Growing pains
Airedales’ Miles Kendrick has blossomed since putting his sole focus on basketball
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
Miles Kendrick is sitting at a table in Patti Webb’s trainer’s office, about 25 yards, give or take, from the 3-point line in the far corner of Charles B. Dyer Arena.
His left tire, or the size 13 ½ sneaker he wears is laying on the floor. Kendrick has a bit of a growth problem, which can be a good thing for rising basketball players and a curse for those wanting to enjoy other perils summer has to offer, like swimming and walking on the beach.
Kendrick has grown nearly four inches over the last few months. The one-time skinny seventh grader, whose green Airedale jersey once engulfed most of his smallish frame long before his body began to mature, is now a lean 6-foot-3. “We have some 6-7 and 6-8s in the family,” Kendrick said. “I have great uncles who are pretty tall.”
“That can be hard,” Alma basketball coach Dominic Lincoln said of Kendrick’s growth spurt. “They have to get used to their body and pain. I’m not a doctor, but he’s definitely grown quite a bit over the past year - I think he’s at 6-3 now. His game has grown, too.
“He’s a guy that has the potential to be a three-way scorer - shoot the ball (3-point line), get to the basket, and shoot free throws.”
This week, sore foot and all, Kendrick and his teammates stood tall while running roughshod over the County Line Indians during a brisk one-day team camp at Pottsville High School.
That first 3-pointer, the one that makes the net sing, is like striking gold. The heart is full, the hair is shinier, and the mood puts a smile on your face. It’s always been like this. After all, this is why Miles Kendrick put away his football pads and aluminum baseball bats.
Miles Kendrick is a basketball player.
But that 3-point shot? There are good moments when you visualize little kids along the front row of Dyer Arena chanting your name, and other times when it feels like the actual goal is no more than two inches around.
“You miss a couple and you don’t want to shoot again, (but) the coaches are in your ear telling you to keep shooting,” Kendrick said. “They want you to keep shooting. I love the coaching staff, (but) I get on myself sometimes when I’m not shooting well.
“They (coaches) will tell me to keep shooting. They want the best for you.”
Good chemistry
Back in 2019, as Kendrick was settling in at Alma Middle School, he had no idea how much potential his fellow seventh graders would soon possess. Reared in Charleston, where his dad coached the Tigers to back-to-back state football crowns in 2013-14, Kendrick soon found himself dealing with new-kid-on-the-block issues.
“It was hard at first because I really don’t talk much,” Kendrick said. “Also, on the basketball team at Charleston, I was the star, and here, I had a lot of good players around me, and I had to fit into it.”
Soon, Kendrick and teammates Israel Towns-Robinson, Camden Curd, Carmani Smith, and Matthew Rodgers would become the core of something special.
In 2021-22, Kendrick and Co. helped lead longtime junior high coach Eddie Corder to the school’s first-and-only River Valley conference championship. (The core of the old River Valley league has since disbanded).
“We have really good chemistry; we’ve been playing together since the seventh grade,” Kendrick said. “Now we’re going to be juniors, running the same offense and playing with each other for so long. We’ve all built each other up and we have each other’s back.”
‘Business-like’
“They have a very business-like attitude,” Lincoln said. “They’re very close off the court and they have fun, but it’s very business-like on the court. I love that about them; they don’t get too high or too low.”
Lincoln believes Alma’s young squad keep things in check during last season’s 4-10 finish in the 5A-West.
“I think that helped us get through last year,” he said. “They just stayed even-keel all the way through.”
“I feel like we're quiet, but at the same time we’re all playing for the same cause,” Kendrick said. “No one is really a leader by themselves; we’re together.”
Choosing basketball
Six years ago, Kendrick wasn’t unlike most 12-year-olds who still had their feet rooted in other sports. Kendrick was once a good quarterback prodigy, and he and Curd played at a high level for the same travel baseball team.
Now, save a few weeks as a member of Alma’s golf team, Kendrick is a basketball-only player. To be fair, Kendrick plays golf, too, though high school golf season is just a few weeks long.
“I don’t really miss it (other sports), but I have to admit it’s a whole lot easier,” Kendrick said. “I don’t think my body could handle everything I’m doing now. I feel like quitting football and baseball helped me grow as a basketball player.”
“Ever since Miles quit football and focused on basketball and golf, he’s become a good player,” teammate Carmani Smith said. “He can drive, he can shoot … he’s gotten a lot better.”