TINTON FALLS, N.J. — Team Rio was a few minutes into their showcase game against South Jersey Blitz last Sunday when Bryan Antoine, 6-foot-3 guard in the Class of 2019, poked the ball loose and ran a one-man fast break that resulted in a one-handed dunk. The packed gym at Ranney School yelled out in support.
On the other end of the court was Antoine’s backcourt-mate and best friend, 6-foot-4 Scottie Lewis, clapping his hands.
When it comes to Antoine, Lewis is always in his corner, and vice versa.
The two Class of 2019 guards are being treated as a package deal at this point.
“We’ve pretty much been offered by the same teams, the same colleges because we play together and the way we play,” Lewis told SNY.tv. “Right now we only have offers from Seton Hall, Rutgers, Villanova, Florida, VCU, Rutgers, Colgate, Temple, UConn. Kansas has interest.
“[Kansas] is calling our coach, not us yet. They want to see us play more.”
Lewis and Antoine first met in Georgia at a NYBL tournament when they were in sixth grade. Back then, the two ultra-talented guards weren’t teammates.
“I remember the first time I saw you,” Antoine said, looking over at Lewis. “I dropped 40 on you, right?”
“Yeah, you did,” Lewis confirmed.
Fast-forward a few years, Lewis and Antoine are in their ninth grade year playing together for both Ranney School and Team Rio. With college offers piling in for the both of them, talk of their future together is hard to get away from.
“That’s a very, very, very common question.” Antoine says when asked if he would want to play with Lewis at the next level.
“We have three years to make our decision,” Lewis says. “First, what we’re going to school for – majoring wise and minoring wise from the academic aspect of it. But from the athletic aspect of it, it would be pretty cool to go to the same school with Bryan just because that much chemistry that we have already going right in to college, with your best friend.”
Finding Antoine in the corner for an attempt from behind the arc is the lethal chemistry the two guards possess. Lewis, who describes himself as driver, knows his best friend’s strengths on the court.
“We’ve been playing together for a long time,” Lewis said. “I know how much of a great player Bryan is. When he’s doing his thing, he’s a natural born bucket, that’s just what he does. He goes and gets buckets.”
Antoine may be a “natural born bucket” as Lewis calls him, but he also works hard on his shot.
“I’m in the gym four days a week,” Antoine said. “All I pretty much do in the gym is shoot around. If you see me miss one or two three’s, it’s not really common, but it happens every once in a while.”
On Team Rio, Lewis and Antoine are the de facto top players. The team goes as those two do, but the mindset of the best friends is that there is always enough of the ball to go around.
“When he’s scoring, I’m going to go get the rebounds, dive on the floor, block every shot, his thing is scoring,” Lewis said. “Defense, rebounding and highlight reels are my thing. He’s more of a fundamentals, skill shooter. We complement each others games very much.”
While Antoine is pegged as the scorer of the two, his favorite part of the game comes when he can get Lewis into free space.
“Not even kidding, on the fast break if I see him coming down the lane, I can throw to the top backboard and he’ll still dunk it,” Antoine said. “I know me and him are teammates and best friends, but no matter what that’s pretty crazy.”
The two guards who are the driving force behind both Ranney School and Team Rio share the court all year round. For the forseeable future, that doesn’t look to change.
But to these two freshman, the bond is much more than basketball.
“It’s all brotherhood.” Antoine said.
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
NTeam Rio was a few minutes into their showcase game against South Jersey Blitz last Sunday when Bryan Antoine, 6-foot-3 guard in the Class of 2019, poked the ball loose and ran a one-man fast break that resulted in a one-handed dunk. The packed gym at Ranney School yelled out in support.
