Southeast Missourian boys basketball player of the year: Jackson's Blake Reynolds

SEMO Conference Player of the Year, all-state forward and three-time Class 5 quarterfinalist -- Blake Reynolds could hardly see any of this coming.

Growing up just outside of Fayetteville, Arkansas, a 6-foot Reynolds arrived in Jackson his eighth-grade year, but his aspirations weren't set on the basketball court.

Reynolds wanted to be in the big leagues.

"That was kind of my childhood dream, to be in the majors someday playing baseball," Reynolds said. "I wanted to go to college to play baseball, and when I moved up here to Missouri in eighth grade is when I moved into the Jackson program and saw how big of a deal [basketball] was to everyone here. I really got involved in that pretty early, and I just started loving it and started loving my teammates and the coaches.

"I realized that if I could get some exposure and things like that, I could get my school paid for, so that was definitely something I wanted to do."

Four years later, Reynolds stands tall at 6-foot-7, and his height hasn't come all at once.

"I've just grown more and more every year, and it's never really quit until now," Reynolds said. "... I knew my whole family is pretty big, and my little brother is pretty big. I knew I was supposed to be big."

2015 All-Missourian basketball - Blake Reynolds - Jackson High School (Laura Simon)

Reynolds has added a new wrinkle to his game each season, one of many factors in what has led him to be named Southeast Missourian boys basketball player of the year. No element has been developed more than when he began stepping out beyond the 3-point line and becoming more of a stretch four power forward in his senior season.

"Every year of his high school career, he's just gotten better," said Jackson coach Darrin Scott, who began coaching Reynolds between the eighth and ninth grade. "It was kind of a gradual process where we always thought he'd be a good player, and each year, we thought, 'Well, he could be a little bit better.' ... We never anticipated two years ago that he'd be able to step out and shoot it and do those things."

Reynolds averaged a near double-double in his final varsity season, finishing with a team-leading 20.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.

On Nov. 19, 2014, Reynolds made the decision to continue his basketball career at the college level by signing a National Letter of Intent with Yale University. He chose Yale over the likes of Southern Illinois, Air Force Academy and Ball State.

"It's just that their basketball program is really growing up there. That was kind of a big thing for me," Reynolds said about Yale. "I knew going up there that the academics and the campus and everything were going to be great, but I really wanted to go get a feel for the athletics side of it.

"I knew that the Ivy League wasn't exactly as high up there as some of the other basketball schools that I'd been talking to, and I wanted to make sure that it was something that I was going to be able to play in and be involved with competitively and still be able to play good basketball when I went there. That's definitely something I found when I went up there."

A much-improved 3-point shot was one of several things that allowed Reynolds to garner interest from the Ivy League school in New Haven, Connecticut.

Reynolds was 8 of 23 (35 percent) from 3-point range as a junior but increased his numbers tremendously as a senior, finishing the season 44 of 106 (42 percent) from long range. He made it a priority to improve his 3-point shooting over the summer.

"I wanted to be able to step out because I knew that once I get into college ball, the big men are going to be a lot bigger than I am, so I wasn't going to be able to just rely on my size when I get to that level," Reynolds said. "I wanted to make sure I could step out, be able to shoot the ball and learn to handle the ball, and with the coaches at Yale, that's something they've really been wanting me to do, too."

Reynolds showed perhaps the biggest glimpse of his long-range improvement by knocking down 7 of 9 (78 percent) treys and scoring a game-high 29 points in a 63-51 conference win over host Sikeston on Jan. 19.

Scott said Reynolds also made great strides in becoming a presence in the post.

"He made a big step from his junior to his senior year with the ability that we could throw him the ball in the post and he could score," Scott said. "He's always been a good passer, but this year, he became a much better back-to-the-basket scorer."

Reynolds has also shown improvement as a ball-handler. While playing with the St. Louis Gateway Basketball Club over the summer, Reynolds got valuable experience handling the ball in game situations.

"His ball-handling has gotten better. That's something we tried to work on every day," Scott said. "... We had open gym Sunday night, and he came in and played with the guys. He's gotten better since the end of this year."

Scott believes Reynolds possesses many of the intangible qualities that coaches seek in a basketball player.

"We want guys that are unselfish who will share the ball, smart players who will work harder," Scott said. "... The year before, Karson [King] was kind of our main vocal leader, but [Reynolds] stepped up this year with that leadership. There's the vocal part and also just showing up every day and going about your business, making sure you put the team first and doing those things."

Reynolds has a 3.75 GPA and said getting the opportunity to play for an Ivy League school is beyond his dreams. He credits much of his growth to the coaching staff at Jackson.

"There have been other guys that I have played with around here that haven't had the kind of coaching and the kind of people behind them pushing them like I have, and I think I owe a lot to the guys at Jackson for just staying on me every day and making sure I'm always in there trying to get better to be able to do well at the next level," Reynolds said.

Reynolds said it all starts with Scott, whose dedication to the program has guided the Indians to the Class 5 quarterfinals the past three seasons.

"I don't think anybody in the past three years around here has worked as hard as he has and put the time in to his players that he has, not even just me but everybody else on my team," Reynolds said about Scott. "Every time I show up to the gym, he's already been there for an hour or two just preparing, and then after I'm done, he's there for another hour or two, still working and finishing up. He's just been a great role model for me when it comes to putting in the work it takes to be good."

Along with Notre Dame and New Madrid County Central, Jackson finished as co-champions of the SEMO Conference and wrapped up Reynolds' final high school season with a 23-7 record. Reynolds considers the Indians' three-year run to the state quarterfinals his greatest accomplishment.

"Coach kind of preached to us how our first year we made it to quarterfinals, everybody was real excited about that. ... This year when we lost in the quarterfinals, everybody was kind of disappointed, so I think we've raised the standard of what can be done," Reynolds said. "We definitely wanted to get to the final four, but that kind of standard of excellence and that expectation now is a lot higher there, and I'm really proud of that."

Scott has seen his fair share of talent come and go at Jackson but said Reynolds' role has been "a huge part" of the program's success.

"Just about everybody that played for us improved their game this year," Scott said. "They stepped up in different ways, and he was just kind of the focal point or the one that would get seen the most as to how much he's improved."

More than a decade has passed since Reynolds first decided to begin playing basketball, and the decision is one he knows he'll never regret.

"It's been my whole life now. In high school, if I didn't have that, I don't know what else I would have done," Reynolds said. "I'm glad I decided to pick up basketball, and I'm glad it's something I worked at because now it's become something that has kind of taken over everything I do.

"It's something I love to do."