Orlando, Fla---
At Oak Ridge High School the mind is a powerful thing.
“You come in here with an Oak Ridge mentality we blow every body out,” Oak Ridge head coach Steve Reece says to his players as they huddle after an afternoon shoot around.
Reece was an Oak Ridge assistant, last season he took over as head coach.
“The amount of work we put in at practice day in day out its a mentality just going hard giving it all that we have,” Reece tells me. Reece and his Pioneers are turning thoughts in actions.
Last season Oak Ridge won it’s first state title in school history. Now he’s hoping to build something bigger than that.
“I just wanted to create a culture that kids who come out of our program can get their education and go to college. That’s the least that I can do,” Reece says.
Reece appears to be building a college basketball factory at a public school in south Orlando. Last seaso Emmitt Williams, who is now playing for LSU, lead a group of four d-1 recruits. In a central Florida area dominated by prep schools, Reece’s 2018 roster is even more star-studded.
“The atmosphere is crazy the fans, playing on the court….the tempo the speed is just different,” senior guard Niven Glover says.
Glover is the leader of the Oak Ridge dunk show. He is currently considering schools like Dayton, SMU, Fordham, USF and Florida Gulf Coast.
“Niven’s just [got] athletic ability, his IQ and court awareness have gotten higher,” Reece says. “He’s been shooting the ball extremely well.”
Glover would be any coaches dream. Then there’s CJ Walker.
“He’s a kid that’s versatile,” Reece says. “He plays both ends of the floor he can affect the game more than just scoring. He can affect it at the defensive end, rebounding, facilitating…that’s something that he added to his game this year. And his length. He’s the new prototype of what everyone is looking for.”
At 6’8 with fluid ball handling and an outside shot, new prototype about sums CJ Walker up. Walker plays for Reece’s AAU team E1T1 and has seen his recruiting stock soar over the past year. ESPN has him 20th in the class of 2019.
Walker is originally from Sanford and transferred to Oak Ridge from Orlando Christian Prep this year. In November he signed to play college basketball for the University of Oregon.
“Oregon felt like home with me and my family,” Walker says. “I see myself getting better there.”
With this group Oak Ridge hopes to win the state title again.
“Made history last year,” Glover says. “So back to back would be something else we’ve never done.”
But even after players like Niven Glover and CJ Walker move on to college, the mindset at Oak Ridge will remain the same.
“Hopefully people come out and see Oak Ridge and leave with a good taste in their mouth,” Reece says. “Knowing how hard their boys work day in and day out.”