Bishop O'Dowd ran away with the West Alameda County Foothill League last season as they went undefeated. But the Berkeley Yellowjackets gave the Dragons their closest league battle with a six point defeat in mid January in Berkeley. A big reason for this spirited battle was the guard play of Casey Roquemore.
The Yellowjackets had been coming off of two mediocre seasons of 15 and 16 wins but was led by the junior Roquemore in rebounding to a 22-5 record. The 5-foot-11 and 155 pounds point guard averaged 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists as a first time varsity starter.
During the past summer, he was a starter in the backcourt for the Oakland Soldiers 17 Blue squad as he has been with the Soldiers since the previous summer. Roquemore is a younger high school student, as he will graduate at 17 years old. He has a balanced game and compares his game to Patrick Beverly because of his tenacious defense and his maximum effort on the court.
Soldiers 17 Coach Ray Thomas says, "I challenged Casey when he started playing with our 17 blue team. I told him that he was a small guard and colleges would use that against him. I told him that he had to be almost perfect with his skill set, decision making, defense and effort. We clashed early but he got the message and by the end of the summer he was our starting point guard. Casey made it hard at times to take him off the court. Casey will most likely be a major target for D2. He should have a great season for Berkeley High School."
Despite being undersized at the point guard position, Roquemore has a quick dribble and is aggressive in his moves to the basket. His experience with the Soldiers during the summer was good experience to direct a team and helped with his decision making process.
Coach Thomas continues, "Casey can play both sides of the ball. On offense, he can get to any spot on the floor. His quickness and ball handling creates a lot of problems for defenders. His mid range jumper also keeps a defender honest. On defense, he is a ball hawking defender. He keeps opposing guards in front of him and crashes the boards well for a kid his size. He was our best player against So Cal Allstars in the opening game at the Big Foot tournament. He lead us to the upset win with 18 pts in front 30 coaches."
At this point, Cal Poly Pomona has been the only college that has inquired. Roquemore wants to attend a Division I program with a solid education with a basketball team that plays a fast break style. He has a 3.64 GPA and wants to major in international finance.
The Yellowjackets' return to prominence and relevance would be validated with another 20 plus win season and a deeper run in the postseason. In addition to Roquemore, Berkeley returns Asa Allen and Adrian Rico. Expect Roquemore to look for more with the Yellowjackets this upcoming season in Berkeley, Calif.
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