Roddy Gayle set to start a new chapter

COVID-19 brought out a miserable experience to high school athletes in the state of New York. Some of them have begun to make the hard decision and transfer out of state to resume their athletic and academic careers.

On Monday Dec. 21, Lewiston-Porter Lancer Roddy Gayle Jr. announced on twitter that he elected to transfer to Wasatch Academy, a prep school in Mount Pleasant, Utah.

New York State high school basketball being on the back-burner and the uncertainty of a season, played a major role for Gayle to pursue his career elsewhere.

When looking at Wasatch Academy and their prestigious basketball program, Gayle was told he could play right away. He was also shown the upcoming schedule for the Tigers which was more than enough to seal the deal.

Gayle mentioned that playing against some of the best high school teams in the country, while practicing against talented players on Wasatch was going to help him out in the long run.

According to an article on MaxPreps.com, from Jan. 8 to Jan. 18 Wasatch Academy will be competing in seven games, partaking in The St. James NIBC Invitational.

Their opponents will be No. 10 La Lumiere, No. 13 Oak Hill Academy, Bishop Walsh, No. 3 Sunrise Christian Academy, No. 9 Legacy Early College, Hamilton Heights Christian Academy and No. 1 Montverde Academy

Gayle believes that this will embark him on a journey he unlike anything he has seen before.

“Going all the way out to Utah to play, that is going to be a different experience so I believe it will prepare me for college and being used to places you’re not really used and got to make the best out of it,” Gayle said.

Gayle has created an iconic resume for his high school basketball career so far. One that started back in eighth grade, playing for Niagara Falls in the 2017-2018 season. The Wolverines won the Niagara-Frontier League title and the Section VI Class AA title.

Lewiston-Porter boys basketball head coach Matt Bradshaw saw Gayle’s skillset firsthand when Niagara Falls defeated the Lancers to win the league title.

“His skill was there but what really impressed me was the fact that he is that good of a player, that young,” Bradshaw said. “Even as an 8th grader he was probably the most skilled player on the court.”

In his freshman season, Gayle transferred from Niagara Falls to Lew-Port and joined forces with Bradshaw along with a talented roster. Success was found immediately, the Lancers went onto win the NFL title and eventually a Section VI Class A championship.

Gayle then went onto achieve the 1,000th career-point milestone as a sophomore.

This past November, the two-time All-Western New York first-team player committed to Ohio State as a four-star recruit. In the class of 2022, he is currently ranked as the number one recruit in New York State and a top 10 shooting guard in the country according to 247sports.com.

“He’s got the whole package,” said Bradshaw. “He’s a six-foot-four guard, has got the ability to defend the other team’s best player. He can lead the break, he has an extremely high IQ, has great vision, he makes other people better, he will find you if your open and he can score from all three levels. His only thing from here on in is he is young; he is still a junior and has to be more consistent.”

When asked about his favorite memories, Gayle mentioned the championship runs with Niagara Falls and Lew-Port. Also, scoring his 1,000th career point.

One thing that he will remember the most was coach Bradshaw sending his reel out to college coaches. Helping Gayle get his foot in the door and to be noticed by college recruiters.

“He sent a lot of my footage to college coaches, I am very appreciative of him and he became more like family to me,” Gayle said.

As Gayle gets ready to move out and call Wasatch home, one part of his skillset that he would like to work on and improve is his ball-handling. Gayle said that would be his top priority.

From an eighth grader to a sophomore, Roddy Gayle displayed a type of performance that would rank him as one of the best WNY has ever seen. Bradshaw thinks he is up there with some of the best in the past decade.

“There has been a lot of great ones, he is right up there,” Bradshaw said. “Skillfully, I think he is right at the top and still got two years left. Skillfully, I don’t know anybody better then him at his age.”

Feature Image Courtesy of Chad Andrews/viewfromcentercourt