Rebuilding year for Butler High School
Phenom Hoop Report travelled to Matthews, North Carolina to cover Butler High School on opening day of the Phenom Open Gym Tour. For head coach Myron Lowery, the 2019-2020 basketball season will be a rebuilding season. Coach Lowery loses 72% of its scoring punch and four seniors who contributed to a highly successful 20-7 record playing in the tough NCHSAA Southwestern 4A conference. Gone from the starting lineup is Raquan Brown (20.6 PPG), Rajuan Connor (11.0 PPG), Brayden Dixon (10. 7 PPG), and Christian Peters (6.6 PPG).
With open gyms, coaches start with the basics and that was the case and point for coach Myron Lowery. The first part of practice was going over team defensive principles with 3 on 3 defensive “shell.” With a young team, coaching and instruction to detail are imperative and that was the major emphasis for open gym. That being said, coach Lowery instilled some half court control scrimage which gave us a very good indication of what to look for this coming season.
5’8 2021 Jordan McPhatter
We have seen Jordan McPhatter countless times with his travel ball team and quite extensively for his high school team during summer team camp. Make no mistake about it, McPhatter will be the heart and soul of the Butler team. He’s the team floor general and the passer friendly point guard is blessed with outstanding quickness and a big heart. Yes, he may be somewhat undersized, but McPhatter has used his size, quickness, and athleticism to his advantage. The crafty, highly skilled and omniscient floor general will provide outstanding leadership. He simply leads by example and his quiet, calm, and poised demeanor will be looked upon by coach Lowery. McPhatter does an excellent job of reading defense, double teams and getting into the paint time and time again. In addition, McPhatter is an excellent “on ball defender” and has terrific lateral quickness. He moves his feet extremely well and has active hands. Last, but not least, don’t leave him open from the perimeter. McPhatter can score from the 3-point line with a high rate of efficiency.
6’11 2022 Patrick Wessler
With Patrick Wessler, what you currently see is not the finished product, which is often the case for someone his age and size. That being said, you can’t teach 6’11 and his overall advanced skill set. We’re talking about a southpaw that has an ultra smooth and fluid jump shot and has the ability to utilize the jump hook shot over either shoulder. While he doesn’t have the vertical explosion, which will come with maturity and time in the weight room, Wessler does an excellent job of posting up on the low block. More importantly, Wessler is a very patience and is a will passer out of the post and will work hard to re-establish low post position. In addition, Wessler is highly effective at the high post where he sets fundamentally sound picks and rolls correctly to the rim and has the ability to read the defense and “slip” on the pick and roll. Currently, he has passer friendly hands and his basketball IQ is simply off the charts. As one college coach stated in attendance, “Wessler plays ahead of the game.”
6’2 2021 Moses Payne
Moses Payne was unable to participate the majority of the scrimmage due to an injury. That being said, we have seen him several times at Phenom camps and team summer camp. Payne is an intelligent player that works extremely hard and chases rebounds on both ends of the court. In speaking with assistant coach Curtis Wessler, he stated, “Payne is electric with the ball in his hands. He is just so fast and has blazing end to end speed. He’s definitely our “glue” guy and is always assigned the opposing teams best player. He is just so versatile and has the ability to guard multiple positions.”
6’1 2021 Jesse Taylor
Every team needs that tough as nails blue-collar workhorse and Jesse Taylor fit this to a tee. The strong and athletic guard plays with passion and purpose and just does a little bit of everything. He simply gets after it on defense and was excellent in providing weak side defense. Taylor may not look to score, but his presence will be felt strongly on the defensive end of the court and providing vocal leadership
