Power Five recruit from mountains swats blocks record. You might not know him, but you can’t miss him.
This was always the plan.
Back when 6-foot-10 junior center Trey James and his Martin County Cardinals were getting kicked around at holiday tournaments in Louisville and Lexington against some of the state’s toughest teams, the goal wasn’t about padding numbers. It was about getting better.
Now, Martin County, formerly known as Sheldon Clark, rides an eight-game win streak into the postseason and its big man has put up some big numbers in the process, anyway.
James, a Wake Forest commit, unofficially claimed the state record for blocks Thursday night in a 50-49 win over Pikeville.
James’ career count of 717 blocks eclipses Madison Central standout Isaiah Cozart’s 716 set just last year. James already owns the single-season record (258) and shares the single-game (17) block records.
And James still has a senior season to go.
“It’s a personal goal I set for myself a long time ago,” James said after the win. “My ultimate goal is to get my team to the Sweet Sixteen. Team goals are much more important to me.”
The eight-game win streak has included victories over teams that could stand in the way of that — 15th Region contenders like Shelby Valley (22-6), Lawrence County (18-10) and Johnson Central (16-10) have all fallen to the Cardinals in the last month.
When James and Martin County were on their holiday stretch of losing eight of their first 13 games, he knew they might not have a better shot at getting to Rupp Arena than right now.
“It’s been almost 40 years since we last got it.” James said during one of those days in Lexington back in December. The program’s only regional championship came in 1983. “We’ll be losing four seniors after this year and so this will be our best chance to win it. It will be a lot better if we can just go ahead and get it done now.”
Martin took a lot of lumps in the first two months and looked as far away from Rupp as Inez is from Lexington. At one point their record was 7-11. They’ve gone 10-1 since.
James is averaging 15.3 points and 11.6 rebounds per game and Brady Dingess adds 16.3 points per game with some solid numbers around them.
During their turnaround, James made the decision to go ahead and commit to Wake Forest on Jan. 26. Wake, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, has Kansas legend Danny Manning as its coach.
“When I made my last visit to Wake Forest it just felt right,” James said Thursday night. “I have established a good relationship with Coach Manning and Coach (Rex) Walters and I look forward to playing for the Demon Deacons. What big kid wouldn’t want to play for Coach Danny Manning? It’s a great school, it’s ACC, and I will get to play some of the best competition in the country.”
But James knows he has to work on his game for that.
“I need to get quicker both laterally and running up and down the court faster just so I can guard smaller people and those kinds of things,” he said.
The jump shot has improved over the years.
“From 15-18 feet in, he’s pretty consistent and can knock those in pretty regular,” said Coach Jason James, who is also Trey’s uncle. “I think he’ll be stepping out and knocking down threes by the time the season rolls around next year.”
What’s come easier for him is the work on his body. James has a solid, athletic build on his 6-10 frame that Coach James said weighs in at 238 pounds. For perspective, Kentucky’s Nick Richards is listed at 6-11, 247 pounds.
“He’s got such a great body,” Coach James said. “He’s so physical and he runs the floor well for a big guy. And he’s got great hands.”
And Coach James says his center works on every aspect of his game. That’s another part of the reason the Cardinals participated in holiday tournaments like the King of the Bluegrass and the Traditional Bank Holiday Classic. Those opponents exposed weaknesses.
“He’s got to get used to being more patient in the post,” Coach James said. “Sometimes he rushes and that’s when they collapse and get their hands on passes and stuff, and maybe he needs to throw it back out and repost. Just things like that.”
Coach James believes that patience and wisdom will come. Some big-time tournament experience wouldn’t hurt, either.
“I think he’s got a chance to be really, really special,” Coach James said.
This story was originally published February 21, 2020 at 7:16 AM.
