Beckley – For years Greater Beckley guard John Rose has been a jack of all trades.
He’s been a complementary piece for the Crusaders and the star of the show and all of that has prepared him for the next step of his career.
Tuesday, surrounded by classmates, friends, coaches and family, Rose signed to play college basketball at Concord University next year.
“I went there because they wanted to see me play and they just asked me if I’d like to go play for them so I decided to,” Rose said.
A smaller player, Rose’s transition to the college game is aided by the level of competition he played and practiced against. Two of his teammates from last year’s squad in Kaden Smallwood and Azel Carmichael have gone on to play college basketball while Kendrick Wilson, who transferred to Moravian Prep, seems bound for that same fate. On top of that the Crusaders played a loaded schedule against teams such as Shady Spring and George Washington.
“Practicing against that type of athlete the last couple of years has only benefitted him,” Greater Beckley head coach Justin Arvon said. “Speed is not typically an issue with John so he’s not surprised by it. When he went and worked out for these colleges in the early offseason it wasn’t something that jumped out and surprised him. Having Azel for example, who’s now playing in Indiana for Oakland City, going against him every day only helps. Kaden, now at Davis and Elkins, only helps. You can’t put a price tag on how beneficial that is in terms of basketball for a kid.”
With Rose having played various roles, Arvon feels comfortable in saying his star can succeed at the next level.
“He’s the type of player that’s able to adjust his game accordingly to whoever is on the floor with him,” Arvon said. “He’s got a large variety of skills. He can stand on the perimeter and hit shots or drive to the basket and pull up. And he does slash across the lane very well. He plays on and off the ball very well. He’s an outstanding player as well and all that put into terms for Concord, they’re getting an unselfish, hard-working, determined kid that just wants to win. When you have a kid like that it’s what you want to round out your program with. I’m proud of John because he’s been that type of kid for me for seven years because I coached him in middle school.”
In terms of academics, Rose has narrowed his studies down to two fields, though both are different.
“Either I’m going to be a doctor in the sports realm or I’ll do journalism probably,” Rose smiled.
In the meantime Rose, who has improved every year of his career, knows he needs to continue working to crack the lineup. He already has an idea of what he wants focus on.
“I definitely want to get more weight on me,” Rose said. “I want to put on a lot of weight. I’m kind of slim so I want to get more weight and most importantly I want to get better at defense and defending people. That’s a big deal. I want to get better at handling the ball and some of the other stuff too. You can never be too good at everything.”
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