As one of the smallest schools to qualify for MAIS AA, having just a handful too many students to remain in single-A, Amite School Center’s basketball program faces challenges many other schools do not.
A major determining factor in classifying different MAIS programs is student population. ASC’s student body has increased slightly since last year, and just narrowly exceeds the maximum number of students for a single-A school.
As a result, ASC has fewer students than almost all of its AA opponents, meaning most other schools have more kids to select a varsity team from and greater resources to support that team.
That’s where ASC’s Casen Choate comes in.
The senior guard leads the Rebels in most statistical categories, averaging 20 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, four steals and three blocks per game.
“Yeah he does a little of everything,” ASC first-year head coach Eddie Miller said, describing his star guard’s stat line.
“He plays wing. He plays post. He’s pretty much been the leading scorer in every game,” Miller said. “There are games when teams just can’t stop him.”
Choate has been a critical cog in Miller’s new system, which focuses less on a slow, defensive pace and more on an aggressive offensive philosophy.
He dropped 41 points on Central Hinds Academy on Jan. 3 and registered 21 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to Brookhaven Academy on Tuesday.
The senior said last year that he was constantly the focus of double-teams from opposing defenses in a slowed-down offense.
Now playing in a wide-open offense that allows him to run the floor and exercise his versatile skill-set his numbers have improved, and so have the Rebels.
“My game has probably improved 10 times,” Choate said of his relationship with Miller this season. “He puts me in better positions to try and score.”
But Choate knows that, like most other star players, he is usually his opponents’ primary focus when he steps on the floor.
The senior has responded, assuming a much larger leadership role on the court and in the locker room.
Miller credited Choate’s impeccable leadership and focus to his love for golf, adding that Choate “pretty much is the golf team at ASC.”
“He’s been a very coachable kid and a very tough kid,” Miller said of his star player, who also plays football for ASC.
Choate is being looked at by a handful of schools, including Millsaps College and Jones County Junior College, where he could continue his basketball career next season.
“It’s humbling, it’s different. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of but never really thought was coming. It’s definitely been a great experience (being recruited).”
But with half his senior year at ASC remaining, the Rebels will rely heavily on their star guard as the postseason draws closer.
The team sits at just 4-_ on the season with a daunting matchup against Adams County Christian looming this Friday.
But with Choate on their side, Miller and his Rebels’ team still feel confident in their chances in 2014.
“We just have to continue to play hard and keep getting better,” Miller said. “But hopefully we can turn things around.”
