By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

GRANITE QUARRY — Dylan Valley was really good at basketball but he was never saw his life revolving around putting a ball through a hoop.

The priority for the East Rowan graduate was always the books, and while he’s proud that he scored 1,028 points for the Mustangs, he’s smart enough to realize that being valedictorian for the Class of 2023 is going to be the bigger of his high school accomplishments in the long run.

“The goal was never to play college basketball — the goal was to become a college student,” Valley said. “I love sports to death, but it’s always been academics first for me.”

That statement provides some insight into what makes Valley tick. There’s nothing average about him except his size — 5-foot-10, 150 pounds.

Valley is this year’s male winner of the J.T. Bost Award, a countywide Rowan honor that recognizes sportsmanship and leadership and playing the games the right way. Valley gave all he had every night, just as Bost gave every game he umpired or officiated all he had until his tragic death in 2018.

Previous winners of the award were North Rowan’s Malcolm Wilson, Salisbury’s Christian Morgan and South Rowan’s Jacob Ritchie. They were exceptional athletes who earned reputations as top-notch people. Valley will fit right in.

“I always tried to put my teammates first,”  Valley said. “Because when you’re part of a team, everyone on that team matters. Everyone’s got a role to play. You try to find what your role is and then help everyone else find theirs.”

Valley has grown up in a Carolina blue bedroom and has traveled to Chapel Hill to watch the Tar Heels play frequently, so there was never any doubt which college he would choose when the time came. He plans to major in biology.

“I want to do something in the medical profession, but I’m not sure exactly what field,” Valley said. “But I’ll be at my dream school and I’ll have some time to figure out what I’m passionate about.”

Growing up, baseball was at least as important as hoops for Valley. He put in years on the diamond for coach Brian Hightower along with a talented group of athletes in his age group. As the years went by, some of them outgrew him and moved past him, but Valley never considered giving up the sport. He hung in there, played his role to the end, and as a senior he was an important player for the Mustangs.

He pitched in 14 games, went 3-0 and helped the Mustangs win championships.

“Baseball was a big part of my life,” Valley said. “I got to play with really talented guys, and I think being a role player in baseball helped me relate to all the guys on our basketball team.”

No one saw Valley becoming a prolific scorer in his middle school days. He was a point guard, a floor general, at Erwin Middle School. His job was to get the ball to tall post man Cameron Padgett, who is now a scholarship baseball pitcher at UNC.

“Then my freshman year at East, I was on the varsity at the start of the season and I scored 15 points against South Rowan — on five 3-pointers,” Valley said. “I realized then I could score some, but I was so small then. The Iredell guys we were playing were so much bigger and stronger. I knew I’d have to get in the weight room if I was going to compete.”

Carson, East’s biggest rival, paid him the ultimate compliment. The Cougars face-guarded the freshman.

Valley averaged 7.2 points as a freshman and did well enough that he set a career goal for himself — 1,000 points. No male had done that at East since 2008.

That goal was not about personal glory, it was about leaving something behind him at a school that meant everything to him.

“I love East Rowan,” Valley said. “I really wanted to leave a mark in the record books.”

His sophomore season was the COVID season. He averaged 9.6 points, but the Mustangs played about half of a normal season. Valley scored only 125 points. Getting to 1,000 seemed out of reach.

But Valley took a big jump from his sophomore season to his junior season. He’d begun his high school career as a shooter who could be chased off the 3-point line by a determined defender, but he was a creative scorer his last two seasons, mixing drives and pullups with those 3-point bombs and earning more free throws. He was one of the county’s top players those last two seasons, averaging 15.9 points as a junior and 17.7 as a senior.

“We’d moved to the South Piedmont Conference for those last two seasons, and it was such a tough league,” Valley said. “I had my battles with Carson, playing against Emory Taylor and Cam Burleyson, who are two of my best friends off the court. I’d try not to get frustrated in any games, but that was tough against Central Cabarrus. When you play Central it’s a normal game for the first two minutes, but then you look up after four minutes, and you’re in trouble. Central was just so quick. When I was a kid I’d go to Jim Baker’s camps at Catawba, so it was crazy to see him coaching Central Cabarrus. They’d be up 30 on us and he’s yelling, ‘Don’t let Valley shoot!’ And I’m like, “Come on, Coach, you’ve got the best team in the state. Let me shoot.'”

Valley finished his march to the 1,000-point milestone against Carson late in his career. It was a night when he scored 24 of East’s 38.

Justin Vanderford, East’s all-time scoring leader, came to the locker room to shake Valley’s hand when it was over, Valley will never forget that.

“My dad used to watch Vanderford play and told me stories about him,” Valley said. “He was kind of an idol when I was growing up. He’s shorter than me. It’s hard to believe someone that size could score 1,600 points.”

Valley spent his final days with East basketball working as hard as he ever had. He was thrilled to see nine of his teammates get in the scorebook against South Rowan in what would be his final victory with the program.

“I think of myself as a pretty friendly guy, but I did try to be honest with my teammates and push them hard as a senior,” Valley said. “Next year Tee (Harris) and I won’t be there, so it’s going to be up to them.”

Some small colleges were interested in Valley’s quick release and grit, but he never gave any senious thought to playing college basketball. He’s seen enough basketball to realize that even the D-II guards are taller, faster and stronger.

While he plans to be just a normal student at UNC, he was a super high school player.

No one can ever take that away from him.

And one day when he’s Dr. Valley he’ll come home and see that his mark is still in the trophy case and still in the record books.