MORGANTOWN — It can be difficult to stay patient and wait your turn when the clock is ticking on your high school basketball career, but that’s what University High’s Austin Forbes had to do the last two seasons.
Forbes was a key member off the bench for the Hawks two seasons ago, on a team that won 16 games but fell a victory short of reaching the state tournament.
Last year, he broke into the starting lineup about half the time — rotating among Storm Leftridge and Ryan McCord, based on match-ups. When Forbes didn’t start, he was usually the first off the bench in helping UHS reach the state semifinals in one of the best — if not the best — seasons in school history.
Finally, as a senior, Forbes is getting his opportunity as a starting forward for a Hawks team sitting at 7-0 and looking to build on last season’s success.
“The season is going really good so far,” he said. “I started in a few games last year, but now it feels a little more normal and more comfortable. It makes it better when three other starters are players you’ve played with since middle school.”
Those three senior teammates are Ethan Ridgeway, Clay Bailey and Storm Leftridge, who all played together in middle school and worked their way up the ranks at UHS. Like Forbes, Bailey is new to the starting lineup, while Ridgeway has been a four-year varsity starter.
Kaden Metheny, the sophomore point guard, went to Mountaineer Middle, but gelled with the rest of the team.
Forbes was a natural shooting guard throughout his basketball career, but with UHS’s guard-heavy team, head coach Joe Schmidle needed him to move closer to the rim.
“He knew if he wanted to play more that he was going to have to switch positions,” Schmidle said. “He sacrificed his position to play forward, and he’s done such a good job offensively with his post moves around the basket. He’s played really well defensively, as well, and he’s guarded kids 2-3 inches taller than he is. He’s done all of this after suffering a major knee injury in June.”
Forbes dislocated his knee during the summer and did not play basketball in July or August, or in early fall leagues. He started playing again in late September, but the rust was still there.
“Rehab was hard,” Forbes said. “It was the most intense thing I went through in a short amount of time because I really wanted to play fall games with the team.”
Even when practice opened for the high school season, Schmidle said, it took Forbes a while to get back to normal.
“He literally got healthy around our first game,” Schmidle said. “It was like he lost a step, but he’s gotten back to where he was pre-injury.”
There has been a clear improvement in Forbes’ game while getting more minutes. He went from shooting 29 percent from
3-point range last year to 47 percent this season. He averages 14 points per game, as well as 3.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals.
Schmidle believes the offensive numbers improved because Forbes isn’t trying to do too much. He’s making better shot selections and isn’t turning the ball over as much.
Forbes’ on-the-court presence is also something that Schmidle loves to have on his team.
“Let me put it this way: Austin is the type of kid you love having on your team, but if you’re an opposing team, you can’t stand him,” Schmidle said. “He’s got a motor and will drive you crazy. He causes people fits and he’s good at what he does.”
It’s no secret why Forbes has the pedigree he does, coming from a family full of basketball gurus. His father, Todd, played at Morgantown High and helped coach in the Morgantown area, while his younger brother, Aaron, is an up-and-coming star as an eighth-grader at Westwood Middle.
Bucky Forbes, Austin’s cousin, is the new J.V. boys’ basketball coach at UHS, after spending time in Preston County. Ryan Forbes, another one of Austin’s cousins, plays on the Hawks’ J.V. team.
“They’re great people to have around,” Schmidle said of the Forbes family. “They’re very supportive, not only for their kids, but to everyone else’s kids. They’re the kind of people who go above and beyond. Their lives revolve around sports and it’s really good to have them associated around your program.”
Forbes and the Hawks will host Buckhannon-Upshur at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 6.
