When the Everett Explosion opened their doors last fall and offered tryouts to every Tom, Dick and Harry who had a pair of high-tops and a six-foot jumper, the International Basketball League expansion team wasn’t looking for any go-to guys.
The Explosion already had several high-caliber players on their roster, so they didn’t need a face of the franchise. They already had five potential starters, so they weren’t necessarily looking for any of those either. And while the Explosion were looking to add a little local flavor, they weren’t even desperate enough to find guys who would actually play.
As it turns out, Everett found all those things. A trio of players with local ties have not only played valuable minutes, but they’ve also been catalysts in the Explosion’s rise to the top of the IBL’s West Division.
“I didn’t really know what the IBL was when I got here,” said 29-year-old center Mike Jones, who played at Cascade High School, “so the only thought in my mind was that we were going to go out and win.”
The Explosion are doing just that, thanks in large part to Jones and a pair of teammates who teach in the Marysville school district.
Darrell Walker, a Marysville-Pilchuck High School graduate and current teacher at Marysville Middle School, has been the starting point guard and floor leader since training camp started. Corby Schuh, who grew up in eastern Washington but now teaches at Marysville Junior High, recently joined the starting lineup while the Explosion were on their way to six consecutive wins.
And then there is Jones, who might be the least likely contributor of them all.
The 6-foot-10 Jones had all but given up on his basketball career after playing at the Edmonds Community College and the University of Alaska-Fairbanks in the late 1990s. He continued to play pickup basketball, sometimes running into former teammates who were playing professionally overseas. They continued to encourage Jones to give it one last shot, and so when he heard about the Explosion’s open tryout, he did.
Still searching for big bodies to patrol the lane, the Explosion signed Jones even though he was a bit raw and out of shape. He steadily improved, eventually earning a starting spot in a win over Tacoma last week.
After Jones had a workmanlike four points and five rebounds in that game, head coach Randy Redwine marveled at how far the big guy had come.
“These last few games, Mike Jones has really shown me something,” Redwine said after the win over Tacoma eight days ago. “If I had to evaluate the bigs that we have right now, he’d be at the top of the list.”
Jones was told before the game that he was going to get his first career start, but he kept the secret from everyone but his wife. When his parents, two children and family friends showed up for last Wednesday’s game against Tacoma, they were surprised to hear Jones’s name among the announced starters.
“My mom almost started crying,” said Jones, who helped shut down Tacoma’s inside game.
Jones, who graduated from Cascade in 1996, called the starting opportunity “definitely the highlight of my basketball career, just to be able to get a start for a professional basketball team in my hometown.”
He was one of three local players in the starting lineup that night. Walker made his 10th start of the season for the Explosion (10-2), while Schuh was starting in place of injured star Rashaad Powell.
Walker and Schuh are pretty used to playing alongside each other, having spent a season together at Everett Community College in the late 1990s. They also play pickup games together three times a week and were teammates on back-to-back championship teams in the Tulalip Casino 3-on-3 tournament.
“We’ve played so much together,” Schuh said. “He’s the point guard, so he’s the one who distributes the ball, and he always knows where I’m going to be. My role is to be out at the 3-point line, but if I penetrate, I know where Darrell is going to be so I can kick the ball to him if needed.”
Schuh, also 29, has started back-to-back games but knows his time as a starter is limited. Powell came off the bench to make a surprise return from a knee injury in Sunday’s win over Portland, and he could return to the starting lineup for tonight’s game against the Central Oregon Hotshots (6-5).
But Schuh made quite an impression when his opportunity with the Explosion came around.
And he’s not the only local player who can say that.
With Walker, Schuh and Jones – not to mention recent acquisition Tyler Amaya, who played high school basketball just north of Snohomish County in Mount Vernon – the Explosion are getting plenty of contribution from local players who just want to give back to their community.
Explosion tops in the West: With their win over Portland on Sunday, Everett moved to third in the Massey Rankings Index, which tracks IBL teams based on a number of categories. The Explosion (10-2) are the highest-ranked team from the West, behind just Elkhart (Ind.) and Marysville (Ohio). Both of those teams have identical 13-2 records and are tied for the lead in the East Division. … During the Explosion’s six-game winning streak, which dates back to last month, their average margin of victory is 22.3 points. The closest game during that span was a 16-point win over Seattle on May 1.
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