Chaquan Scott thought he had the world at the tips of his fingers. He was the toast of the Brooklyn schoolyards, another basketball wizard out of the famed Brownsville section. He was headed to Economic and Finance High School to become a star.
“I played basketball every day in Brooklyn, even when it was cold and snowing,” Scott said. “We would just shovel the snow away and keep playing. It was a good learning experience for me, growing up there and playing basketball.”
But then, Scott’s mother decided to move his family to Jersey City. Scott and his two sisters came across the Hudson.
“I was upset at first,” Scott said. “I didn’t want to leave. It was hard to adjust. I didn’t associate with people here.”
Scott didn’t handle his move to Jersey City well. He enrolled at Dickinson High School, but soon found out that he couldn’t play basketball at his new school because his grades were not in line.
“I did a lot of stupid things,” Scott said. “I was cutting a lot of classes.”
While Scott was away from the sport he loved, he learned a valuable lesson.
“If I wanted to play again, I better get to class,” Scott said. “I better study.”
Scott became eligible to play for the Rams last season, becoming an instant asset to head coach Sean Drennan.
“He was going through some growing pains last year,” Drennan said. “He averaged about eight or nine points per game. He was just trying to fit his way in.”
However, after Scott’s junior season came to an end, he became a totally different player and person.
“He matured a lot,” Drennan said. “He became a better player and a better kid. He really worked hard on his game and became consistent. I think consistency was the key for him.”
During the summer months, Scott became the Rams’ leading scorer in the summer league.
“He had games where he would score 30 or 35 points,” Drennan said. “He singlehandedly kept us in games. We played about 60 games over the summer and Chaquan really stepped up.”
“We lost three great seniors from last year’s team,” Scott said. “So I knew I was going to have to get better and step up. I knew that I was going to have to do more. Those summer league games really helped me. I thank Coach Drennan for that. I always had confidence. I knew I could play. But the games over the summer gave me an idea that I could be more of a scorer.”
Which Scott has been throughout the current season. He’s leading the Rams in scoring, averaging almost 19 points per game. He’s also their leading assist man, collecting more than six dishes per contest.
But the most startling statistic that Scott has is his rebound average. Although he’s only 5 foot 9 (if even that), Scott is collecting almost 10 rebounds per contest. And that’s no misprint.
On three separate occasions this season, Scott has gone for a “triple-double,” meaning that he had double figures in points, assists, and rebounds. It’s almost too amazing to watch.
“I’ve never seen it before from a kid his size,” said Drennan, who was a head coach at Bergen County Community College and Kean University before replacing his father, Bill “Red” Drennan, as the head coach at Dickinson two years ago. “His rebounding ability is a credit to him, but it’s also out of necessity. He just has a nose for the ball and just explodes to get it. I’ve never saw a kid like that at his height collect rebounds. And he’s the second best leaper I’ve ever coached.”
Drennan said that Scott has natural jumping ability, but even that he worked on by getting a pair of special shoes designed to increase vertical leaps.
“He worked on that with his jumping shoes,” Drennan said. “Before, he was just barely touching the rim. Now, he’s over the rim and puts the ball down.”
In the past week, Scott has been consistently brilliant once again. He scored 15 points, had 10 rebounds, four steals and four assists in a win over Memorial, tallied 24 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, had seven steals and six assists in a huge win over Bayonne and scored 18 points in a loss to Hudson Catholic.
For his efforts, Scott has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week.
Scott was asked about his uncanny knack to get rebounds, despite his lack of size.
“I just know I need to help the team,” Scott said. “We only have one true big man, so I just have to go and get it. I have a hunger for the ball. When it’s up there, I’m going to get it. But yeah, it is remarkable that I get so many rebounds.”
Scott also has a unique nickname that everyone uses, even the Dickinson coaches. He’s called “Wade,” as in Dwyane Wade. Scott even wears No. 3 on his uniform jersey like the Miami Heat superstar.
“They gave me that name when I came to New Jersey,” Scott said. “They didn’t even know my name. They just started calling me ‘Wade.’ ”
Scott does spin, whirl and do incredible things on the basketball floor, like his namesake.
However, there’s one unknown fact about Scott and the man he’s named after.
“He’s not my favorite player,” Scott admitted. “Kobe Bryant is. I guess I can see myself playing like Dwyane Wade. But he’s not my favorite.”
But right now, Dickinson’s version of “Wade” is the main man.
“We go the way he goes,” Drennan said. “We want him to take the ball and go. He can create so many things off the dribble. His shot is also getting better. We want him to go with the ball, to draw the defenses and then kick it back out. He creates about 90 percent of our offense. And if he wants to be Dwyane Wade, then go right ahead. He has my blessing.”
Scott has another goal in mind right now. He would love to play college basketball, but will need to head to a prep school first in order to get his grades in line.
“That’s the major goal, the main goal,” Scott said. “I would love to play in college next year. It would feel great to be able to do it.”
And it’s safe to say that Chaquan Scott is happy that his mother made the move to New Jersey, settling in Jersey City.
“Yes, it was a good choice,” Scott said. “It just took a while for me to realize that.” – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.