Flynn - a Star from The ‘Falls that Won’t Be Stopped

Ron Bailey, Publisher

Jonny Flynn, pictured here after Tournament of Champions action this spring, employs both point and shooting guard skills. A resident of Niagara Falls, NY, he fiercely represents that regions hoops pedigree.

July 7, 2006 – Western New York has not been previously known for producing top basketball players, despite guys like Cliff Robinson, Christian Laetner, and more recently Julius Page hailing from that region. Last year, super prospect Paul Harris left the Buffalo/Niagara (or The ‘Low and The ‘Falls as they are known respectively) area for prep school, in preperation for enrolling in Syracuse University.

Jim Boeheim, the coach of that school has another Western New York prospect destined to enter is program - class of 2007 guard, Jonny Flynn. While this 5’11”, 170lb dominator definitely learned much of his craft from Harris, he’s certainly making his own noise on the hardwood.

Flynn’s AAU/traveling team coach, Jeff Bishop of the GC Ballers, puts the young man in lofty company. “Jonny’s the best guard in New York State” he said. “And I’ll put him in the top three guards” nationally.

In Bishop’s estimation, Flynn is as good as he is, due to having “really worked on his game”, and possessing a killer instinct on the court. According to him, that competitiveness is “the way we are in West New York. We’re hungry…everybody wants to be the best”. In terms of the GC Ballers, Bishop believes that mentality “Started with Paul (Harris), and spread through the whole team”. Flynn has embraced the mindset with a fury.

Jeff Bishop, the GC Ballers head coach and director, puts Flynn in the class of almost any guard in the 2007 class. He credits Western New York's hoops mentality, Jonny's athletic and competitive gifts, along with the efforts of older GC players for that lofty ranking.

Having just led that squad to a revenge-driven victory over the talented Triple Threat team at Bob Gibbon’s Tournament of Champions this spring, Flynn credited older players in his area for helping him achieve success. “Playing with guys like Paul Harris, who made it to the high Division I level kind of molded me” said Flynn. “No, not kind of, they did. I give a lot of credit to them, because they took me under their wing when I was younger”.

That tutelage, which included working out with the older guys, practicing with GC, battling in Niagara Falls High School practices, and being picked to play pickup in gyms, despite being younger, more than paid off. After winning the New York State Crown with Harris the year 2004-2005, last season Flynn, then a junior, led the school back to the state title game, where they unfortunately fell several points short of securing consecutive crowns. For the season, Jonny shared statistical averages of “27 points, about seven assists, and five rebounds” while playing both guard positions, though he did “slide to the two (shooting guard)”, when the team needed to score.

This summer, in addition to playing with GC and for Bishop, Flynn was able to make the USA Basketball’s under-18 team. That prestigious squad won the FIBA Americas U18 Championship gold medal in San Antonio, Texas, with Jonny playing an integral role, as the young guard from Niagara Falls paced his team with 26.3 minutes, 5.2 assists, and 1.75 steals (tied with another player) per contest. Over the competition’s four games, he also supplied 8.5 points and 3.8 rebounds a game.

According to USA Basketball’s website, all of this work was done despite arriving late to the trials, due to high school obligations. Upon entering the tryout fray, Jonny steeled himself to “get my teammates involved”, as that is what the team’s coaches (including his future leader at Syracuse, Jim Boehiem) “are looking for in a point guard…They're just looking for somebody to little things, like taking charges or getting your teammates involved”.

Being a facilitator and defender are only segments of Jonny’s game, since the young guy can score with the best. During the Tournament of Champions game versus Triple Threat, Flynn repeatedly attacked the rim starting from multiple points around the perimeter, and pulled up for jumpers seemingly at will. His 18 point performance was also marked by unselfishness - including employing draw and kick manuevers and also finding open teammates on fast breaks with deft no look passes - and the ability to apply ball pressure against opposing players.

Last fall, in a season-ending Charlie Weber event, Flynn showed another skill – the ability to elevate with some of the best guards in the country, regardless of age. Working in tandem with the then prep-school bound Harris, Jonny tomahawked on people in traffic, and along the way endeared himself to fans present.

When asked about his upcoming Syracuse experience, the senior-to-be Flynn believes the Orange will be “national championship contenders”. He also is greatly anticipating league wars, stating “I can’t wait until the Big East. That’s where it is”.

GC’s Bishop, when asked to elaborate further on The ‘Low/The ‘Falls approach to basketball, stated “Nobody is giving us nothing. We are going to take it”. It seems his prized guard has the same outlook.