By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
St. Mary’s basketball star Ayden Warren says he’s willing to work and wait if necessary for playing time in the Northwestern State basketball program.
His St. Mary’s coach, Jake Bankston, believes Warren may not have to wait long at all.
But in any case, Warren is in it for the long haul with the Demons of second-year head coach Rick Cabrera. He made that official Tuesday morning in a ceremony at the St. Mary’s gymnasium, where he scorched the nets as the Tigers had two highly-successful seasons.
“I’m willing to wait, work as hard as I can, and contribute to the team, with playing time sometime, hopefully in the near future. Even if that’s not in the first 2-3 years, maybe my fourth year, I’ll have a breakout season,” he said after signing a letter of intent with NSU. “I’m just going to work and hopefully it will all pay off.”
Demons’ assistant coach T.J. Cox headed recruitment of Warren, who considered some junior college and lower division opportunities but settled on Northwestern. Bankston thinks his 5-11 All-State shooting guard fills a need at NSU, a prospect endorsed by Cox.
“He pitched to Ayden that if he works hard enough, he can see results and find his way on the floor,” said Bankston. “He shoots it well enough to help them right away, a team that didn’t shoot it effectively from beyond the (3-point) arc. I think there are some ways he can contribute right away.
“Over the last two years his offensive game has been so spectacular. We had to add a lot of sets to get him the ball off screens, and he turned into a great offensive player. When he got here, his weakness was defensively he had shortcomings, but he turned into an excellent defender. A lot of kids, they just want to score, but Ayden bought into his role on the defensive side and made a huge change,” he said.
Warren averaged 17.8 points as a senior when he was a second-team Class A All-State selection, leading St. Mary’s to the district title and the state quarterfinals, just three points shy of a trip to Marsh Madness. Warren was the district MVP and played in the coaches’ state All-Star Game and the Fastbreak All-Star Classic.
Choosing Northwestern, where he will be a business administration major, had some basic influences – notably his willingness to challenge himself by playing with, and against, NCAA Division I competition.
“My family lives here in Natchitoches and I didn’t want to be too far away. My best route is to go this level. I’ll get more reps, and better reps, than a lot of other players by competing at this level,” said Warren. “Every part of my game can improve – shooting, ballhandling, defense, but mainly defense and ballhandling. I can compete but it’s a whole other level so I’ll have to improve in every way.”
Warren is undaunted about making the climb from small school high school ball to a program that annually lines up against Power 5 teams in non-conference games before a rigorous Southland Conference schedule.
“(St. Mary’s) is Class A, but we’ve played some top-tier, big school teams like ASH and Northside, and I’ve played AAU travel ball in the summer, so I have a lot of confidence I can compete with the best,” he said.
“I really like the way (the Demons) play, and I think I fit into their style – a drive and kick offense. I have to play a role, as a catch-and-shoot 3-point guy, and I believe I can definitely fulfill that role.”
While he approaches an uncertain future with confidence, he looks back on his two years at St. Mary’s gratefully.
“I loved it. When I moved here, it felt like family. I loved my teammates, fit in with the offense well, and everybody believed in me when I got here. We fell short of getting to the state tournament,” said Warren, “but I loved every minute of it.”
