By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

Fifth in a series of reports on local basketball teams …

LANDIS — South Rowan’s Daniel Blevins works long hours and holds late practices as he tries to turn around the boys basketball program.

“Well, we’ve got four teams here — two varsity and two JV — and we’ve got one gym,” Blevins explained.

Blevins had hoped to talk about his team’s prospects for the new season at 9 p.m. on Monday, but it turned out to be a 10:30 p.m. call. Still, his voice reflected only high spirits and optimism. He really likes the guys he’s coaching. They’ve just got to make progress as a team and as individuals.

“A lot of these guys had a taste of success with the football season they had, and that’s a really good thing,” Blevins said. “It was great to watch those guys mature on the field. On the football field, they were always making that extra block, doing that little bit extra. We hope to build on that.”

On the basketball floor, South hasn’t tasted success for a long time.

Jadon Moore is the only South player who ever has participated in a varsity win. He scored eight points when South beat West Iredell 77-70 on opening night of the 2022-23 season.

South lost its next 22 games that season and all 23 last season. South opened this season with a solid first quarter at North Iredell, but the wheels came off in the second quarter, and the Raiders lost 84-44 to a team with only one returning starter. That’s 46 setbacks in a row.

South struggled to score last season, and the scoring the Raiders got usually came from Dalton Young (15 points per game) and Zion Jackson and Aaron Jones, who combined for another 15 points per game. South topped 70 points only once last season, and that was mostly because Young scored 34 and Jones had 16. Those three guys are gone.

So someone has to score more for the Raiders to have a chance to end their drought.

“We’ve got a ton of seniors — our senior night is going to be a long affair,” Blevins said. “We’ve got good athletes, we’ve got tough kids, and we’ve got shooters. We’ve just got to put it together.”

Moore, who was the top receiver on the football team, is the leading returning scorer, as he put in about 5 points per game. He is capable of much more than that. He is fast and quick, athletic enough to play for anyone in the county. He had 13 on opening night.

“When he gets loose in transition, he’s hard to stop,” Blevins said. “We saw that in our scrimmages. He’s developed a lot since last year.”

Brooks Overcash, who set school records as a passing quarterback, and James Ritchie are rebounders, strong and resilient football guys.

“Just wish they were 6-foot-4,” Blevins said. “They’re going to battle. They’ve got a role, and they’re going to fill it.”

Tristian Littlejohn, another football player, is a physical, defensive-minded guard. Ben Davies can help with his hustle.

Corbin Goodman, who is 6-foot-4, and Carter Rohletter are known as 3-point shooters, although Blevins has been working hard to expand their games. Goodman made two 3s on opening night, while Rohletter had two 3s and scored 12 points.

A few more football standouts also have joined the squad —  Zach Barham, Orion Collins and Gavin Bisco. Bisco brings some size as well as physicality to the floor. Barham and Collins can be good defensive players.

Brycen Burris and Mason Long are the junior class. Burris made a 3-pointer on opening night. Long is a power forward prospect.

Sophomores on the varsity will be Jelani King, a 6-foot-3 shot-blocker, and Cannon Blevins, the head coach’s oldest son.

This will be last season for South in the 3A South Piedmont Conference, as we now know it. South will be a 4A school with the NCHSAA moving to eight classifications next fall.