As a football star, Opelousas Catholic's Keon Coleman has made a name for himself as a 4-star recruit. He has offers from Texas, USC and Ole Miss, among others. But as good as he is on the gridiron, he may be even better on the court.
"To be honest, I always felt like I was one of the best to step on the court" Coleman says. "I always had the mindset that imma make it."
"You can see things on film," OC Head Coach Jeff Dupre says. "But to witness it in real life. The speed, the ease, the fluidness. It takes it to a whole different level."
Coleman is averaging close to 33 points per game, while leading the Vikings to a 10-6 record. And it's all happening with style.
"In 8th grade, I planned out all the stuff I wanted to do in high school. The dunks, all the stats and all that." Coleman explains. "My junior year, I was like I want to windmill in a game. I want to 360 in a game, I want to reverse dunk. I want to do all of this, dunk on somebody. It just all started happening. Everything I say, I'm manifesting. It's coming true.
The senior got to scratch one goal off his checklist this month, when he scored a career high 63 points against Sacred Heart.
"I didn't realize it till after the game. When they brought the score book to me and the scorekeeper was like I did the math 7 times," Dupre recalls. "You can stick me out there for 8 minutes with no one on the court, and I'd have trouble scoring 63."
"When you're 10, 11 (years old). You're watching people like De'Aaron Fox, Russell Westbrook in high school dropping 30, 40, 50, 60 points," Coleman says. "If I want to be mentioned as great like them, I have to put up some numbers."
This fall, Coleman de-committed from Kansas. Next week, on national signing day, he will sign somewhere else hoping to prove doubters wrong by securing roster spots on both basketball and football teams.
"I got comments screenshot in my phone. We're playing games live, and people are commenting. 'Man, he's a 4 or 5 star receiver. What is he doing? What is he doing? He need to stick to football.' I got it screenshot in my phone, I look at it every day." Coleman expresses. "If you come and watch a game and I do exactly what you said I couldn't do, there's no more doubt left on you. You could hate forever, but the doubt eventually gone stop."
"My family is counting on me. My mama, my grandmother, my brothers and sisters. My brothers didn't really get to go to the college level. They didn't have as many of the smaller school (offers), the media to help them. They counting on me to cash in and I gotta cash in."
------------------------------------------------------------
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
To reach the newsroom or report a typo/correction, click HERE.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Evening News Headlines, Latest COVID-19 Headlines, Morning News Headlines, Special Offers