No Excuses, No Drop off
The Tale of Paul VI
When I asked the Paul VI players what their mindset has been throughout this entire season, Junior guard Xavier Joyner answered back immediately, “No Excuses, make sure you put that in there.” This past Saturday, the Panthers became the third team to ever go undefeated in the WCAC (18-0) and extended their winning streak to 24 games, finishing the regular season with a 27-2 record. But don’t let the numbers fool you, this group has been through a lot and that’s what makes them so good.
I went to Paul VI’s preseason workouts back in October and there was one thing you knew for sure, they had plenty of talent ranging from all ages. But Coach Glenn Farello challenged his players, especially his seniors to pick it up. Not their level of basketball, but the leadership. The program was starting the season without point guard Aaron Thompson for the first time in four years. AT as they call him, is now the starting point guard for the Butler Bulldogs. He was viewed as the heart and soul of every team he played on at Paul VI and this years team was used to his leadership, but he was over 500 miles away now. Villanova commit Brandon Slater (Senior) was the clear leader and hype guy with the big personality. But Coach Farello wanted to challenge his guys to dig deep and find what they could bring to this team, rather than letting them rely solely on Slater. Farello knew he would need everyone to be their absolute best, performing and contributing in every way if they were going to make history.
Coach got what he was looking for. When I had the opportunity to be around the team this weekend, I didn’t just see a team, I saw a family. Sophomore Josiah Freeman told me their main focus every night is to, “Go out there and fight for our brothers.” Even with their winning record, Paul VI has rarely been at full strength the entire season, usually missing one of their three top scorers in Brandon Slater, Anthony Harris (Junior) or Jeremy Roach (Sophomore). After last nights game, Coach Farello told his players he was most proud of their effort and the fact that there was “No drop off” throughout the entire season, despite missing some of their highly-touted players in key games. But this consistency isn’t by accident, it is a product of the culture at Paul VI, which is shaped by Coach Farello.
This past Saturday, I was with the team in the back gym as they were warming up to face Archbishop Carroll and the mood was focused, but relaxed. They knew what they needed to do. Coach Farello started to joke around with Freshman Trevor Keels imitating Keels barreling through defenders instead of taking the easier route and going around them, everyone laughed, including Keels. But Keels got his Coach’s point, and will be much more conscious about recklessly lowering his shoulders into his defenders like a running back. Just a couple minutes later, Coach Farello forced a stronger hand when telling his big men how important it would be to keep Carroll off the glass, the bigs, just like Keels, took in their coaches words to heart and became more prepared for the game they were about to play. Coach Farello knows his personnel inside and out, and knows how to get the best of them on the court and off the court. Whether it’s a lighthearted joke, or it’s forcefully telling his players what to do, Coach Farello knows how to effectively get his point across while constantly teaching, guiding and loving his guys. No doubt, he expects a lot, but these players know he will do anything for them, so they do anything for him. During my postgame interview with the team, multiple players mentioned that Coach was always pushing to get the very best out of each individual, despite me not mentioning Coach Farello’s name in any of my questions. When Coach has the floor, all the players become sponges for two main reasons. They respect him, and they know he truly cares about them as an individual.
The players at Paul VI embody the culture of the program. At a time when many basketball kids focus on how many buckets they got and who was recording their mixtape, this team defies those stereotypes and never lets individual accolades get prioritized over the team success. In 2014, Coach Farello introduced Windex, a hard hat and a lunch pail as postgame rewards to award the guys he thought showed the most grit and toughness. This years team has really bought into the awards, proudly posing for the PVI Hoops Twitter account if they are bestowed the award. Although it’s something small and a little cheesy, it shows the players having fun and buying into the system, and Coach Farello rewarding them.
One of the hardest things to do in sports is to rally after your teammate gets hurt mid-way through the game. The Panthers already suited up without Jeremy Roach and Brandon Slater when they saw Anthony Harris take a hard fall after a fast break dunk. PVI didn’t look around wondering who was going to fill the role of Anthony Harris, instead they reverted back to their culture and rallied behind Ant, their family. The Panthers got big second half minutes from everyone that touched the floor. It truly was “Next man up” for Paul VI in their regular season finale. This team didn’t question “How are we going to do this without Roach, Slater and Ant?” They said, “We’re going to rally around our teammates and win it for them” and that’s exactly what they did.
When you only have two losses, they tend to carry a lot of weight, and that is the case for this team. They suffered their first loss of the season in just their third game. The Panthers fell to Oak Ridge (FL) at the hands of a Damon Harge half court buzzer beater. Just three weeks later both Paul VI and Oak Ridge were at the same Holiday tournament in Georgia, on opposite sides of the bracket. When I asked them what their mindset was going into that game, every single player in the locker room at the exact same time said “Revenge.” Seniors Jeremy Robinson and Miles Latimer also added that they were “Rooting for Oak Ridge in the semi finals [after PVI had already won its semi final] so they could play them again.” For those of you who don’t follow high school basketball, it is very rare to be able to play the same team twice if they aren’t in your conference, and the Panthers took full advantage of the second chance, beating Oak Ridge 76-62 in the Championship.
Their other loss was to national powerhouse Findlay Prep, a team that includes the number four overall player in the class of 2018 Bol Bol. Paul VI lost by 22 and Findlay dominated the entire game. The Panthers could have folded, sitting at 3-2 with a grueling non conference schedule ahead before their WCAC schedule started. But, they rallied around each other. Freeman told me, “That [Findlay] game was definitely our turning point.” The very next day PVI torched Huntington Prep (Andrew Wiggins alma mater) by 31 points and haven’t looked back since.
Their final regular season game was a realization on how far this team has come since October. There was a minimal home crowd (I assume the fans were worn out from the DeMatha game the night before), they were lethargic, they allowed Carroll to stay in the game with defensive lapses and they had just lost one of their best players in a dramatic moment. The Panthers had every reason to be down and out. But that wouldn’t be the Panther way. At halftime, Brandon Slater showed what it means to be a leader. Despite being injured and not on the floor playing, the senior captain had a huge impact on the win. With intensity, grit and passion, he went around the locker room and told each player what they needed to bring to the game, and he helped them believe. And believe they did. Paul VI came out with a new energy in the second half and every player played a part in their victory. Big men Josh Oduro, Jeremy Robinson and Avery Ford held Carroll off the glass the entire second half. Miles Latimer gave the team life with his non-stop hustle. Freshman Trevor Keels played well beyond his years and handled pressure and made good decisions. Xavier Joyner and Josiah Freeman had clutch buckets down the stretch. And Brandon Slater, Jeremy Roach and Will Paige brought energy from the bench while hyping up their teammates the entire game, sometimes a little bit too much. (At one point Paige was about to high-five a teammate as he made a huge play and found himself on the court!) Every team is like a puzzle, and for the Paul VI, each piece came together this year.
Tomorrow starts a new season for Paul VI, their regular season is in the history books. While they start 0-0, it doesn’t take away from what they did this year, in fact, it puts an even bigger target on their back. The entire year they have been able to block out the distractions, the doubters, the questions and just do what they dreamed about doing in October. Do they have three more games in them to win the WCAC Championship? A few more for the Virginia state championship? Time will tell, but this team has shown us that they have the grit, determination and brotherhood to accomplish anything.