SIGNING WITH THE PATS

Whitley County senior Mike Storms has decided to further his career on the hardwood by signing with the University of the Cumberlands junior varsity with hopes of moving up to the varsity in a couple of years.

“It’s close to home and it’s a good opportunity for me,” Storms said. “I’ve always wanted to go the Cumberlands. I like their basketball program and I think I have a good chance to work my way up to the varsity.”

“I know I need to get stronger and work on my foot speed and work on my ball-handling,” said Storms.

“This is a great opportunity for him,” said Whitley County Coach Chris Baker. “When you look at the caliber of the program that he is going into, this is a team that plays for national championships every year and they have the luxury of signing Mikey and letting him play JV for a couple of years and letting him develop.”

“You are talking about a kid that only played two years of varsity basketball,” Baker said. “Because of injuries he has never really gotten to play much in the summer, he has a huge upside,” he said. “I am proud that he can go to a school of this caliber and have a chance to compete.”

“When a school that plays for national championships will take a chance on a kid I think it makes our school look so much better,” said Baker. “Considering a couple of years ago we were getting beat badly, and now we have a kid that is getting this kind of opportunity, I think it speaks volumes for his work ethic and for how far our program has come.”

“He understands there will have to be some physical development on his part,” said Baker. “He has to get bigger and strong and he will have to work on his foot speed. At that level it’s a whole new game.”

“Everybody is bigger, stronger and faster,” Baker said. “He is going to have to take the time to develop himself. He will have to be patient. He is still learning the game and as that develops along with his physical body. As it matures physically, the sky’s the limit and he understands that but it is going to take a lot of work.”

“Mikey is in a unique position,” said Cumberlands assistant coach Mark Vernon. “I still think he is developing and will grow, in fact I think he has grown to about 6’6.”

“He will start out on our JV team,” Vernon said. “They biggest adjustment for any high school kid is the speed of the game. But, he has an advantage were he will be here all summer. Even though he will play JV he will be able to lift with us and play some pick-up games with the varsity guys. That will help him start adjusting. There is no rush process, he will be able to work and mature enough to be able to one day move up.”

“It’s one of those things that is pretty much on his shoulders, how hard he works. He is unique being 6’6, he can spread the floor and shoot it, he has great skills but needs to get a little stronger, everybody does coming out of high school,” said Vernon.

“It’s all about how hard he wants to work and how dedicated he wants to be,” said Vernon.