Early Byrd special: L.J. Byrd leads TFA boys basketball to statement start

When Omar Little, a beloved character from the hit HBO series “The Wire,” mixed a little of his personality with a quote from philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, the world got one of the most iconic lines ever uttered on television.

“When you come at the king, you best not miss,” he said. 

The line was so simple, with an elegance that is only surpassed by how terrifying the saying’s unspoken ending is. 

Well, in the world of smaller classification boys high school basketball in West Orange and Southwest Orange, there has been a clear king in recent years — the Windermere Prep Lakers. Over the past five seasons, the Lakers have won four district championships, two region titles and reached the Class 3A state finals the past two seasons.

The Royals didn’t miss

With the return of leading scorer Brandon Bass Jr. — a four-star prospect with offers from a heap of Power 4 programs — and South Alabama signee Sam Shoptaw for Lakers coach Brian Hoff, Windermere Prep came into 2024-25 as the favorite among the area’s lower classification teams to retake its spot as the king of the hardwood.

That is until the Lakers went on the road to The Cramer Family Field House to face The First Academy — a team Windermere Prep hasn’t lost to since December 2020, beating TFA in seven consecutive games. 

But with freshman phenom L.J. Byrd leading the way for the new-look team under first-year TFA coach Tarrik Mabon, let’s just say when the Royals took their first chance to go at the king, they didn’t miss. 

At the jump of this Dec. 5 matchup, everything seemed status quo for the Lakers; they didn’t allow a TFA lead through the first three quarters. The fourth, however, was a different story, as Byrd, a 6-foot-6 swingman, showed why he’s the most exciting prospect in the area. 

“As a freshman, he’s already a jack of all trades,” Mabon said of Byrd. “He can jump. He can score inside. He can score outside. He’s got a little bit of handle to him, to go with his 6-foot-6 frame. Not to mention his body is still growing. … His physical upside is truly a college coach’s dream. 

“But my job, for the next four seasons, is to sharpen all of those tools,” he said. “In the short time he’s been with us, we’ve seen a lot of growth in his game. For example, he wasn’t the best shooter when he got here, so we spent a lot of time on his shot. Honestly, he didn’t have any confidence in his shot at first. But now, just look at the Windermere Prep game. He went two for three from three in a crucial moment of the game, as a freshman, in his second-ever high school game while being matched up against a four-star player on a state finalist team. To have the mentality to take and make shots, when he’s just really started learning how to shoot properly — that says a lot about how much confidence he has and how much better he can get.”

That crucial moment was a two-minute, 31-second run of game time that served as the turning point for the Royals. With fewer than six minutes left to play in the fourth, Windermere Prep led TFA, 50-41. It was the Royals’ ball. 

Junior guard Max Simmons drove toward the middle, stopping at the free throw line. As the Lakers defense collapsed, he found Byrd on the wing for an open three. 50-44 with 5:28 on the clock. 

Following a Windermere Prep miss on the next possession, Byrd grabbed the defensive rebound, took the rock from coast-to-coast and hit a spinning fadeaway middy to cut the Lakers’ lead to 50-46 with 5:03 on the clock.

Byrd grabbed another defensive board on the following Lakers possession, and after passing the ball off to his teammate, the trailing freshman reunited with the ball and hit a deep three-pointer to make it a one-point game with 4:26 left in regulation.

After a few scoreless possessions on both sides, Byrd received a fast break-inducing outlet pass that ended in a smooth eurostep finish at the cup for his 10th consecutive and unanswered point, which gave TFA its first lead of the game, 51-50, at the 2:57 mark. 

Byrd finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, leading the Royals to a 64-60 overtime win over the Lakers, TFA’s first since December 2020. 

“James 4:10 says, ‘Humble yourself, and God will lift you up,’” Mabon said following the win. “One thing our program stands on is humility over ego. Every single human on our team (who) stepped in there tonight impacted winning. Whether it was (diving on the floor for a loose ball), an assist or just flat-out energy. Everybody won that game. The TFA community ... won that game. We all know how important it is when we compete against Windermere Prep. I know I’m new here, but I’m no idiot, right? I understand that (rivalry), so to God be the glory for honoring those young men who’ve … been working so hard. They’re so unselfish, they’re so loving. They deserved this win.”

Beyond getting their second win of the early season, Royals Nation has much more to celebrate after the breakout performance from its star freshman. However, Byrd’s not getting ahead of himself. Instead, he’s focused on remaining humble and sending the glory where it belongs.

“It feels great to get this win,” Byrd said. “But I really just need to give God all the glory and praise for everything He’s allowed me to do. He’s the reason we’ve been able to go out there and make a statement, so I just give Him every single bit of praise I can.”

Long-term goals

Regardless of how big this win was for the Royals, their ultimate goal, this season and beyond, is bigger than one game in December.

“Our first goal is to win districts,” Byrd said. “For us to accomplish that, we have to make sure we’re working hard, staying humble and putting God first and foremost. If we do that and go as hard as we can every time we step on the basketball court, always leaving it all on the floor, we’ll get there.”

From Mabon’s perspective achieving this season’s goals work in concert with his long-term vision for the program.

“I’ve been a basketball guy my entire life, but I would say, over the last three to four years, when I was in Georgia, I studied all the best teams in the country,” Mabon said. “I remember going to a tournament in Virginia two years ago and watching those DMV teams play. What I learned was that it’s all about who plays the hardest. After you get to a point where your team plays harder than the next team, that’s when skillset and basketball I.Q. come into play. When you put those three things together, you’ll always give yourself a fighting chance to compete in every game. 

“My goal is to help our kids learn how to play harder — and enjoy playing harder,” he said. “(I want them to) continue to improve their skills ... and then continue to grow their basketball I.Q. — knowing when to make the right play. I think we’ll play an exciting brand of basketball for years to come.”