MORGANTOWN – Last year, Morgantown High secured a fast-break, slashing guard threat in Xavier Pryor. Coming from Northern Garrett (Md.), Pryor had a lot to learn about coach Dave Tallman’s system, but after a few games, he seemed to be getting a solid grasp of it.
“For me, I see that I know the system of our offense and defense better, just the overall understanding of our team,” Pryor said. “If coach Tallman ever needs me, I can help out on the court now. I’m basically another coach to my teammates.”
Pryor quickly lived up to his expectations, becoming the guy to guard on fast transition plays or to watch out for kick-outs to Mac McMillen or Alex Rudy behind the arc. Further, it was best to get set defensively before he put a foot in the paint on a drive, or an ensuing foul could alter the course of an entire game. This year, as a senior, Pryor is still that threat with some key improvements – ones the senior is incredibly happy with now that he’s stepping into a big role.
“Rudy and Mac were pretty big scorers in our system, so I’ll need to fill that,” Pryor said. “I think I can step up to do that. We have others that can step up like Brooks Gage, Jalen Goins, a lot of kids that came up to varsity that I think can totally fill the spots and positions we lost from last year. They surprised me, they got a lot better from last year. I think it will be great.
“The main thing I focused on during the off-season was my shooting. It wasn’t as much as a go-to as my driving. I’ve been getting a ton of shots up, getting consistent with it.”
Tallman is impressed with Pryor’s advancements, too.
“Xavier is a lot of fun to be around,” Tallman said. “He’s doing a great job as a senior leader and we’re lucky to have him. He’s really buying into what we’re doing this year. He’s doing a great job of setting the pace and being aggressive. His teammates love playing with him because he’s getting them a lot of open looks with his unselfishness.
“He’s also a defensive stopper for us and will give opposing team’s guards a lot of problems. He’s going to have a great senior season. He’s an awesome kid.”
Despite his coach taking things one day at a time, Pryor has a big goal in mind. Truly a high goal for anyone to set while looking at the format of this year’s basketball season, Pryor wants to lead the Mohigans to the first-ever 4A state title. With a solid corps of guards around him, such as Gage and Goins, plus fellow seniors Luke Bechtel, Carson Poffenberger and Cam Rice, Morgantown is primed to, at the very least, make a solid run at the title. Not much will change in terms of the competition pool, and with a deep bench that Tallman has been building over years, the team could pull the goal off.
Still, there are going to be hurdles to get over if the team wants to hold the trophy at the end of the state tournament. In Pryor’s eyes, the biggest threat to the Mohigans is themselves.
“We just have to come out to play every time,” he said. “We have all the pieces we need. The only team that I think can beat us is ourselves.”
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