Neville See’s State Tournament in Sight
I’ve seen the social media talk during the high school basketball season. Time and time again, the comments are, “He can’t score enough, he can’t shoot, he can’t, he can’t, he can’t.” On this day though, the biggest game of his high school season, Kylan Neville is the lead guard and he’s hoping to help the Panthers into the state tournament. He’s not the flashiest, he’s not the most athletic, he’s not getting 25 to 30 every night but what he does is win. He was an all-district performer, made the all-district tournament team and was recently named the MVP of the regionals. He’s smart with the ball, capitalizes on opportunities to score, gets into the paint for the dish to teammates, Neville has been consistently good in his role all year.
Bartlett is one game away from the state and he’s a huge part of their success on the year. I had chance to speak with him last night about his team’s chances and more heading into tonight and hopefully beyond. What I found is Neville has only played the position a few years. Covid slowed his ability to develop with games early in his playing career and a back injury in middle school prevented him from playing and learning the position faster.
Kylan Neville: “I really didn’t get to play middle school, especially the point, I only played my 6th grade year so I’ve been able to learn a lot from Coach Real over the last 2 years.”
Chuck Lawson: Most think you don’t look to score much, but I think you’re a capable scorer. Why do people think you aren’t able to get buckets?
Kylan Neville: “I know I can score; I just like to make it easier for everyone else, everyone puts a lot of emphasis on R’Chaun (King) and Christian (Alston), so I like to make it easier for others and DJ too (DJ Mcintyre). I just want to put us in position to win, that’s all I care about.”
With Bartlett winning the regional, they get to host Dickson County tonight. Dickson County lost to Rossview and now get a really tough Bartlett team. The home game for Bartlett, in front of their home crowd with a state bid on the line, will be an explosive atmosphere.
Chuck Lawson: How do you think this game will play out?
Kylan Neville: “We have been watching film on them, they shoot the ball good so we can’t take them lightly. I know our seniors are going to play hard, it’s their last home game.”
At this time of year, anything can happen, and no team can be looked over as an easy win. Everyone playing right now is good in their own right.
Chuck Lawson: How will the team go beyond tonight and what will be the team’s attitude approaching the state tournament should you win?
Kylan Neville: “We have to stay locked in, stay loaded, we have to be locked in for 12 days, that’s our goal.”
Neville is only a junior, so he has another ride next season, and this upcoming summer is his last playing on the travel circuit. His recruitment has started with a Division 1 offer from Tennessee State University a year or more ago. Asked him about other colleges.
Kylan Neville: “Austin Peay and Georgia State have been keeping up with me mostly, yeah those are the main 2 schools right now.”
Neville has quietly put himself into the conversation as one of the city’s premier point guards and if they go on to win the state, that should “stamp” it even more.
