cole.

During those years Northern was tough, but they never seemed to make it past Carman Ainsworth in the playoffs. With those guys, I’m not so sure CA would have stood a chance. Can you imagine a class with Dunbar added to Trannon? Or with Tiggs, Brown and Hamlin added to Lee and Leslie? Or Stephens added to Bullock, Johnson and Cole? Talent-wise, there would be few that could compare, including great teams from that era like Detroit Renaissance.

Now there is a chance that those players’ absences were just mere coincidences, but we still see it with guys like the aforesaid Green, Allen, Brady and Polite. A lot of talented kids, for whatever reason, are not playing at Flint Northern.