Labissiere shines while father watches

By LARRY VAUGHT

PADUCAH — Kentucky signee Skal Labissiere had 25 points, 17 rebounds and five blocked shots in his appearance Saturday at McCracken County Mustang Madness. However, the numbers didn’t mean as much as having his father, Leslie, courtside to watch him play.

It was only the third time he had seen his son play since Labissiere left Haiti after the earthquake that ravaged his country in 2010 and he came to the United States. He was trapped in a bathroom after the earthquake before his father found help to get the family out of the house.

Through the Reach Your Dream program, a nonprofit organization that relocates talented kids to America from disadvantaged countries, he got a chance to come to this country for his eighth-grade year

Skal was given the chance to attend Evangelical Christian School (Cordova, Tenn.). Eight months after the earthquake, Skal was set up in Tennessee in time for his first day of eighth grade with Gerald Hamilton, the head of Reach Your Dream, and his family and remains with them now as he plays for Reach Your Dream Prep after his transfer to a Memphis high school this year left him ineligible for athletics.

“Having his dad here for him was huge,” said Reach Your Dream coach Verties Sails III. “I think that was probably the highlight of it for him. This is the first opportunity I have had to meet him. It was funny. They laugh just alike. I heard him laughing and said, ‘He got that one honest.’ But I know he was glad to have him here.”

His father sat with Hamilton’s wife and Labissiere’s sister, who also lives with the Hamiltons. He got to see his son go 9-for-18 from the field and 6-for-9 at the foul line despite being the focus of the defense by Faith Baptist (Ga.) in his team’s 72-62 loss.

Labissiere could not sign autographs or do interviews as he did at the Marshall County Hoop Fest in December. Neither did Hamilton.

“Until we get cleared by the NCAA, that’s what we were told (by UK),” Hamilton said.

However, Sails could talk and raved about the improvement Labissiere has made in the last month on and off the court.

“I think he has become more vocal as a leader. Obviously he is our most talented guy but he has also had to be the one to step up and show other guys how to do the right things,” the coach said. “That is something he may not have been as comfortable doing at first but he realizes now he has to do that.

“Also he has learned how to play a little bit better with contact. He has had an opportunity to play against other guys his size. I think the level of competition has helped him improve.”

Sails says having defenses focus on him has made the 6-10 Labissiere, one of the top five players in the 2015 recruiting class, have to improve.

“He has learned to pass. He was a good passer, but his passes are getting better,” Sails said. “He is seeing the floor better. He is understanding a lot of teams are not going to let him shoot, or at least take a good shot. He is learning how to pass out of the post. His ballhandling has improved out of necessity because we needed him to handle the ball some.”

He’s done that while staying patient with less talented teammates much like former UK star Anthony Davis did in high school.

“He does a good job of channeling it. I know it bothers him not winning but he is patient with them. He understands it is not about them, but about the team. He is here to get better, but also to help other guys get better. Collectively we have to take that attitude,” Sails said.

That doesn’t stop Labissiere from getting up most days at 4 a.m. to work out.

“Maybe just some running and conditioning, but he is up working,” the coach said. “I know deep down inside the not winning part has been hard. But I think coming from where he comes from and dealing with some circumstances he has dealt with even to how he has got here, I think all of those things have built his character to the point he can handle it.”

The team has played twice in Texas and Kentucky and once in Arkansas and Mississippi and lost 14 of 16 games. Yet Sailt estimates Labissiere is averaging abou 25 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks per game.

“He is a high level player. Kentucky is obviously a high level program. He is going to be prepared for the next level coaching-wise, competition-wise. I think he made the choice that was best for him and he’s doing all he can to get ready and we are doing all we can to help him,” Sails said. “Bu he’s really a nice kid. Good personality, very good kid. Handling adversity has kept him grounded.”

Sails thinks Labissiere will appreciate what awaits him at UK.

“I think he is already appreciative just by being here. Even when you look at being on this team and not having the success he would like to have, but look at it a month before the season when he was looking at not even being able to play. He understands that,” Sails said.

He’s also wise about life.

“We had a young man who we were trying to get to play with us. He came from a rough background and had been involved in some gangs and tragically he was killed about a couple of days after Christmas,” Sails said. “He got into some neighborhood trouble that cost him his life. Next pratice we told the whole team wrong place, wrong time and it is about the type of decisions you make.

“Skal and I have talked about those kind of things. I would not ever worry about him getting into anything like that, but we just talked about how those type things can cost you if you go the wrong way.”