Mount Vernon's Isaiah Cousins in demand - Senior's stock has soared since fall

Mount Vernon's Isaiah Cousins in demand 

 Senior's stock has soared since fall

ALL-MET ELITE

With the AAU season over and August melting into September, Isaiah Cousins made a decision about his college future. Actually, the Mount Vernon senior’s decision was there would be no decision at all. Not yet anyway.Sure, Cousins had suitors, but he also trusted that more were bound to chase him. “I was just basically waiting because I knew the hard work was going to pay off,” he said. “I knew it was going to happen one day for me.” So Cousins kept working, and kept waking up before dawn every morning for daily shooting sessions at the YMCA. Months later, the 6-foot-4 senior has reaped the rewards for both his patience and diligence, exploding as a recruit and earning well more than a dozen scholarship offers, several from high-major Division I programs. “I’ve never had a senior explode like this,” said Bob Cimmino, who has coached Section 1’s “Mr. Basketball” the last seven seasons, including Cousins. “He’s been recruited as high as any player I’ve ever had. With Jabarie (Hinds) it was a gradual climb. Ben (Gordon), it was a gradual climb. With Isaiah, it was overnight.”Case in point: Late in the summer, Cousins’ scholarship offers came from low to mid-majors. On Wednesday afternoon, Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger and assistant Lew Hill (a Mount Vernon graduate) both lingered at practice, as did former Manhattan coach Barry Rohrssen.  Cousins’ ever-changing national profile now includes schools like UConn, Dayton, Xavier, Rhode Island, Villanova, and Virginia Tech, all of which have flocked to Mount Vernon games to catch a glimpse of the lithe point guard, whose star began to rise last fall during a string of 30-point efforts at the famed IS8 basketball tournament. It was there respected tri-state scout Tom Konchalski stamped Cousins a high-major recruit. Konchalski’s word reverberated, Cimmino said, and Cousins lived up to his billing at big events up and down the coast during the high school season. “People slowly started to notice,” Cimmino said. “It’s not that he’s a freak, but there aren’t many 6-foot-4 point guards who can dribble as well as him, shoot as well as him and who are gym rats. He’s the complete package.”  Konchalski became most familiar with Cousins last summer. He recommended him to Nike for “Breakfast Club” workouts that were operated for elite talent in New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. Cousins was among 10 players recommended to Nike by Konchalski, along with the likes of Omar Calhoun of Christ the King, Leroy Fludd of Boys & Girls, and Daniel Dingle and Kerwin Okoro of St. Raymond. The players were run through grueling workouts by Idan Ravin, the athletic trainer for All-Stars Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony. “I never saw kids work so hard in my life,” Konchalski said. “Of all the kids there, Isaiah Cousins had the best footwork by far. He just had the best feet and he had really good stamina.” After the graduation of Hinds, a two-time “Mr. Basketball,” Cousins’ improved conditioning has allowed him to benefit from assuming the role of team leader. He added 15 pounds of muscle and now weighs 181 pounds, but hopes to creep closer to 200 before starting college in the fall. Cousins’ size and skill set are what make him such a compelling prospect. Konchalski said Cousins is the top unsigned recruit in the state. The list of schools in contention for him has been narrowed to five finalists: Oklahoma, UConn, Xavier, Virginia Tech and Dayton. He will visit the schools once Mount Vernon completes its season Sunday, with a trip to Oklahoma first up on Monday. Cousins said there were no favorites, at least not until he completes at least some of the official visits, which should happen between now and spring break. He hopes to make a decision in early April and is in search of a school that wants him as a point guard. “I just want a coach who will let me play how I play,” he said. He never thought anyone saw his full capabilities until this season. Judging by the number of coaches buzzing to his side these days, Cousins was right.  “This is what I was playing for,” he said. “If they offered me (last summer), they hadn’t seen what I was really capable of. I was just waiting until everyone saw what I really could do.”