Monday, August 29, 2016

Article 439: Milstead ready for more at Moreau

8/25/2016

Four-year starters are rare at either the high school or the college level for any team sport. Even more rare is the four-year starter for programs that have successful postseason runs. For the Moreau Catholic program, senior Damari Milstead is looking to cap off such a run.

The point guard started from day one and has led his Mariners to succeeding win totals of 27, 23, and 25. His stats at Moreau progressed from 15.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 3.3 steals to 16.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 3.4 steals to 19.1 points, 3.65 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 3.0 steals.

In his 17 number years of Bay Area high school basketball coaching, Moreau Catholic Head Coach Frank Knight says, “Damari's game is so unique that it’s really hard to find a player that he reminds me of in particular. But he is a cross between Kwame Vaughn (Skyline Oakland) and Will Cherry (McClymonds). Kwame and Damari both have that offensive game that's not flashy and not littered with highlights of dunks but will have filled up the stat line at game’s end. Will Cherry because of his defensive intensity and they just have that will to win down the stretch. They both will have finished high school with lots of wins.”

In his first three seasons, Milstead missed only six games out of 94 total regular and postseason games. Despite that, he has a strong chance to be the all time leader in points (will likely break the 2,000 point mark in his senior year), assists, and steals in Moreau Catholic history. As the point guard who runs the Mariners, Milstead has guided Moreau Catholic to two league championships, a NCS Division 4 championship, a NCS Division 3 Championship, a NCS Division 3 runner up, a NorCal Division 4 NorCal Championship, and a Division 4 State Championship runner up.

The 6-foot-3 and 175 pound prospect previously played for the Oakland Soldiers program. Milstead says about the move to Splash City, “I was going to leave the Oakland Soldiers after the summer of my sophomore year before Splash City was even formed. I just felt it wasn't a good fit for me and I wanted something different.”

The chance to make a mark on the newly formed Splash City 17 program was too good to pass up on as he averaged 16.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.4 assists. The team’s inaugural season in the Under Armour circuit, Splash City made it to the championship game. Milstead says about the summer season, “Being the first year for Splash City and playing on the UA Circuit was a lot of fun and we did really well as a team in the spring as well in the summer. I feel like we put Splash City on the map and set the bar for the organization going forward.”

Coach Frank Knight provides an anecdote of Milstead’s toughness, “When Damari was a freshman and we were playing Salesian in the NCS D-4 championship game he sprained his ankle pretty bad at the end of the third quarter. Salesian started to pull away in the fourth while he was out and he was adamant on returning. After our trainer taped him back up, he walks up to me during game and said he is ready to go back in. I asked him was he sure and he said he wanted to be out on the floor with his brothers in this game. He did the same thing last season in the first round of the Open Division playoff against Sheldon. Came back with a partially broke nose, and we cut a 20 point lead to a one possession game with less than one minute remaining. He has an ultimate desire to win.”

Moreau Catholic has the chance to send another four-year starter to a Division I program. Oscar Frayer was a four-year starter who is now with the Grand Canyon Antelopes program of the Western Athletic Conference. In addition from last year’s team, Terrell Brown is at San Jose State, Brandon Lawrence is a preferred walk on at St. John’s, and Armond Simmons is at Columbia College in Southern California. Milstead’s strong summer bolstered his recruiting exposure. In addition, he was invited and attended elite camps during the summer that included Pangos All American Camp (June 3-5), Steph Curry Select 30 Camp (June 28 - July 1), and Under Armour All American Camp (July 5-8).

Knight says about his point guard’s future, “Damari has worked on every one of his deficiencies each summer, tackling one specific one each year and has really made himself a good all around player. I think what he needs to work on most to play immediately at the next level is his speed and athleticism. If he can keep improving his overall speed and agility and his ability to change pace in traffic with the ball, he will be tough to deal with.”

Milstead holds offers from Grand Canyon, Montana, New Mexico, Pacific, Pepperdine, Southern Utah, St Mary's, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, USC, and Wyoming. Schools showing interest include Iowa State, Oregon State, Stanford, Utah, UNLV, and Virginia Tech. As of now, he has official visits scheduled for Wyoming (October 7) and St Mary's (October 14).

Knight says about Milstead’s leadership, “He is like another coach on the floor. The one final piece of development Damari has left at Moreau Catholic is his ability to lead a team. He is a winner. Now, can he lead a team that is younger, not as experienced but oozing with potential? We will learn a lot about his character after this up coming season. I’m excited on what kind of legacy he leaves here at Moreau.”

After working to improve his jump shot during the summer, Milstead will be looking to be more efficient running his team to make a deeper postseason run. His Moreau Catholic roster is young but includes Kyree Walker, Maxwell Anderson, LJ Anderson, and Dvan Molden. Look for Milstead to guide this team as he caps off a successful four-year run with the Mariners in Hayward, Calif.


No comments:

Post a Comment

virool