Stratford's Quintez Cephus back in basketball mode
Quintez Cephus isn't going to be the top scorer every night for the Stratford boys basketball team. But he certainly will play a top role.
As Stratford entered the playoffs last February, Cephus, who at the time was one of the top basketball recruits in Middle Georgia, was called on by head coach Jamie Dickey to put the team on his shoulders. Basically, Cephus was told that "as you go, so goes this team," and he responded by scoring a program-record 53 points in the first game after he received that admonition.
"He's played on the varsity since the eighth grade (when Stratford was in the GISA), so this is his fifth year," Dickey said. "We have a lot of leaders on our team, but I feel like QT is our main leader.
"You can always tell a kid (that a program goes as you go) when you trust him and know that he will lead the team in the right direction."
That important role Cephus plays for Stratford hasn't changed. What has changed, however, is the attention he's getting from colleges.
After getting the opportunity to move from quarterback to split end during football season, Cephus began getting football scholarship offers from schools much larger than the basketball program he committed to, Furman. He wound up foregoing a basketball scholarship offer from the Paladins, instead committing to Wisconsin's football program after giving strong consideration to Georgia Tech.
The scholarship offers continued to come in after Cephus' announcement in November. Coaches continued to visit, including former Georgia defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt in the days after head coach Mark Richt's firing.
While not absolutely closing down recruiting outright with four weeks to go until National Signing Day, Cephus is still a strong Wisconsin commitment. The phone still buzzes, but he's trying to get that tamped down.
"I try to tell them to call Coach Dickey so I don't have to talk to them as I used to," Cephus said. "It's fine now."
Meanwhile, there's basketball to be played.
Stratford (9-3, 1-1 subregion) opened GHSA Region 7A-A play Saturday with a 57-54 loss to Wilkinson County, the two teams most likely play for the region title in mid-February.
Tuesday, Stratford bounced back with a 58-31 win over an FPD team that entered the game with a 7-3 record. Cephus scored 16 points, playing a secondary offensive role to O'Showen Williams, whose 24 points included four 3-pointers in the first quarter.
Cephus also had nine rebounds and four steals against FPD, part of a strong defensive night in which the Eagles held the Vikings to 10 points in the second half.
"When we played against Wilkinson County, we had a lead, and at the start of the second half we just stopped playing defense and laid off," Williams said. "In the second half of this game (against FPD), we just played better defense and helped each other."
Stratford has another big home game Friday, when the Eagles host Tattnall Square. The Trojans beat Wilkinson County 53-49 on Tuesday in Irwinton.
While Stratford will see its rivals again in the second round of subregion play, a loss Friday would put Stratford two games out of first, with all of its big games in the second round taking place on the road.
"We're just going to have to be smarter," Cephus said. "They're all athletic, and we have a few athletes, so we'll be able to match up with them, but we'll have to execute our gameplan better than they execute theirs."
This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Stratford's Quintez Cephus back in basketball mode ."