Freshman guard Quadry Allen.
On Dec. 29 and 30, the men’s basketball team will travel to New Orleans to take on Eastern College (Pa.) and Colorado College as part of the Big Easy Classic. It’ll be a special tournament for the guys because three teammates will be returning home to play in New Orleans. Quadry Allen, Dontreal Thomas, and Cody Edmond all come from the same neighborhood in Louisiana. Allen and Thomas played together at White Castle High School, and Edmund comes out of Plaquemine High School. The three guys couldn’t be more excited to head home for the tournament.
UMB freshman Quadry Allen was very well rounded at White Castle. Not only did he help lead the Bulldogs to the Class 1-A State Title his senior year, but he also played baseball, graduated in the top ten in his class, and served as his class’s vice president. Allen peaked in his senior year, when he was an honorable mention for All-State honors and set the White Castle single game three pointers record with 11. He was highly touted by Head Coach Charlie Titus. Titus said “Quadry’s program won the state title in Louisiana, and he was their leader […] he is a scorer, this guy can really score”. Allen has a mixed view when asked about how the season has gone. He said, “(It’s been) kind of shaky, we lost 2 games that we should have won, but we are a young team and now that we have our first win, there should be success from here on”.
Dontrael Thomas played with Allen at White Castle. He is a sophomore at UMB. The 6 foot 6 guard/forward also played football for White Castle, and was on the all Louisiana second team his senior year. Dontreal said he decided to come up to UMB “because I used to visit Massachusetts a lot. My dad lived in Randolph. I visited him every summer and from those visits I fell in love with the city and the people in it”. Thomas has appeared in every game this year for the Beacons. When asked about playing in Louisiana for the first time since high school, he was ecstatic. He said “I’m very excited, I can’t wait”.
Freshman Cody Edmond comes out of Plaquemine, La. He led his team to a district championship and was a three time first team-all district selection. He was also president of his graduating class. He was very excited to come to Ma. and play for the Beacons. He said “it’s a very good academic school and I kind of needed a change of scenery (from Louisiana)”. When asked if it was hard to adjust to Ma. life, he said “It hasn’t been tough for me to play up here because I love basketball so much. It didn’t matter if I had to go to Canada and play, I would have went”.
Love of basketball is something that the three guys have in common. They and their families are also very excited about heading back to the Big Easy. Thomas said, “My whole family is super pumped and they all are making plans to attend the game”. Allen said he will have “around 50 to 100 people” attending the two games. The guys are also looking forward to seeing their friends and family for the first time since the summer. The vast majority of UMB students live with in an hour of campus, but for many athletes, trips home are rare treats. Edmond said “I miss a lot things about Louisiana. The thing I miss the most is probably the food. Louisiana food is simply amazing. The first thing im going to do when I get back to Louisiana is probably eat some of my grandmother’s red beans and rice”.
Check www.beaconsathletics.com for updates on the Big Easy Classic.