Photo by Erin Nelson
Vestavia HIlls’ Jackson Weaver (12) dribbles the ball guarded by Bob Jones’ Malachi Mitchell (3) during a Northwest Regional semifinal game at Tom Drake Coliseum at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. Photo by Erin Nelson.
Make no mistake, losing Win Miller to graduation is a big blow to the Vestavia Hills High School boys basketball team.
He scored over 2,000 points in his career and finished as the program’s all-time leading scorer. But the Rebels are in about as good a position as can be hoped for when it comes to moving forward.
“We return four starters and five of our top six in terms of minutes and statistical production,” Vestavia Hills head coach Patrick Davis.
Jackson Weaver, Jordan Ross, Keown Richardson, Thomas Taaffe and Adam Barksdale are all back and eager to lead the Rebels this season.
That’s not to say replacing Miller is an easy task. In addition to his scoring punch, he added plenty to the Rebels both on and off the floor. He helped push the Rebels’ offense toward the preferred pace and he helped hold the team together off the floor. Davis believes he will be a strong college player at Belmont University.
“He was a guy everybody could look to when things got rocky. He had been there and done that,” Davis said.
At the start of this season, the Rebels will be far from a finished product. Ross and Richardson were in the playoffs with the football team at the start of the season, while Weaver was working his way back from an injury.
It may take some time for the Rebels to round into form, but Davis is bullish on this team’s potential.
“I think by the time it’s all said and done, we’ve got a chance to be really good,” he said. “We’ve had a couple teams the last few years where we were really good in November. That’s hard to sustain for another three months. I don’t see us being anywhere near as good as we can be this calendar year [November and December].”
Weaver stepped up as Miller’s primary sidekick last year on the stat sheet, with Davis making a Batman and Robin comparison between the two. Davis believes Weaver is now “ready to be Batman.”
“He’s very much wired that way and plays with an edge, with a chip, and plays kind of ticked off. He’s more than capable,” Davis said of Weaver.
There are seven seniors on the varsity roster this season. Five of them have significant varsity experience, with Weaver, Ross, Richardson, Taaffe and Ben Evans all expected to contribute heavily once again. Nate Brown and Andrew Cox are also seniors who will have a chance to make an impact.
Davis is excited to see Evans take the next step in his game.
“Him going from a luxury commodity kind of guy to a guy that’s got to be an every night guy is going to be a big deal,” Davis said.
Wood Woodward, Jones Cleary, Barksdale, Josh Milner, Parker Surber, Jack Cobb and Axel Dieguez are juniors on varsity as well.
Vestavia Hills will travel to Kentucky again this winter during the Christmas break to compete in a high-quality tournament the Rebels won last year. The Rebels will also face the likes of Chelsea, Spain Park, Hartselle, Homewood, Mountain Brook, Oak Mountain and Oxford before Class 7A, Area 6 play with Hoover, Thompson and Tuscaloosa County.
The Rebels have advanced to the regional tournament each of the last three seasons and will look to build upon that success once again, as they have posted a combined record of 77-15 over those three years.
