Phil Grant, in his third year coaching the Summit Academy boys’ varsity basketball team, believes that they could win it all this season, which begins on November 17 in the X-Men Invitational against Taft, at Our Savior Lutheran in the Bronx. The first home game is the following Monday at 4:30, against conference opponent Cobble Hill School of American Studies.
“Every year I coach, the goal is to win the championship,” Grant said. “It is not always realistic but this year I think it is more realistic. We have a good core of returning players.”
This is the 10th year Summit Academy has been in existence and Grant and girls basketball coach and athletic director believe that their teams have a realistic chance to win the championship.
Grant has had a lot of experience and success with basketball and it has taken him all over the world. He is trying to help these athletes improve and advance like he did.
He went to Paul Robeson High, in Crown Heights, during its heyday in the 1990’s. He starred on two championship teams.
He went to Iona on a full scholarship and his success continued, as he won three conference championships. Grant then played professionally for 10 years, in countries such as Argentina, Luxembourg, Belgium, Venezuela and Holland.
“Argentina was the country I liked playing in most,” Grant said. “My last year playing professionally was 2011.”
Playoff contenders
Last season Summit lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs after losing in the first round of the playoffs the previous year.
“For it to be our second year, and us making the playoffs both years, I think it was a successful season for us,” Grant added about the 2017-2018 campaign. “I wouldn’t say it was a lot better because it still was not where we wanted to finish but it was definitely an improvement.”
Besides advancing to the second round of the playoffs, there was one major highlight of the season for the Eagles.
“We beat a Double-A team (Martin Van Buren), us being a B team, we beat a team in the Double-A in the PSAL,” Grant said. “That was in the Larry Majors classic at Paul Robeson High where Council hit the game winner. It was a pretty good season.”
There are four seniors on the team this year. Grant is looking forward to coaching Jalil Brown.
“He is always at practice working hard, he comes in on his off days and works hard, he does a great job of leading by example. We are not the most vocal team but we have a lot of guys that work hard, guys push each other, they pick each other up,” says the coach.
Jordan Coucil, who dominated last season and helped the team to their impressive 14-6 record, is a junior this season and lives in Bushwick. He takes the G train each morning to get to Summit.
“Jordan is going into his 3rd season,” Grant said. “He went from averaging nine points as a freshman to averaging 17 last year as a sophomore. He is getting better every day, so I am expecting a big year for him. We also have a couple of other key players who I am expecting to have big years, guys who have been working hard.”
These team characteristics are ones that that could push the team to advance further in the playoffs than last season.
Summit Academy has a small gym, like many high schools in the city, but the head coach loves this since their gym gets packed fast and the atmosphere can get intense. The kids who attend Summit are known to go wild and show a lot of support, and the team also gets support from teachers as well.
Coach Grant has been getting increasing support from family members and is in touch with all of the parents of the kids on the team. Council’s father is one of the team’s biggest cheerers and supporters at games.
In order to get increased community support, in the period leading up to their first game the team has done runs through the neighborhood so people could see the team and what they are building towards.
“I am hoping that will draw some of them to start coming out to more of our games,” Grant said. “We are trying to get more community support.”
There are kids from all over Brooklyn on the Summit team. There are kids from Bedford Stuyvesant, kids from Canarsie, kids from Flatbush, kids from Brownsville and three kids from Red Hook including Nicholas Mickens, Amir Ward and Tyrell Dennis.
Mickens, who is a junior, has been a student at Summit since middle school, and Ward has been attending Summit since middle school as well.
“Most of our players have been here since sixth grade,” Grant said.
Jordan Council came to Summit because he thought Grant, whom he had known about for many years, would be able to help him do things that other coaches might not be able to do. Coach Grant grew up in Bushwick and knew Jordan’s older brother Vincent previously, which is how the connection came to be.
Council has been playing basketball since he was little, and it has always been his favorite sport. He comes from a self-described basketball family and his older brother is a major reason that he has a passion for basketball.
“My brother went to Providence and was on the basketball team,” Council said. “I have always looked up to him.”
His brother Vincent was on the basketball team at Division One Providence, from 2009 through 2013, finishing as the all-time leader in assists. He has played professionally in Israel, Greece and Russia. Jordan has used his brother as an asset towards improving his game.
“From my freshman year going into sophomore year I worked out with my brother every day,” Council said. “I worked on my shot, on my dribbling and on my IQ. I thought it made a big difference in the way I transitioned between freshman and sophomore year.”
In the summer between his sophomore and junior years, he played in various tournaments around the city like The Cage at W. 4th Street against higher competition to try to improve his game.
Mixson believes that Council can achieve a major milestone at the school in the next two years.
“Jordan can probably be the first player to score 1,000 points in Summit’s history,” Mixson said. “He just has to average 15 points for the next two years and then he will have his jersey retired.”
Summit played in a pre-season tournament with area schools and the team’s coach was impressed with Council’s performance as well as how the team played overall.
“We have been playing against high level competition,” Grant added. “Most of the teams that we have played against are in leagues higher than the one we’re in. We have been beating a few good teams. He has been playing really well.”
Grant, who is 6-7, said that he used the field level program to stay in contact with coaches and a couple college coaches have already expressed interest in Jordan coming to their school. He expects the recruiting to ramp up more very soon.
“I am expecting a break out year,” Grant said. “After this year a lot more people should know who Jordan Council is.”
Council’s goal, just like his coach, is for the team to win the championship this season.
“My goal for the team is for all of us to work together, have each other’s back and push each other to our limits since this is the only way we are going to get better as a team,” Council said. “I would like to finish the season strong and win the championship.”
