A championship was on the line and a host of Division I college basketball coaches were looking on from the stands, but Daquan Cook couldn't help but glance in the direction of his Nike Baltimore Elite teammates on the sideline.
Cook, a rising junior from Digital Harbor, had guided Nike Baltimore Elite's 16-and-under team to the championship game of the Super Showcase AAU tournament Sunday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Fla. While the 6-foot-1 point guard was focused on the game, the No. 15 jersey draped over a chair on Nike Baltimore Elite's bench continually caught his eye.
"It was in my mind all the time," Cook said. "I couldn't stop looking at the bench, to be honest with you."
The No. 15 jersey for NBE had belonged to John Crowder, the 6-foot-8 power forward from Mount Carmel who was shot and killed July 5 in Northeast Baltimore. Cook said Crowder's memory served as motivation all weekend long for him and his NBE teammates, who toughed out a 58-57 win over All-Ohio Red on Sunday for the Super Showcase title."We just turned it on for this tournament," said Cook, who led NBE with 22 points and five steals on Sunday. "Other tournaments, we came up short. But we wanted to make sure we won this one … because we were playing for a purpose. We lost one of our teammates in a tragic way. So that motivated us to win this tournament."
Cook, Glenelg Country forward Isaiah Miles (12 points, 11 rebounds), City power forward Charles Tapper (10 points, eight rebounds) and John Carroll guard Ronald Scott (14 points) filled up the stat sheet for NBE, while Douglass guard Davon Vinnie came up with a crucial steal with less than a minute remaining to seal the win. Dunbar small forward Jamel Artis, Calvert Hall forward Julian Davis, McDonogh forward Kayel Locke and Centennial point guard Keonte Potts also contributed to NBE's championship.
"The first thing [you notice] is they know how to play basketball. As simple and stupid as that sounds, it means a lot when you have kids who know how to play," said Rivals.com recruiting analyst Brian Snow. "They always play together and they always play hard. … Isaiah Miles, when he walks in the gym, people are going to be flipping through their books wondering, 'Who is that kid?' Daquan is a point guard, so it's not quite the same look test as a big guy or a wing. But on the court, they sure know what they're doing."
NBE coach Darrell Corbett is no stranger to success on the AAU circuit. He guided Team Melo squads featuring Sean Mosley (Maryland), Malcolm Delaney (Virginia Tech) and Donte Greene (Sacramento Kings) to national championships earlier this decade. Memories of this 16-and-under team's title, however, will resonate for years to come.
"As a team, they were together the night before [Crowder died] because it was Fourth of July weekend. They were at the Inner Harbor," Corbett said. "His death just hit everybody real hard. After he died, we pretty much just dedicated the rest of the season in memory to him. … You still well up [when] you see his jersey on the bench. They just want to pay their respects because John was well liked, not just [by people] in Baltimore, but everyone who knew John."
Sunday's title game in Orlando won't be the last time NBE displays No. 15 on its bench. For Cook and his teammates, remembering Crowder positively is something they always plan to do.
"We call each other a family – the Nike Elite family," Cook said. "We've got good chemistry and we just work together. It's not like [a team of] individuals. It's just a whole team. … We knew John would've been happy about it. If he was down there with us, he would've wanted us to win. So it just felt good."
Handout photo of John Crowder.