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| Photo via NorthPoleHoops.com |
Tesloth Simon had his plans figured out.
He accepted an offer from the University of Massachusetts Lowell for a basketball scholarship and all he had left was to pass his SAT.
But that didn’t pan out for the now-fifth-year student.
Simon is now back with his St. Mary’s Catholic High School Eagles — a dominant senior boys basketball team in the District 8 loop and a program that is quickly becoming nationally recognized.
Since Simon, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard, says the team has come close, but not close enough to winning the Ontario Federation of School Athletics Associations title.
But there seems to be something special brewing this year. At the annual Heinbuch Classic in Kitchener, which hosts powerhouse basketball teams from across the province, St. Mary’s placed second. That particular tournament is usually dominated by GTA-area teams.
The interesting thing about the so-close-yet-so-far finish is that the Eagles aren’t looking for someone to blame. In fact, everyone seems to want to take the blame.
Head coach Jason Hergott wants to take the blame for how he managed the team’s loss. Simon puts it right on his shoulders as well.
“It hurt a lot of us, but I take a lot of responsibility for that,” said Simon. “I’ve played senior since Grade 10 … I wanted that gold. It hurt, but it’s motivation for all of us and me as a leader because that’s my responsibility as well.”
The Eagles played Orangeville’s Athlete Institute Academy basketball team on Thursday night in an exhibition game. St. Mary’s lost that game in a close 84-75 battle. Simon says playing against the likes of former GRCI player Jamal Murray and other highly-projected future stars is humbling. But made sure he wasn’t taking the game lightly.”
“For me as a competitor and our starting line up, we’re not close to them — we’re competitive, but we’re not in that position. It’s a privilege,” said Simon.
As for Simon’s future, he’s still in contact with UMass-Lowell, but he’s officially uncommitted for the next school year.
Simon admits it was diffcult switching gears and deciding what to do this year — U.S. prep schools were an option — but he’s happy with his return to St. Mary’s.
“I talked to a couple of guys and decided to come here. What I can get at a prep school, I can get here. I’m self motivated. What I can do there, I can do here.”
“My door is open. We’ll see where I end up, but right now I’m not looking at that. I’m looking at these guys in here,” said Simon, pointing to the gymnasium at St. Mary’s. “I can’t succeed unless those five are with me. And we have bigger goals — that’s OFSAA.”
After talking to Simon for just a few minutes or watching him on the court, you can see that he’s not afraid — and he embraces — the leadership role on this team.
“It’s a huge thing,” said Simon. “You have to help out the rookies and set an example. I understand what it takes to win and help the team progress,” he said. “I own up to whatever it takes on the basketball court and really, if we fail, I fail.”
Guard Jermaine Lyle, who has played with Simon for three years, sees the dedication day-in and day-out.
“We go really well together,” said Lyle. “I was happy for him to see him move on, but for him to come back, I’m even happier. I get to play one more year with him and hopefully I’ll be in the same situation as him at the end of this year.”
As for the team, Lyle can feel that the group is slowly making progress with hopes to peak at the right time.
“Right now, we’re developing into trying to play as a team more,” said Lyle. “We started off kind of slow,” said Lyle.
The Eagles were ranked No. 1 in the country by NorthPoleHoops.com, which put the team on the map for the first time in years. They dropped from that position, but for Lyle, it just means there’s something more to prove.
“We’re a very confident team and we know in the end, we can prove something to the country.”
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