Herbert Poised to Emerge in B’More

Ron Bailey, Publisher

Cecil Kirk's coach, Anthony Lewis (left), and Brandon Herbert are seen here during Charlie Weber Easter Hoop Fest action.

August 2, 2006 - Going into this summer, rising senior McDonogh School (Owings Mills, MD) guard Brandon Herbert knew much work lay in front of him. After playing point guard virtually for the first time with McDonogh last season – a move from shooting guard necessitated by his 5’10”, 180lb frame and desire to play Division I hoops – this AAU/travel team season would be one in which he must continue to improve improvement at the lead guard position.

Under the tutelage of the staff at Cecil Kirk AAU, including its director Anthony Lewis, Herbert has, as the young guy put it “gotten more comfortable playing the one (point guard)”, in addition to expanding his leadership skills. Helping to bring about his increased familiarization with the lead guard role has been the plethora of talented guards within the Cecil Kirk organization.

That latter point may sound somewhat oxymoronic, in that generally the greater number of players at any position, a lesser number of minutes exists for on court development. With a number of future Division I backcourt players on their 17 and under roster, Cecil Kirk would seemingly fall into that quandry.

But upon delving deeper, that wasn’t the case. Lewis, a sage coach of well over 20 years, saw his team lacked frontcourt size most of the season, and consequently employed a lineup utilizing four guards. As a result, Herbert et al received valuable minutes in situations in which Brandon indicated “everybody played to their strengths”

A positive offshoot of Cecil’s plethora of backcourt talent was the organization's hyper competitive practices. According to Herbert, those sessions “are tough, and make me a better player”. Another Cecil player described the organization’s workouts as “a jungle”, in which you have to battle, or perish.

The end result of all this work has been obvious to McDonogh’s second year head coach, Dante Evans. Reached via telephone, Evans shared “I’ve seen Brandon play four times this summer (the school held a summer league that Herbert participated in when not traveling with Cecil)”. Based upon his work with Brandon, Evans stated “He’s definitely making an effort in those areas (running a team and displaying leadership).

On filling the role of a traditional point guard, Evans commented “Brandon is doing a real good job of pushing the ball and getting other teammates involved before himself”; something that was a necessary point of improvement last year.

It’s is Evans’ belief that Herbert has also improved his leadership capacity signifcantly, which again was something that at times was lacking last season. “We’ve had a lot of talks about” the nuances of leadership, said Evans. “He has to adjust his leadership to who he’s playing with”, and “control is body language”.

Elaborating on those concepts, McDonogh’s head man wants his point guard to realize that everyone does not respond to the same motivational techniques, and as such he needs to vary them, player by player, while also understanding his body language sends signals to the team - ones they more or less emulate. It’s Evans’ belief that Brandon's continued development and eventual mastery of these aspects of leadership will trickle down to the rest of the squad, consequently making all of his teammates better players.

Brandon understands the pivotal role he will play at McDonogh this season, and embraces it. “I’m going to be the leader of the team, and I’m looking forward to it” he said. “My teammates have a lot of confidence in me”.

Confidence in Brandon is starting to be shown by colleges and universities as well. MEAC, CAA and A10 schools have inquired according to him. Evans specifically cited “James Madison”, while adding “America East schools” to the list of institutions interested in Herbert. This young man from Northeast B’more stated “I’m basically looking for a place where I’m comfortable, on and off the court”, doesn’t have a leader, and will make his decision after his senior season.

Cecil’s Lewis feels the schools presently recruiting Herbert are “his level at this point”, but quickly added “He hasn’t reached his upside yet”. Those beliefs are based not only on Brandon’s athleticism and current point guard learning curve, but his age as well. “He’s just so young” revealed Lewis. “He hasn’t had his 17th birthday yet”.

After a summer of improvement, expect Brandon Herbert to have a winter in which he displays that development, impressing many observers along the way. The young man, and those around him, are confident he will flourish.