By John Tatter, Staff Writer
Senior Xavier Coles started playing basketball at his local Kernersville YMCA at age six. It was there that his love for basketball flourished. Since then, Coles has not looked back and continued to play with the same passion and intensity as when he was six years old. That passion is still readily and easily seen in the way he plays for Reynolds. In his second year of playing on varsity, his work ethic and fierce love for the game takes him a long way in the eyes of his teammates and coaches.
“Xavier has an exceptional work ethic and comes in and works hard everyday,” Coach Billy Martin said.“Xavier is an example of what a good teammate should be.”
Coles’ hustle and intensity is not just limited to games. According to teammate Carl Phipps, Coles is constantly working hard and striving to improve himself in practice as well.
“Xavier never stops grinding, he is always going 100 percent in both practice and games,” Phipps said.
Coles credits the passion he has for the game to his father.
“My biggest inspiration is my dad because he was his high school’s superstar for basketball and football and he has always pushed me to do my best on and off the court,” Coles said. “I look up to him and the fact that he was so good at the sport made me want to play it too.”
Coles has big plans for his future as he is currently deciding between three colleges: North Carolina A&T, Howard University and Hampton University. Coles plans on pursuing careers in either sports marketing or fitness management at one of these colleges. He hopes to walk on and continue his basketball career at one of these colleges, but if that does not work out he plans on playing post high school basketball in some sort of a league.
Coles is going to leave Reynolds basketball with plenty of great memories, but his favorite will always be the team’s recent victory against conference rival Mount Tabor.
“My favorite basketball memory at Reynolds would have to be this past win against Tabor, at Tabor, on their senior night, giving them their first conference loss of the season,” Coles said. “No win has ever felt that good, not even when we beat them last year at Reynolds or when we won the Frank Spencer tournament.”
Coles hopes to make many more memories in the future as he finishes out his basketball career with Reynolds. Coles is excited about the future and hopes that Reynolds basketball can make a run in the Central Piedmont Conference tournament this season.