PORUM PANTHERS

BOYS

Coach: Joe Hays

22-23 Record: 4-16

The Panthers return a solid group of players from last year who have put in a lot of hard work to show an improvement this season according to head coach Joe Hays. “I’ve got a positive outlook for this season. We have a veteran group returning and our growth over the summer and hard work in the off season looks to benefit us as we get ready to go into this season.” The anchor of the team will be Michael Wright (6-1, Sr.), a VYPE Top 100 nominee. “Michael led the team in scoring (20.1 points per game) and rebounding (9.2 per game),” said Hays. “He shoots nearly 30 percent from beyond the arc and defends well both on the perimeter and inside. He was an all-conference selection and named Offensive Player of the Year by an area newspaper.

And he did all of that while missing eight games with an injury. We’ll be leaning on him to get us back on the winning track this year.” Three other seniors should figure into the lineup somewhere in Rylind Tillery (6-0), Luke White (5-11) and Caden Robinson (5-11). “Rylind is one of those guys that every team needs. He’s willing to take on any task to make the team better. He’s a tough, heady player who does things that don’t always show up on the stat sheet,” said Hays. A handful of juniors should also see some playing time led by Isaiah Sallee (5-10), Cooper Franklin (6-3), Gage Scarberry (5-9), Zach Tallon (6-0) and Hector Tallon (6-0). One sophomore in particular has caught Hays’ attention in Zec Ayers (6-2). “Zec is an all-purpose player who looks to be a solid contributor this year. He’s got good length and fundamentals and has improved his offensive skills over the summer.” Other sophomores include Luke Johnson (6-1) and Trevor Schexnayder (5-10). Rounding things out for the Panthers are freshmen Shaun Robinson (5-7), Memphis Tripp (5-11), Austin Ledbetter (5-8) and Bryson Catron (5-7).