By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

SPENCER — It’s been a productive and successful summer for North Rowan’s boys basketball program.

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” said Jason Causby, who has logged 273 wins in his 17 seasons as a head coach in Rowan County, with the most recent 102 coming at North. “I’ve kind of figured out what works and what doesn’t work as far as a summer schedule. I  believe the summer is extremely important. You can learn to win in the summer.”

North did a lot of winning in June.

North unofficially kicked off new basketball season with a mini-camp as the school year was wrapping up.

“The numbers who show up for the mini-camp are usually a good indicator of the kind of summer we’re going to have,” Causby said. “Sometimes there’s only three or four on the second day. This time we had 15 guys.”

North hit the hardwood hard for a month before resting, taking vacations and getting focused mentally on football in July. Almost all of North’s top athletes are football/basketball combo guys.

“Of the 13 or 14 basketball guys who played with us all summer, 11 or 12 also are football guys,” Causby said.

North competed in team camps at High Point, Wake Forest and Catawba as well as Phenom Showcase and North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association events.

At High Point, North lost to Reidsville and Davidson Day, two state champions, but the Reidsville game was competitive — North led most of the first half — while the the Davidson Day game was a back-and-forth, one-point loss.

North beat two Central Piedmont Conference 4As and a quality team from Virginia at Wake Forest.

North went 5-2 at the Catawba camp while missing some football players who were needed for a 7-on-7 scrimmage.

In late June, North won both of its games in a North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association event in Advance, beating Holly Springs and a Northern Nash team with 6-foot-8 CJ Rosser, who is rated as of the state’s top young players.

“Those were teams we’d been hearing about and reading about and we were hoping to compete with them,” Causby said. “Our guys were excited to be on a big stage and we played our best basketball of the summer. We not only won, we won by playing the right way.”

North had a decent squad last season (15-13, with one playoff victory). The two most dependable scorers — George Maxwell and Amari Alexander — were seniors, but the Cavaliers still are a good bet to be stronger in 2024-25.

There are a couple of reasons for that.

Start with Dyzarious Carpenter, who showed flashes of great ability last season, but he was hit or miss. He might score 23, as he did against Thomasville, or he might score zero. He’s grown to 6-foot-4 now and made a serious jump in consistency this summer.

“He’d get the ball on the wing last season and he wasn’t sure whether to try to score or not,” Causby said. “Now he knows we’re counting on him to score or make a play. He’s added size and he’s added confidence.”

While there’s no high school transfer portal, North has gained a major edition. Emari Russell, the standout sixth man for 3A state championship teams at Central Cabarrus, is now a Cavalier. Russell’s father is Quentin McDaniel, a former Salisbury hooper who played for Causby. McDaniel also is the new assistant AD at North.

“Emari is a very dynamic player,” Causby said. “I’ve coached guys who can do some of the things he does, but he’s a very complete package, different than anyone I’ve had. He can control a game as a point guard but he also can score, and he’s a really strong defender. He snatches passes right out of the air and starts a break.”

Causby said other Cavaliers who have boosted their game quite a bit since last winter are JoJo Tarver, Dillon Mosely and Carter Williams.

“Tarver and Russell should be a backcourt that can bring intense defensive pressure and we can play very up-tempo,” Causby said. “We won’t be big, so we need to create turnovers and play fast. As far as Moseley, he may not be as electrifying as some of the guys around him, but he’s steady and he’ll make open shots. Williams is an outstanding perimeter defender and his shooting has improved.”

Two well-known guys are still around.

Jeremiah Alford, the football quarterback, only participated in basketball at the end of June, but it was no coincidence that’s when North played its best ball.

“He’s tough and he’s a leader and he’s one of those kids who is looking to make the right play every time,” Causby said.

Jauden Polk, a high-flying dunker who will be North’s leading returning scorer, missed about two-thirds of the summer games with an ankle injury, but he should be ready to soar in November. Causby already has a good idea of what he can do. He averaged 10.5 points per game.

“It was a really good summer for us,” Causby said. “Our guys competed at a high level. They know that if they keep working, they have a chance to be special.”