At this point, Richardson High School basketball coach Kevin Lawson doesn’t know what else he can say about his star player.
For years now, college coaches, pro scouts and reporters have been calling for Lawson’s take, and he’s just about exhausted the accolades.
Asked again to sum up that star player, the longtime Texas high school coach said to hold on a second while he found an email that he had received the previous day. The message was sent by a woman who has supported Richardson basketball for years, regularly attending the team’s games with her husband.
“Unfortunately over the years, some of the talent has gotten into the players’ heads, and it becomes all about them and not the team,” she said in the email. “On rare occasions, you have a standout — someone who does not want the glory; someone who sees his team as bigger than himself. One night we noticed that when we saw one of your players who had been pulled off the court make room for other players. When a timeout was called, he got up and got water for each player. He was serving them. He showed the team was more significant than the one. And this young man is Cason Wallace.”
She then told the coach to please thank Wallace for setting such a good example for his teammates and anyone else who might have been watching.
“She just sent me that out of the blue, yesterday,” Lawson said after a pause. “When you guys call me, it’s hard to put it into words what he is. So it’s really cool that people are noticing that stuff.”
Wallace, of course, is signed to play basketball for the University of Kentucky next season, and few players in the country are enjoying a better senior season of high school. That’s thanks, in large part, to the team-first attitude that Richardson High supporter noticed from the stands.
“He’s so locked in to being able to help his teammates,” Lawson said. “To do whatever it takes for us to win. He’s OK if he scores 12 points and we win. It’s pretty incredible.”
With just a few weeks left in his high school basketball career, Wallace has already earned just about every individual accolade possible. He’s cemented himself as a top-10 national recruit. He committed to Kentucky on his 18th birthday. Last week, he was named a McDonald’s All-American.
Now more than ever, Wallace’s focus is on helping his team. The only thing that’s eluded him so far, Lawson said, is a state championship. Last season, Wallace led Richardson to its first state semifinal appearance in 34 years, but the run ended there.
Going into Tuesday night’s game, Richardson has a 25-1 record and is placed as the nation’s No. 2 team in this week’s high school rankings from ESPN.
Lawson said Wallace has come up huge in games against nationally ranked Duncanville (Texas) and Arizona Compass Prep, taking over in moments where his team needs it the most. Against lesser competition, the coach said Wallace goes in with the goal of getting a triple-double, not for the personal glory but because it’s the mark of all-around effort and unselfishness.
“The truth is, he’s doing everything to make sure we win. The kid is just a winner,” Lawson said. “And he doesn’t have to average 25-plus. He’s probably averaging 18 or 19 a game right now. He just makes sure everybody else is eating. Such an all-around great year. I really just feel like he knows what we need — what his team needs — every time.”
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Cason Wallace on the court
The aspect of Wallace’s game that seems to most consistently impress onlookers is his defensive effort. He’s a terrific and versatile perimeter defender, and he already projects as one of the best players in the country in that regard for the 2022-23 college basketball season.
What’s even more impressive is that Wallace is often in a spot where he’s orchestrating the team’s offense on one end and then defending the opponent’s best player on the other. There is no room to take possessions off, especially in the biggest games.
Lawson said Wallace’s defensive assignment could be a point guard in one game and a post player in the next. “There’s a reason why we’ve won a lot of games. He’s a big deal.”
Offensively, he’s just as versatile.
Wallace made noise over the summer on the Nike circuit, playing on the ball and leading his team to 12 consecutive wins against Peach Jam competition. He earned Nike league MVP honors and attention as perhaps the best point guard in his class. Yet, he can be just as effective playing off the ball.
“In my eyes, he’s clearly a top-five caliber kid,” said 247Sports analyst Brandon Jenkins. “Whether you want to call him a point guard or a combo guard — no matter what — he’s one of the best guards in high school basketball at this point. …
“I don’t think he gets a lot of credit for his intangibles. Cason has always been a winner and a top-notch defender, but he’s really skilled. He can score it, pass it, dribble it. He needs to continue to hone it, just make sure that he makes that full transition to the point guard spot.”
247Sports put Wallace at No. 6 overall in its recent update to the 2022 recruiting rankings.
Jenkins, who is based in Texas and has closely followed Wallace’s high school career, said some others in the talent-evaluation world see Wallace as a “high-floor, low-ceiling” player, someone who will surely be a very-good-to-great college player but might not have the “upside” to be a star at the highest level. Jenkins isn’t sure about that. To him, Wallace’s versatility, productivity and ability to adapt and thrive in different situations to this point might foretell similar success as he continues his basketball career.
“As an evaluator, I play games with myself like, ‘How does he compare to this guy? How does he compare to that guy?’ As of right now, he’s No. 6 in our rankings. But I don’t think it’s farfetched that we could look up 10 years from now and see that he might be the best player from his class,” Jenkins said.
“He might be one of those players who’s always going to be productive, and it just continues to translate. … There’s a lot that he can bring to the game for a long period of time.”
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Next stop: Kentucky basketball
Given the annual uncertainty of Kentucky’s roster, John Calipari is surely pleased that he has someone like Wallace in the mix for next season.
If Shaedon Sharpe returns to the program, he’ll likely be the star player most nights. That’d be fine with Wallace. If Sharpe leaves for the NBA Draft, someone else will have to be the catalyst for a team with major postseason expectations. Those around Wallace say he could thrive in that role, too, if asked to play it.
UK could return starting point guard Sahvir Wheeler next season, a move that would likely push Wallace off the ball. The Cats’ 2022 class also features five-star point guard recruit Skyy Clark, and maybe he’ll get the keys to the Kentucky offense next season. Or perhaps Calipari will turn to Wallace to run the show.
It’ll be several months before these scenarios play out, but the constant will be Wallace’s ability to adapt to whatever situation Calipari puts him in, even if that role changes from night to night.
“Cason is really good at doing whatever you need to win,” Lawson said. “And so if he has to play point guard the whole time, I think Kentucky is going to win a lot of games. And if he’s off the ball the whole time, I think Kentucky is going to win a lot of games. Kentucky’s staff is going to put him in the right position.
“But if he has to be the point guard, he’s going to be awesome. He does a great job of making the right pass at the right time to the right guy. That’s just something that — if you know basketball, and you’re watching it — you just really can tell, like, ‘That kid just makes sure everything is going right.’”
An overlooked part of Wallace’s skill set is his rebounding ability for a player of his size. Is that timing? Athleticism? Basketball IQ? Just a will-to that certain players possess?
“Yes, yes, yes and yes,” Lawson replied with a laugh. “He’s got great instincts. He reads the ball off the rim. He meets it at its highest point. Just those things alone help. And I think it’s a desire. … He does the little things.”
Jenkins brought up TyTy Washington as a good recent example of what Wallace can bring to Kentucky basketball. Not in their skill sets — “They’re two completely different players,” he said — but in their ability to do what’s needed. Washington is Kentucky’s leading perimeter scorer and shot-taker. He also set a school record with 17 assists when pressed into primary point guard duties.
“I think Cason can bring that same on-and-off value, from an offensive perspective,” Jenkins said. “And I think he’s comfortable in that role. He’s done it over the years. … He might not be the leading scorer, but I guarantee you that he’ll significantly contribute in all areas of the statistical categories. Even areas that don’t pop up on the stat sheet.”
Lawson implied that some people who show up to watch a top-10 recruit thinking they’re going to see a “SportsCenter” highlight show or a 40-point game might go home less than impressed. That’s because they’re not really watching. Trying to find a way to put it nicely, the coach said that spectators who truly know the game — “Basketball Bennies,” Calipari often calls them — immediately realize the value Wallace brings to the court.
He thinks Kentucky fans will see it next season.
“He’s a winner,” Lawson said. “And he makes winning plays.”
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