MOUNT ULLA — Timmy Mauldin will forever be a trivia question at West Rowan High School: who replaced Scooter Sherrill at the No. 2 guard spot for the Falcons?
Certainly, another question will immediately follow: How did Timmy Mauldin do?
Well, you could say that Mauldin matched Scooter in one area. Like the McDonald’s All-American, who is now at N.C. State, he is being given a chance to play college basketball.
Mauldin, a 6-foot-3 outside bomber, is headed to St.Andrews, a program in the Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference, the same league as Pfeiffer.
Mauldin should give the Knights some offensive punch. They finished just 8-19 last year.
“I feel good for Timmy Mauldin,” said West Rowan High coach Mike Gurley. “I admired him for replacing Scooter. That was a task probably not attainable for anybody. But Timmy carried us in the month of January.”
Actually, Mauldin became noticed by area fans in late December during the Sam Moir Christmas Classic. He scored 42 points and was named all-tournament.
But his real coming out party occurred on Jan 5.
The Falcons were 9-4 at the time and were forced to make the long trip to Sun Valley to face Quinton Toxey’s talented 10-1 squad and its high-scoring forward Jonathan Knick.
When the game was over, West had a decisive 63-47 win under its belt.
Not only did West make a statement on that night, but so did Mauldin — on offense and defense.
On offense, he scored 12 first-half points as West was tied 27-all at halftime.
In the second half, he scored eight more but his damage came on defense as he held Knick to eight points.
Afterward, a wide-eyed and very impressed Gurley told the Post, “I’m stunned — no, not stunned, but very pleased with Timmy Mauldin. Hey, that was senior intensity on the floor.”
Mauldin became a bona fide leader that night.
“With Terris Sifford out, we needed somebody to step up,” Gurley said. “Timmy became our perimeter stopper.”
By this time, Mauldin was in the midst of an offensive explosion. He had a streak of nine double-figure outings in 11 games and was a key in West winning 13 straight after Christmas. When he was hitting that smooth jumper from outside, it opened up the middle for trees Donte Minter, Junior Hairston and the Williams twins, Phillip and Jason.
Mauldin finished with 14 double-figure games and a 10.2 average. And he topped off his senior season by being named All-County.
Mauldin chose St. Andrews over a host of other suitors, mostly in Division III.
Gurley says Mauldin will now be entering a Division II league that is top-notch.
“It’s going to be a challenging conference to play in,” Gurley said. “Timmy is going up against some of the best athletes he’s ever seen. A lot of times, Division II ball, like Pfeiffer, Catawba and Belmont Abbey, is underestimated. There’s a lot of athleticism and the play is very good.”
Mauldin becomes the third West Rowan Falcon to have the chance to play college basketball. Sifford is at Greensboro College and Danielle Scearce is planning on a career at Catawba.
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