Rykema Stone was picking Rock Rosa’s brain in the hallway. She stood there attentively listening as her New Heights AAU basketball coach walked her through the proper way to box out in a situation that just occurred on court.
The rising senior forward and her team had just finished its final game of the day at the USJN East Coast Challenge at Kean University on Monday, but she wasn’t ready to stop learning and trying to improve. The 6-foot-1 Stone, who plays at Wings Academy, is chockfull of athletic potential, has a sure-fire Division I body and skill, but it’s her understanding of the game and situations that Rosa believes can take her to another level.
“It can’t just be all athleticism,” the coach said. “Right now I feel she has a lot of athleticism, but I need her to become a better student of the game.”
Stone, who is getting interest from Central Connecticut State, Rider, NJIT and LIU, has been honing her game with her father Dalton Stone in the backyard of their Bronx home from a young age. The two have enjoyed a special relationship through basketball, especially after her mother Melissa Hilton died of lung cancer in 2001. Rosa credits her dad’s support in still working with her on her skills and his overall support for where Stone is today.
“He took it serious when I was really young,” she said. “He knew I was going to play basketball.”
Getting her physical talents to meet her understanding of the game is something Stone said she is trying to work on. Her father and Rosa have told her to watch other players who are similar to her and what they do. The epitome of that for Stone is watching Los Angeles Sparks star Candace Parker.
“I like the fact that she can handle the ball, as well as attack [the basket],” she said,
See Stone doesn’t picture herself as your traditional forward on the offensive end. She can make the mid-range jumper and get the basket off the dribble, creating miss matches. Rosa said she is capable of grabbing a rebound and dribbling coast to coast for a score.
“With my team in school I really didn’t get the chance to have the ball because we had so many guards,” Stone said. “I want to be the person once I get the rebound to go down the court.”
The presence of star guards Latasia Ward, who graduated, and Aquillin Hayes, who is now a senior, as the team’s focal points still didn’t stop Stone from having a superb season. She averaged 15 points and 13.9 rebounds per game in league play. Wings went unbeaten during the PSAL regular season and made it to the first PSAL Class A final in school history where it lost to Medgar Evers. Stone is looking forward to her expanded role and responsibility next year.
“The team is basically going to play around her,” Wings coach Juan Gonzalez said. … “She has to understand that she has to be the leader to take this team where we took it last year.”
Stone, who is a superb student, is looking to take her game beyond where it is and bring out some of the “untapped” potential Rosa talks about. On the defensive end she is an excellent shot blocker and rebounder thanks to her long arms. She wants to improve on her aggressiveness going to the basket and just become more confident in her abilities. Gonzalez would like to see her grow more comfortable in the post.
“She can take it to another level,” Gonzalez said. “She is very versatile, but she has to understand that it’s not just handed [to you]. She has to work hard at it.”
That doesn’t sound like it will be a problem.