Sideline Scene: Dr. Phillips boys hoops moves forward after transfers

WINTER GARDEN — The summer team for the Dr. Phillips boys basketball program improved to 14-1 on June 20 with wins over West Orange, Lake Nona and Timber Creek.

Watching coach Anthony Long’s athletes perform, you’d hardly know that the team had been dealt a significant blow just a day earlier. 

Word spread June 19 that the Panthers would be losing three key players — 6-foot-6 wing Chaundee Brown, 6-foot-7 forward Malik William and 5-foot-11 guard Elijah Jordan.

The rumors turned out to be true: All three have enrolled at The First Academy.

For most programs, the loss of three players of that caliber would be a crippling blow. Brown, in particular, is an elite wing player who has attracted interest from Division I programs including Alabama, George Mason, Kansas State and Vanderbilt. The talented wing played a key role in helping the program reach the state playoffs a season ago, where the Panthers upset top-ranked Evans before being upset, themselves, by an upstart Boone team.

Although their departures certainly have removed Dr. Phillips from the conversation of being a state-title favorite — at least until games start in the late fall — Long still remains optimistic about the players who will be suiting up for his program.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was disappointed, because they’re very good players and very good kids,” Long said. “We’re going to move on — we’re having a great summer. (The players transferring) doesn’t change any of the goals we have in our program. I like the guys that we have, and we’re going to play with the guys (who) want to be at DP.”

Long’s goals haven’t changed: Win the Metro Conference, win the district and then continue on to region and state. Although the Panthers have won at least 20 games in each of the past 22 seasons, a state championship has eluded the program throughout its run of excellence.

Coming back for Dr. Phillips are two-sport star Jaquarius “Q” Bargnare, along with Justin Tucker and Nick Smith. In addition to growing as individuals, it will be crucial for the trio to develop as leaders — helping to bring along talented players such as Richard McKenzie and Jaquan Burton who now will get a larger opportunity to showcase what they can do.

Always classy and self-aware, Long acknowledged that no one will be feeling sorry for his program at Dr. Phillips, given it has benefited plenty from transfers, itself, over the years. He said the program always has been fortunate to have good players and that will help it persist in spite of a notable setback. 

“We’ve been good for 20 years because we have great players rolling through our school on a continuous basis,” Long said. “A lot of programs (the transfers) would cripple — but we’re still moving on and doing what we do.”

Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].