All-Area: Brewington is News-Argus boys' player of the year

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on March 20, 2010 11:06 PM

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Once the initial sting wears off broken trust can be incredibly motivating.

Just ask RaSean Brewington.

Feeling betrayed by a pair of coaches that walked away after each spending just a year at Goldsboro High School, Brewington wondered and often doubted what his senior season would hold.

Enter a first-year head coach and a group of teammates who bonded together through adversity and Brewington's final season in a Cougars' uniform more than exceeded his expectations.

The senior forward averaged a team-high 18.5 points per game to go along with 6.9 rebounds. He led Goldsboro to a 23-8 record, Carolina 1-A Conference regular-season and tournament titles and a berth in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A state title game.

Brewington is the 2010 News-Argus All-Area boys' basketball player of the year.

Brewington was admittedly shaken by the departure of head coach Tod Morgan following his sophomore season and Chris Cherry's decision to leave for South Central one year later.

When former Charles B. Aycock assistant Patrick Reynell was hired as Goldsboro's fourth head coach in as many years, Brewington questioned just how successful the Cougars would be.

"When Coach Reynell got here I had heard about what he had done at Aycock, but I didn't think we were going to do that good because it was his first year," said Brewington. "I trusted him, but I didn't think he was going to do what he did just because it was his first year."

Prior to Reynell's arrival Brewington found himself without a head coach he could confide in or look to for inspiration to improve as a player. Instead, he polished his game through workouts with teammate Devonte White and by playing AAU ball.

"It really hurt after all the coaches left, but it really pushed me to make myself better to see that I could do it on my own and not do it with a coach," said Brewington. "I had to do a whole bunch of stuff individually."

Already a reliable shooter and rebounder, Brewington committed himself to becoming a more consistent defender and improved his ability to penetrate to the basket. Those skills combined with a high basketball IQ made him one of the area's most complete players.

"That comes from a sense of urgency and a sense of desire to better yourself as a basketball player," said Reynell. "If you really want to learn something you're going to figure it out yourself. I think with the coaching situation, it's created a bunch of independent learners as far as basketball."

Although the Cougars fell short of their goal of winning a state championship, exceeding expectations and quieting doubters made it much easier to focus on a bright future rather than a painful past.

"It means a lot," said Brewington. "Nobody expected us to go that far and they're all saying the only reason we went as far as we did is because it's 1-A. We can't help how many people go to our school.

"We achieved a lot and we just stuck together as a family and as a team."